SHAKOPEE — It’s been an impressive start to the state tournament for the Crow River Valley League, and the Cologne Hollanders kept that rolling. Making their second state tournament appearance in a row and the fourth time in team history, Cologne pushed the CRVL’s record to a perfect 5-0 with an impressive 7-3 win over the Morris Eagles.
The Hollanders got off to a hot start in the win as they wasted no time in getting things going. After Ben Schefers retired the Eagles in order in the top of the first, Cologne went to work in the bottom half. Tanner Luebke opened the inning with a lead-off double and was moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt from Casey Clemensen. With a chance to strike first, Carter Clemensen delivered with an RBI single to give the Hollanders a 1-0 lead through an inning of play.
Morris had the answer in the top of the second as they evened things up with a run of their own. A pair of singles and an error loaded the bases with nobody out. A hit batter evened the game at one, but Cologne got out of the inning with just the one run allowed thanks to a strikeout and a double play.
After watching Morris answer back in its half of the second, it was Cologne’s turn to respond. A pair of errors pushed across the go-ahead run for the Hollanders as they took a 2-1 lead to the third inning.
The Eagles had one last answer in them as they evened things up in the top half of the third with a run of their own. From that point on, it was all Hollanders as they scored five unanswered runs the rest of the way to secure their spot in the second weekend.
Carter Clemensen continued his big season to help lead the way for the Hollanders in the win. Coming off winning the CRVL Class C batting title, he went 4-for-4 with two RBI to kick off his state tournament. Luebke added two hits and scored two runs out of the leadoff spot while Quinn Cloutier also drove in one run.
On the mound, Schefers recorded the win for the Hollanders. He went six and a third innings and allowed one earned run on seven hits while striking out eight. Greyson McKinney closed the door for Cologne with two and a two-thirds innings of relief to send them to the next round.
For Morris, Mac Beyer, Alex Asmus, and Jack Kehoe each finished with hits apiece in the loss.
With the win, Cologne will take on the Richmond Royals Saturday, Aug. 29 in Jordan at 4 p.m. in the second round. The Royals are the Region 8C champions and are coming off an 8-1 win over Leavenworth in their opening game.
