The Aitkin Steam clinched their spot in the upcoming Region 9C Tournament with a 9-0 win over the Freeport Black Sox on Sunday in Aitkin. This game was necessary because the 2 teams split their doubleheader on Saturday. The middle innings were the key for Aitkin, as they scored all 9 of their runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings.
Freeport threatened in the top of the 3rd, getting 3 singles from Iver Papke, Matt Johnson and Jake Braegelmann to load the bases, but Nathan Ehnstrom struck out Mason Toutges to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th, Zach Ehnstrom led off with a single against starter Ryan Liebrenz, followed by another hit from Nolan Dotzler. After a strikeout, Jake McGuire belted a 2-run double to put the Steam on the board. Drew Paulbeck reached on a 2-out error and then McGuire scored on a double steal and it was 3-0 after 4 innings.
In the bottom of the 5th, Thorin Dunham walked and then scored on a 2-out rbi single from Nolan Dotzler to make it 4-0. Nathan Ehnstrom followed with a single to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Jake McGuire then blasted a 3-run Homer to left to put Aitkin ahead 7-0 after 5 innings.
Then in the bottom of the 6th, Aitkin pushed across 2 more runs on a Thorin Dunham rbi single and a run-scoring single by Carson Kullhem to make it 9-0 and that was all the scoring as Freeport had just 3 baserunners after the 4th inning.
The loss ends the season for Freeport, while the Steam advance to the Region 9C Tournament, where they will face the #1 seeded Pierz Lakers on Friday night at Hellie Field.
Freeport 0 6 1 – 0
Aitkin 9 10 0 – 9
WP: Nathan Ehnstrom 7.0IP 0 runs 5 hits 6k 0bb
Tanner Hills 2.0IP 0 runs 1 hit 3k 1bb
LP: Ryan Liebrenz 5.0IP 8 runs 6 hits 7k 2bb
Dominic Ritter 3.0IP 1 run 4 hits 4k 0bb 1hp
Steam:
Zach Ehnstrom 2-5 run
Nolan Dotzler 2-3 rbi, 2 runs
– Landon Janzen 0-0 hp
Nathan Ehnstrom 1-4 run
Jake McGuire 2-4 Hr, 2B, 5 rbi, 2 runs
Jake Ince 0-3
– Tucker Holm 0-1
Drew Paulbeck 0-2 bb, sb, run
– John Pelarski 0-1
Hunter Hills 0-3
– John McGuire 1-1 sb
Thorin Dunham 1-3 bb, rbi, 2 runs
Carson Kullhem 1-4 rbi
Black Sox:
Matt Johnson 1-3 bb
Bryan Benson 1-4
Jake Braegelmann 1-3
– Ben Mettenburg 0-1
Mason Toutges 1-4
Ryan Liebrenz 0-3
– Carter Neuenschwander 0-1
Ben Millard 1-3
– Nate Winter 0-1
Trevor Sawyer 0-2
– Cody Rose 0-2
Iver Papke 1-3
Dominic Ritter 0-3