LEGION BASEBALL: Post 6 downs Windom 12-2 to punch ticket to district tournament

WINDOM — Scoring five runs in the first inning and pushing six more base runners across home plate in the sixth inning Sunday evening, Pipestone Post 6 claimed a 12-2 victory over Windom Post 206 in the final game of the Sub-District A American Legion baseball tournament at Island Park.

Pipestone (12-5) advances as the second seed out of the sub-district and will play in the Division II, Second District tournament that begins Friday in Redwood Falls. Luverne also qualified and is the top seed out of the sub-district.

Windom’s season comes to an end, as the host team won a pair of elimination games Sunday afternoon before falling to Pipestone. Windom defeated Okabena (4-3) and Slayton (10-2) to advance to the final game of the losers’ bracket, finishing third in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

Pipestone strikes early, takes 5-0 first-inning lead against Windom

Pipestone’s Matt Haraldson (six innings, four strikeouts, two walks) retired 14 of the first 17 batters that he faced, including all three Windom hitters that came to the plate in the top of the first inning.

Jason Nettik (2-for-3) led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle. Nettik then stole second base and scored on Carl Johnson’s RBI single down the right-field line, giving Pipestone a quick 1-0 lead.

Mark Abrahamson (2-for-4) reached on an error before Tyler Rieck (3-for-4) ripped an RBI single to left field, driving in Johnson for a 2-0 Pipestone lead. Abrahamson and Rieck later scored on groundballs off the bats of Taylor Delaney (fielder’s choice) and Nathan Dubbelde (error).

Delaney scored Pipestone’s fifth run of the frame after Windom starter Collin Lovell (5 1/3 innings, four strikeouts, three walks) issued back-to-back walks to Haraldson and Nettik (RBI), giving Post 6 an early 5-0 cushion.

Haraldson kept Windom from mounting a threat over the next four innings, allowing just a walk to Lovell in the second, a bunt single to Drake Borsgard (2-for-3) in the third and a walk to Tim Larson in the fifth.

“Matt did a nice job considering how hot it was today,” Pipestone manager Steve Moffitt said after the game. “He gave us six good innings, as he worked ahead in the count and let the defense play behind him.”

Lovell also started to get into a groove, retiring nine consecutive batters from the end of the first through the first two outs in the fourth. Lovell worked 1-2-3 frames in the second and third innings, fanning a pair batters, inducing two ground-ball outs, and recording two outs via fly balls.

Pipestone did score once in the fourth, as Johnson (2-for-3) was hit by a pitch with two outs. Abrahamson followed with a booming RBI double to the left-field fence, as Johnson scored from first to make it 6-0.

Rieck then singled to center field, where Borsgard fielded the ball and fired a perfect one-hop strike to catcher Danny Kneeland to nail Abrahamson trying to score from second.

“That was a great throw by Windom’s center fielder,” Moffitt said. “Windom is a good team and may have run out of gas playing for the third time in one day. They played very well in this tournament, and we had to come out ready to go from the start, which we did pretty well.”

Windom trimmed the gap to 6-2 with a pair of runs in the sixth, as Andy Pfeffer and Borsgard smacked consecutive singles to start the inning. Brandon Thongvivong advanced the runners to second and third with a well-executed sacrifice bunt.

Joel Riordan came through with a big two-run single into the gap in right-center, plating Pfeffer and Borsgard to make it a four-run spread and giving Windom a potential rally.

Haraldson, though, retired the next two batters to end the threat. Pipestone then ended the game in the bottom half of the frame.

Austin Evans (run) coaxed a lead-off walk, and eight straight singles ensued. Haraldson, Nettik (run), Johnson (RBI, run), Abrahamson (RBI, run), Rieck (RBI, run), Jadon Evans (run), Gunner Manderscheid (2-for-2, RBI) and Josh Mabon (RBI) strung together eight consecutive singles for Pipestone, which won via the 10-run rule.

“We are usually a tough team to beat when we come out of the gates strong,” Moffitt said. “The hitting barrage started from the beginning, and everyone contributed with good at-bats at the plate. This was a real nice win.”

R H E

Windom 000 002 — 2 4 2

Pipestone 500 106 — 12 14 0

Windom 4, Okabena 3

WINDOM — Scoring two runs in each of the first two innings, Windom took an early lead and held off Okabena in the first of three elimination games Sunday afternoon at Island Park.

Sal Caballero pitched five innings to earn the win for Windom, striking out three batters and issuing two walks. Joel Riordan, Danny Kneeland, Zach Bartosh (double) and Andy Pfeffer (RBI) each had base hits for Windom.

Alex Meyer pitched four innings for Okabena (4-13), striking out four batters and issuing three walks. Aaron Fest tossed two innings of scoreless relief, striking out two batters and walking one.

Meyer led Okabena at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a single. Alex Olsem and Austin Droll each had an RBI single, while Jacob Olson also had a base hit.

R H E

Okabena 010 020 0 — 3 5 3

Windom 220 000 X — 4 4 0

Windom 10, Slayton 2

WINDOM — Zach Bartosh (two strikeouts, two walks) twirled a complete-game gem, helping Windom defeat Slayton in the second elimination game Sunday at Island Park.

Andy Pfeffer (2-for-4, two RBIs), Brandon Thongvivong (2-for-4, RBI), Jacob Johnson (2-for-2), and Collin Lovell (1-for-3, three RBIs) were among the leading hitters for Windom, which scored nine runs in the sixth inning to break the game open.

Chris Halbur (2-for-3) and Trent Carlson each belted a double for Slayton, while Sam Nystevold (one strikeout, two walks) hurled 5 1/3 innings on the mound.

R H E

Windom 000 009 1 — 10 11 1

Slayton 000 001 1 — 2 7 0

Slayton 7, Edgerton 5

WINDOM — Frank Spartz, Ryan Erickson and Chris Halbur each had two hits, and Slayton scored six runs in the fifth inning to defeat Edgerton in an elimination game Saturday night at Island Park.

Sam Erickson picked up the win on the mound, striking out one batter and walking one in five innings out of the bullpen.

Alex Van’t Hof pitched 5 1/3 innings for Edgerton, striking out six batters and issuing six walks. He also cracked a double at the plate.

Dominic Nibbelink was 2-for-4 to lead Edgerton, which led 4-0 after four innings.

R H E

Edgerton 202 001 0 — 5 7 1

Slayton 000 061 X — 7 10 1

Tags: sports, baseball, pipestone, slayton, edgerton, okabena, windom