Litchfield reaches 5AA baseball final
ST. CLOUD -- The Litchfield Dragons blew away the Delano Tigers 13-1 in six innings Tuesday to advance to the championship game of the Section 5AA baseball tournament.
Nick Buchette's two-run, two-out single in the top of the fourth expanded a 2-1 lead after one inning of the elimination-round game.
Litchfield (15-10) plays Orono at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The Dragons must beat the Spartans twice to gain state.
Tyler Kielty pitched all six innings for Litchfield. He allowed the Tigers eight hits but only a first-inning run. He walked just one at Faber Field.
Aaron Solbrack's RBI double and Nic Johnson's sacrifice fly produced a 2-0 lead to start the game.
Eric Hulterstrum and Tyler Kielty each had two-run hits in the fifth to up the lead to 8-1. Matt Spreiter finished with three hits.
Delano, which split games with Litchfield in the regular season winning 17-13 and losing 4-3, finishes 14-11.
Litchfield was pushed into the elimination bracket in Monday's 2-0 loss to Orono.
Litchfield 13, Delano 1
Litchfield 200 245 -- 13 10 0
Delano 100 000 -- 1 8 4
HITTING - Litchfield: Nick Buschette 1-for-2, 2 rbi; Aaron Solbrack 2-for-3, 3 runs, 2b, rbi; Shane Gutormson 1-for-3, 2b, run; Eric Hulterstrum 1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 rbi; Tyler Kielty 1-for-4, 3 rbi; Brady Smith 1-for-3, rbi; Matt Spreiter 3-for-4, 2b ... Delano: Justin Polak 2-for-3, 2b; Trevor Jaunich 1-for-3, rbi
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) -- Litchfield: Tyler Kielty (W) 6-8-1-1-1-2 ... Delano: Tyler Wolfe (L) 423-6-8-5-4-4, Jake Gleason 1-2-4-4-1-2, Mike Arens 13-2-1-1-0-1
Section 6A Hawley 15, Morris 5
(At Fergus Falls) -- Hawley scored seven times in the bottom of the fifth inning that ended the Morris baseball season.
Morris trailed 8-5 in the last of the fifth. But Erik Rosenfeldt's two-run homer started a flow of runs on seven hits. Morris pitchers Nate Gades and starter Eric Riley, who took the loss, gave up a combined 12 hits and walked seven.
Morris scored three runs in the first, but trailed 6-3 at the end of two innings.
Nuggets pitcher Joran Clute allowed seven hits, walked two and fanned five.
Dusty Sauter and Mitch Carbert each had a pair of hits for Morris, while Tyler Hansen's double was the only extra-base hit.
Morris finishes 12-12.
Hawley (13-4) will play Wheaton on Friday for the section title.
Morris 301 01 -- 5 7 4
Hawley 240 27 -- 15 12 4
HITTING - Morris: Tyler Hansen 1-for-3, 2b; Dusty Sauter 2-for-3, rbi; Nate Gades 1-for-2, Darrick Henrichs 1-for-3, rbi; Mitch Carbert 2-for-3 ... Hawley: Andy Ulven 2-for-3, Matt Guida 2-for-2, 2 rbi; Andy Regnier 1-for-2, 2b, 3 rbi; Erik Rosenfeldt 2-for-4, 2-run HR, 3 rbi
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) -- Morris: Eric Riley (L) 2-3-6-2-4-1, Nate Gades 213-9-9-5-3-4 ... Hawley: Joran Clute (W) 5-7-5-3-2-5
Section 6AA Staples-Motley 6, Paynesville 2
(At St. Cloud) -- Jordan Riewer tossed a four-hitter to lead Staples-Motley.
Riewer struck out nine in his complete-game win. He also allowed just one walk.
Paynesville's Aaron Savelkoul also went the distance. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits as the Bulldogs committed three errors.
Jason Kampsen led the Bulldogs offense with two hits, including a double. Savelkoul also hit a run-scoring triple.
Tuesday's loss ends the season for Paynesville. The Bulldogs finished the year with an 18-6 record.
Staples-Motley 211 001 1 -- 6 7 0
Paynesville 000 020 0 -- 2 4 3
HITTING - Staples-Motley: Trevor Ness 1-for-3, 2b; Gunner Johnson 1-for-4; Alec Jensen 1-for-3, Anthony Jenkins 1-for-4; Devin Becker 1-for-3; Trevor Smith 1-for-2 ... Paynesville: Aaron Savelkoul 1-for-3, 3b, rbi; Jason Kampsen 2-for-3, 2b; Shane Kampsen 1-for-3
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) -- Staples-Motley: Jordan Riewer (W) 7-4-2-2-1-9 ... Paynesville: Aaron Savelkoul (L) 7-7-6-4-1-2
