PIERZ-Buckman and Avon clinched berths in the Class C state tournament following victories in Region 8C winners' bracket games Sunday.
Buckman edged the Fort Ripley Rebels 7-6 on Noah Boser's 2-out RBI single in the 11th. Avon qualified with an 8-3 victory over the Sobieski Skis.
In the losers' bracket Sunday, the Nisswa Lightning eliminated the Lastrup Lakers 6-5. Upsala and St. Stephen played in the other losers' bracket game later Sunday night.
Details on Sunday's games will be in Sports on Tuesday.
Saturday games
ADVERTISEMENT
Fort Ripley 11, St. Stephen 0
PIERZ-Jack Hegarty struck out 15 and walked just one in a seven-inning, three-hit 11-0 shutout for Fort Ripley over the St. Stephen Steves Saturday.
Hegarty also led the Rebels at the plate finishing 3-4 with an RBI and run scored. Bill Sather was 2-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Brett Kramer went 2-4 with a double. Logan Kalis and Brian Skluzacek also turned in multiple-hit performances for the Rebels.
Blake Guggenberger doubled for St. Stephen while Rick Hendrickson and Tony Schmitz contributed singles.
St. Stephen 0 3 2
Fort Ripley 11 12 0
(7 innings)
WP: Jack Hegarty. LP: Derek Thielen. 2B: FR-Brett Kramer; SS-Blake Guggenberger. HR: FR-Bill Sather.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sobieski 4, Lastrup 2
PIERZ-The Sobieski Skis grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run double by Josh Wenzel and sacrifice fly by Austin Weisz and held on to defeat the Lastrup Lakers 4-2 Saturday.
Lastrup cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth when Reggie Litke drilled a two-run homer, but the Skis got the game's final run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Weisz, his second RBI of the game.
Tyler Jendro went the distance for Sobieski striking out eight and walked one while allowing six hits. Brad Meyer took the loss, also going all nine innings striking out one while allowing eight hits.
Wenzel finished 2-3 for the Skis with a double, two RBIs and two runs, and Joey Hanowski was 2-4 with a double.
Five of Lastrup's six hits went for extra bases. In addition to Litke's homer, the Lakers received doubles from Chad Weiss, Rick Schlieman and Jason Sadlovsky.
Avon 3, Nisswa 2
PIERZ-Two solo home runs by Caleb Curry and another by Riley Voit gave the Avon Lakers the runs they needed to beat the Nisswa Lightning 3-2 in Region 8C first-round action Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Curry's first homer in the bottom of the third gave Avon a 1-0 lead, but Nisswa answered with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Adam Hardy in the fourth to tie the score.
Nisswa took the lead on with an RBI single by Chris Pederson in the eighth making it 2-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, Curry led off with his second homer of the game. One out later, Voit cleared the left-center field fence with a walk-off round-tripper.
Adam Harlander earned the win for the Lakers tossing the final two innings in relief. Starter Will Kleinschmidt went seven innings striking out eight while surrendering four hits and one run.
Kleinschmidt was 2-3 at the plate Luke Schumer was the only player for Nisswa with multiple hits including a double.
Nisswa 2 6 1
Avon 3 6 1
WP: Adam Harlander. LP: Scott Sand. 2B: N-Luke Schumer. HR: A-Caleb Curry 2, Riley Voit.
ADVERTISEMENT
Buckman 12, Upsala 8
PIERZ-Winning pitcher Mark Kahl went 3-5 at the plate with a double, two RBIs and a pair of runs to lead the Buckman Billygoats to a 12-8 victory over the Upsala Bluejays Saturday.
Kahl went seven-plus innings striking out four while allowing 11 of 12 Upsala hits and all eight runs. Ben Boser allowed just one hit in two innings of relief to seal the Beckman win.
Both team sent 12 men to the plate in their half of a lengthy third inning.
The first nine batters for Upsala reached base safely in the top of the third. Justin Lampert made it 1-0 with a bases-loaded single, then Mark Kahl hit Brandon Welinski to force in another run, Paul Krebs singled to make it 3-0, Eric Lampert bounced a 2-run single to left and an error brought in the sixth run of the frame.
The Billygoats responded by scoring eight runs off starter Matt Swanson in their half of the inning. Joe Kahl's sacrifice fly made it 6-1, Mark Kahl doubled home two runs, another two runs scored on a throwing error, Travis Kahl walked with the bases loaded to force in a run and Boser lined a 2-run double.
Mark Kahl settled in on the mound for Buckman retiring nine of the next 10 batters he faced.
Boser finished 2-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run for Buckman. Joe Kahl added a pair of hits.
ADVERTISEMENT
Justin Lampert was 3-5 for Upsala and John Fuchs was 2-5 with a double. Eric Lambert also had a pair of hits.
Upsala 8 12 3
Buckman 12 9 2
WP: Mark Kahl. LP: Matt Swanson. 2B: U-John Fuchs; B-Ben Boser, Mark Kahl.
