Plato picks off NLS Twins in quarters, 6-0
COLD SPRING – Facing righty Tony Kley, the New London-Spicer Twins had small margin for error.
The Twins gave him more help than the draftee from the Winsted Wildcats needed with a four-pack of early errors as the County Line League standouts lost to the Plato Blue Jays (27-7) by a 6-0 score on Saturday at Springer Park.
The third-round loss knocked the Twins (23-13) out of the Show while the Jays move into Sunday’s Class C semifinal round in Watkins.
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The 30-year-old-Kley, whom Raymond Rockets’ veteran manager Butch Steen describes as one of the “Two or Three” best arms in small-town amateur baseball, allowed five hits over eight innings.
“All I saw was fastballs,” said Andrew Bangen, who singled twice. “The ump was giving him the outside of the plate which made him pretty tough. I was lucky. I got a couple down the middle.”
The Twins booted the ball around the first three innings contributing to the quick demise of Farming Flames’ draftee Brad Mergen. Austen Hadley, the Regal ace, finished up in long relief. He endured a line drive off his right foot that sent him crashing to the mound in the sixth. He stayed in put lost some sharpness, for a time, and the Plato bunch jumped on the opportunity for two security runs.
Scott Rambow, his cousin Jake Rambow, and Mike Danielson also singled for the Twins, who were making their fifth appearance in the State tournament.
The Blue Jays, making their third straight State trip in a row, are stacked with former Glencoe-Silver Lake Panthers. Plato is midway between Glencoe and Norwood Young America on U.S. 212.
Nearly a full stadium watched the game in one of Minnesota’s signature amateur baseball parks on the 87-degree afternoon.
