Town Ball: Watkins nips Kimball in Region 15C at Elrosa

ELROSA — Matt Geislinger’s RBI single with one out in the top of the ninth lifted the Watkins Clippers past Kimball Express, 4-3 in the Region 15C tournament late Friday.

Geislinger also got the complete-game win, striking out 15 and walking two. The left-hander, a former Minnesota State-Mankato player who also played for the Willmar Stingers, went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Kevin Kramer was 2-for-5 with a double and home run for the Clippers.

The game began at about 9 p.m. because of a rain delay.

Watkins plays for the Region 15C title at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Greenwald.

Kimball plays at 11 a.m. Sunday against the winner of Saturday’s games in Greenwald.

At 11 a.m., St. Martin and Elrosa play in the losers’ bracket. That’s followed by Spring Hill and Lake Henry at 1:30 p.m. The winners clinch state berths and play at 4 p.m. for seeds. The losers are done for the season.

The top four teams from Region 15C advance to the state tournament, which begins Aug. 21-23 in Springfield and Milroy.

Watkins 003 000 001-4 11 0

Kimball 000 300 000-3 4 1

Hitting - Watkins: Kevin Kramer 2-5 r-2 rbi 2b hr, Lincoln Haugen 0-3 r bb-2, Matt Geislinger 2-5 rbi, Brendan Ashton 2-5 r rbi-2 hr, Heath Kramer 2-5, Carter Block 2-4 bb, Carson Geislinger 0-3 bb, Nolan Geislinger 1-3 bb … Kimball: Scott Marquardt 1-4 r, Adam Beyer 0-3 bb, Joe Pennertz 1-3 r rbi bb, Brooks Marquardt 1-4 rbi, Brian Marquardt 1-3 rbi

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Watkins: M. Geislinger (W) 9-4-3-3-2-15 … Kimball: Zak Wallner 6-7-3-3-2-8, Zach Dingmann (L) 3-4-1-1-3-2