Legion Baseball: Marshall eliminates Willmar

LITCHFIELD -- Marshall shot out of the gate and made life easier for pitcher Ben Sanders, who didn't allow the Willmar Legion to score until the final inning in an 8-1 win Friday night in the District 7, Division I losers' bracket final.

Marshall's tournament success was short-lived, however. Alex defeated Marshall 10-8 on Saturday to win the district championship.

Against Willmar, Marshall scored three runs in the first inning and two Willmar errors helped them score twice more in the fifth inning.

That was more than enough run support for Sanders, who worked a complete game and allowed 10 hits but just the one run.

Marshall's Riley Carpenter and Michael Donnahar both drove in a pair of runs.

Willmar's Ryan Horning was 2-for-4 and drove in the team's only runs. Jason Gunvalson and Tim Rogers also had a pair of hits for Willmar.

Gunvalson and teammate Patrick Courtney joined Litchfield's Dylan Koll on the district all-tournament team.

Marshall 8, Willmar 1

Marshall 300 020 210 -- 8 8 0

Willmar 000 000 001 -- 1 10 2

HITTING - Marshall: Mason Schnaible 2-for-5, Ben Sanders 2-for-4, Riley Carpenter 1-for-4 2b rbi-2, Michael Donnahar 1-for-3 rbi-2 ... Willmar: Ryan Horning 2-for-4 rbi, Tim Rogers 2-for-4, Jason Gunvalson 2-for-3, Dean Stier 1-for-4, Patrick Courtney 1-for-4, Aaron Wiedemann 1-for-4, Damon Ruter 1-for-5

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) -- Marshall: Sanders (W) 9-10-1-1-3-3 ... Willmar: Dean Stier (L) 6-3-5-3-8-4, Patrick Courtney 2-4-3-3-5-1, Logan Wigton 1-1-0-0-0-0