The Aitkin Steam had a walk-off win in extra-innings to win Game 1 6-5 but the Freeport Black Sox bounced back for a 5-3 win in Game 2, meaning the two teams would play a decisive Game 3 in Aitkin on Sunday for the right to join the 8-team field for the upcoming Region 9C Tournament.
Game 1
Freeport jumped out early in Game 1, pushing 3 runs across in the top of the 1st against Steam starter Jake McGuire. Matt Johnson led off the game with a walk and Bryan Benson was hit by a pitch. Jake Braegelmann then reached on an error and the Black Sox had the bases loaded with no outs. McGuire then hit Mason Toutges with a pitch to force in Johnson and make it 1-0. McGuire’s control problems continued as he then walked Carter Neuenschwander, scoring Bryan Benson to make it 2-0. McGuire then hit Ben Millard with a pitch and Braegelmann scored. Freeport had scored 3 runs without a hit and Aitkin made a pitching change, brining in Zach Ehnstrom to pitch. He quickly struck out both Trevor Sawyer and Iver Papke before getting Dominic Ritter to ground out to 1st baseman Hunter Hills to end the inning.
In the top of the 2nd, Freeport made it 4-0 on a single by Matt Johnson, then a single on a bunt from Bryan Benson. Johnson came in to score on a throwing error on the play.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Freeport committed back-to-back 2 out errors, followed by a Nathan Ehnstrom double that drove in Zach Ehnstrom to make it 4-1 after 3 innings.
In the top of the 4th, Bryan Benson walked, followed by a Jake Braegelmann single. Mason Toutges then sacrificed men to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. A Carter Neuenschwander sacrifice fly brought in Bryan Benson to give Freeport a 5-1 lead.
In the bottom of the 6th, Aitkin got a single from Hunter Hills, a 1-out single from John McGuire and a single from Zach Ehnstrom to load the bases. Nolan Dotzler drove in Hunter Hills with a ground out to make it 5-2 after 6 innings.
In the bottom of the 7th, Aitkin struck again, this time Jake McGuire led off with a single, but then a fly out and a force play resulted in 2 outs. Hunter Hills singled, sending Carson Kullhem to 2nd. An rbi single by Thorin Dunham plated Kullhem to make it 5-3 after 7 innings.
In the bottom of the 8th, Zach Ehnstrom lined out, then Nolan Dotzler singled. Nathan Ehnstrom then followed with a game-tying 2-run Homer to make it 5-5 after 8 innings.
In the top of the 9th, Freeport got lead-off man Jake Braegelmann on base thanks to an Aitkin error. Mason Toutges then sacrificed Braegelmann to 2nd with 1 out. But the rally ended there as Carter Neuenschwander lined out to shortstop Drew Paulbeck and Ben Millard popped out to 3rd baseman Jake McGuire to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th, Carson Kullhem led off with a single, but the next 3 men went down to send the game to the 10th inning.
In the top of the 10th, Zach Ehnstrom got Trevor Sawyer to fly out to right, then Iver Papke grounded out for the 2nd out. Dominic Ritter took a 2-out walk to put the go-ahead run on base, but Ehnstrom got Matt Johnson to pop up to shortstop Drew Paulbeck to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Zach Ehnstrom led off with a single against Andrew Kerzman. Nolan Dotzler then put down a bunt and was safe for a single, moving Ehnstrom to 2nd with no outs. Nathan Ehnstrom then flew out to right with the runners staying put. Jake McGuire then shot a single to left as Zack Ehnstrom raced home from 2nd with the winning run in a 6-5 Aitkin win in 10 innings.
Freeport 5 6 2 – 5 10 innings
Aitkin 6 17 3 – 6
WP: Zach Ehnstrom 10.0IP 2 runs 6 hits 3k 4bb
Jake McGuire 0.0IP 3 runs 0 hits 0k 2bb 3hp
LP: Andrew Kerzman 9.1 IP 6 runs 17 hits 2k 1bb 1hp
Steam:
Zach Ehnstrom 2-6 2 runs
Nolan Dotzler 2-6 rbi, run
Nathan Ehnstrom 3-6 Hr, 2B, 3 rbi, run
Jake McGuire 2-4 bb, hp, rbi
Drew Paulbeck 1-5
Carson Kullhem 1-5 run
Hunter Hills 3-5 run
Thorin Dunham 1-5 rbi
John McGuire 2-5
Black Sox:
Matt Johnson 1-4 2bb, sb, 2 runs
Bryan Benson 1-3 bb, hp, 2 runs
Jake Braegelmann 2-5 run
Mason Toutges 1-2 sac (2), hp, rbi
Carter Neuenschwander 0-3 sac fly, bb, 2 rbi
Ben Millard 0-4 hp, rbi
Trevor Sawyer 1-5
Iver Papke 0-5
Dominic Ritter 0-3 2bb
Game 2
Freeport kept their season alive with a 5-3 win in Game 2 over Aitkin as Ryan Herdering threw a Complete Game for the Black Sox.
The Steam scored all 3 of their runs in the top of the 2nd when Carson Kullhem led off with a bunt single, then Hunter Hills slammed a double. Thorin Dunham then added another double, driving in both Kullhem and Hills to make it 2-0. Jake McGuire then sacrificed Dunham to 3rd, where he scored on a Zach Ehnstrom rbi single and it was 3-0.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Matt Johnson led off with a single, followed by a walk to Bryan Benson. After a double steal, Jake Braegelmann walked to load the bases with no outs. Mason Toutges then cleared the bases with 3-run double to center to tie the game at 3-3. Carter Neuenschwander then got hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch put men at 2nd and 3rd. Ben Millard then drove in Toutges with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3 after 3 innings.
Aitkin loaded the bases in the top of the 6th on a Carson Kullhem single, an error and a hit batter before Zach Ehnstrom lined out to right fielder Mason Toutges to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th, Freeport made it 5-3 on an rbi double with 1 out from Matt Johnson.
Ryan Herdering retired Aitkin in order in both the 7th and 8th innings, giving the Steam one more shot in the top of the 9th. Herdering got a pop out to shortstop Matt Johnson and a groundout to 2nd baseman Dominic Ritter. A Zach Ehnstrom 2-out single brought the potential tying run to the plate with 2 outs, but Herdering got Nolan Dotzler to pop up to Dominic Ritter at 2nd to end the game with the Black Sox winning 5-3 to force a 3rd game on Sunday in Aitkin.
Aitkin 3 7 0 – 3
Freeport 5 5 1 – 5
WP: Ryan Herdering 9.0IP 3 runs 7 hits 5k 2bb 1hp
LP: Jake McGuire 2.0IP 4 runs 3 hits 1k 3bb 2hp
Drew Paulbeck 6.0IP 1 run 2 hits 3k 5bb
Black Sox:
Matt Johnson 2-4 2B, bb, 3 sb, rbi, run
Bryan Benson 1-2 3bb, 2 sb, run
Jake Braegelmann 0-3 2bb, run
Mason Toutges 1-3 2B, hp, 3 rbi, run
Carter Neuenschwander 0-3 hp
Ben Millard 1-3 sac fly, rbi
Trevor Sawyer 0-2 bb
– Nate Winter 0-1
Iver Papke 0-3 bb, run
Dominic Ritter 0-3 sac
Steam:
Zach Ehnstrom 2-5 sb, rbi
– Tanner Hills 0-0
Nolan Dotzler 0-5
Nathan Ehnstrom 0-2 2bb, sb
Jake McGuire 1-4 sac
Drew Paulbeck 0-4
Carson Kullhem 2-4 run
Hunter Hills 1-4 2B, run
Thorin Dunham 1-4 2B, 2 rbi, run
John McGuire 0-2 hp