LISMORE - Worthington rallied late, but Wilmont’s eight-run fourth was too much to overcome.
The Cubs led 1-0 until seven unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth helped the Cardinals take an 8-1 lead. They rode that to a 10-7 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series in the First Nite and Gopher League playoffs.
Worthington struck first with Ryan Lee scoring on a Wilmont error on a ball hit by Adam Munkel. That held until the home half of the fourth when Justin Saufley ignited the Cardinal offense.
He blasted a solo home run to open the inning that tied it at 1-1. With two outs and Adam Diekmann on second, the Cubs mis-played a fly ball to right. Stuart Rogers ended up on second with Diekmann scoring. Lucas Henning - Wilmont’s starting pitcher - helped himself when he belted a double to left-center that plated Tyler Hatterman and Jay Scheidt.Another two-out hit, this one by Diekmann, scored Blake Rogers and Saufley to bring the score to 8-1.
“Good teams capitalize on those mistakes,” Cubs player/coach Josh Wasmund said.
The Cards were up 10-2 before Worthington came back with five runs in the top of the ninth. The big blow was a Wasmund double that sent AJ Hayenga home.
“A lot of it was seeing (Henning) for the fifth time,” Wasmund said. “I don’t think he lost anything on his fastball or anything but when you see a guy that many times you see the ball better.”
Henning went all nine to get the win for Wilmont. He struck out 11 and surrendered 11 hits. Munkel took the loss for the Cubbies, giving up one earned run and striking out five in five innings. Tristan Sorenson relieved him and gave up one earned.
Saufley went 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs for the Cardinals. Henning drove in two and Joe Ahrens added a homer.
Hayenga went 3-for-5 with two RBIs for Worthington. Wasmund was 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs with Joe Joswiak and Nate Jensen adding two hits each.
The two squads will meet up again for Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Worthington.
R H E
Wor 001 000 015 - 7 11 4
Wil 000 801 01x - 10 9 4
Lakefield 9, Pipestone 1
LAKEFIELD - A power display put on by Lakefield helped it take a 9-1 win over Pipestone Wednesday to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-3 series.
The Frogs went up 1-0 on a solo home run by Bryce Christopher in the bottom of the second. The A’s tied it with one in the fourth, but a three-run bottom of the inning put the home team back on top. Phil Pronk singled in a run before two scored on a double by Taylor Christopher.
That 4-1 lead held until bottom of the seventh when Collyn Hohenstein blasted a three-run homer to put the game away.
The series will shift to Pipestone at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Pipe 000 100 000 - 1
Lake 010 300 41x - 9
Hadley 6, Windom 5
WINDOM - Hadley broke a 5-5 tie with a single run in the top of the ninth to take a Game 1 victory over Windom Wednesday at Island Park.
The Pirates used a four-run fourth to go up 4-3 and still led by one going into the eighth. The Buttermakers tied it with a single run there and broke the tie in the ninth to take a 1-0 series lead.
Nick Bruning earned the win in relief for Hadley. He pitched five innings and allowed one earned on four hits while fanning six. Sam Erickson started and went four innings.
Collin Lovell went all nine and struck out 14 for Windom. He walked eight and gave up three earned runs on 10 hits.
Bruning went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Buttermakers. Alex Petersen also was 2-for-4.
Joel Riordan went 2-for-5 with two batted in for the Pirates. Kirby Johnson and Danny Kneeland both went 2-for-4.
The series resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday in Hadley.
R H E
Had 101 101 011 - 6 10 2
Win 000 401 000 - 5 10 4
Jackson 13, Tracy 2
JACKSON - The home team jumped on Tracy early and never looked back in a 13-2 win in seven innings Wednesday.
Ray Zalabowski cracked a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and the rout was on. Zalabowski added an RBI double in the fourth with Mitch Peschon hitting a solo homer and driving in a run with a double late.
The Express got two in the sixth.
Ryan Rasche got the pitching win for the Bulls, going 5 1/3 and striking out nine. Pat Boggess and Peschon finished it up on the mound.
The Bulls will travel to Tracy at 2 p.m. Saturday for Game 2.
Tracy 000 002 0 - 2
Jack 223 231 x - 13
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