Jul. 8—RAYMOND — It wasn’t until the seventh inning when two of the best teams in the Corn Belt League got on the board.
The Bird Island Bullfrogs broke through with a run in the top half of the seventh. But the host Raymond Rockets tacked on two runs in the bottom half. That 2-1 lead would hold for Raymond as they came away the winner Wednesday at Lilleberg Field.
With the victory, the Rockets move to second in the Corn Belt with an 8-2 record (.800 winning percentage) while the Bullfrogs drop to third at 9-3 (.750).
In the top of the seventh, Bird Island’s Braeden Tersteeg got on base with a single. He then got to second on a Colten Minkel single and finally reached home on a base hit from Logan Swann.
Raymond responded quickly as Tyler Steen, who went 2-for-5, led off the bottom of the seventh with a double before reaching home on a single by the next batter, Caleb Ditmarson. Later in the inning, Ditmarson scored the game-winning run on a grounder by Justin Koenen.
The Bullfrogs had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the ninth. Rockets relief pitcher John Sawatzky was able to coax an infield popup for the final out, locking up the Raymond win. Sawatzky picked up the win after striking out five over three innings. Ditmarson started the game for the Rockets, striking out five with no runs, six hits and four walks allowed in six innings.
Bird Island finished with 11 hits, led by a 3-for-4 effort from Minkel. Tersteeg and Tyler Hebrink both finished 2-for-5.
Casey Lewandowski was charged with the loss despite striking out 10 with five hits and no walks surrendered in eight innings.
Raymond will host the Starbuck Stars at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Bird Island will open the Jordan Brewers Coors Light Classic at 10 a.m. Saturday against the Sartell Muskies. The tournament will conclude on Sunday.
Raymond 2,
Bird Island 1
Bird Island 000 000 100-1 11 1
Raymond 000 000 200-2 5 1
Hitting — Bird Island: Braeden Tersteeg 2-5 r, Colten Minkel 3-4 bb, Logan Swann 1-5 rbi, Tyler Hebrink 2-5, Trent Athmann 1-3 2b bb sac, Dylan Gass 1-2 bb sac, Shawn Dollerschell 1-4 … Raymond: Paxton Nelson 1-3 hbp sb, Tyler Steen 2-4 2b r, Brett Swanson 1-3, Caleb Ditmarson 1-1 r rbi, Justin Koenen 0-3 rbi
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Bird Island: Casey Lewandowski (L) 8-5-2-2-0-10 … Raymond: Ditmarson 6-6-0-0-4-5, John Sawatzky (W) 3-5-1-1-1-5
Milroy 3,
Willmar 1
David Schmidt and Aaron Mathiowetz both drew bases-loaded walks in the top of the ninth inning to put the Milroy Yankees past the Willmar Rails at Bill Taunton Stadium.
Zach Reierson finished 2-for-4 at the plate for Willmar. Gunnar Banks was 1-for-4 with a double and scored the Rails’ lone run on a Milroy error in the fifth.
Milroy leads the Corn Belt League with a 9-1 record. Willmar (4-5 Corn Belt) plays host to the Starbuck Stars at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Milroy 010 000 002-3 6 1
Willmar 000 010 000-1 7 1
Hitting — Milroy: Jake Tauer 1-4 3b r bb, Andy Schmidt 2-5, Matt Bauer 2-4 r bb, Cory Apperson 1-4 rbi, David Schmidt 0-4 rbi bb, Aaron Mathiowetz 0-3 rbi bb-2, Jackson Hughes 0-3 r bb … Willmar: Gunnar Banks 1-4 2b r, Jayden Dierenfeld 1-3 bb, Ashton Gregory 1-4, Jack Baumgart 1-4, Zak Madsen 1-4, Zach Reierson 2-4
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Milroy: Josh Hadley 5-6-1-0-1-3, Nathan Deutz (W) 4-1-0-0-1-6 … Willmar: Jordan Steffer 6 1/3-3-1-1-5-3, Adam Herman (L) 2 1/3-3-2-2-5-0, Reierson 1/3-0-0-0-0-0
Marshall 10, Granite Falls 1
Matt Hmielewski pitched a two-hitter, striking out 15, to lead the Marshall A’s past the Granite Falls Kilowatts at Richter Field.
Hmielewski allowed one earned run and walked three. He also went 2-for-5 with two runs, a double and three RBI. Joe Rock was 3-for-5 with a run, an RBI and a double for the A’s (6-5 Corn Belt).
Marshall scored eight runs in the eighth inning after leading 2-1 through seven.
Granite Falls (3-6 Corn Belt) got hits from Bennett Knapper and Christian Kanten. Granite Falls’ next scheduled game is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 14 at Raymond.
Marshall 000 020 080-10 11
Granite Falls 000 010 000-1 2 1
Hitting — Marshall: Matt Hmilewski 2-5 r-2 rbi-3 2b, Joe Rock 3-5 r rbi 2b, Mason Penske 1-4 r, Zach Olson 1-4 r rbi, Logan Tomasek 1-4 r rbi, Ryan Schwagel 1-4 r rbi 2b hbp, Jordan Mernaugh 2-4 r-2, Peyton Grant 0-5 rbi, Rusty Swanson 0-2 r rbi … Granite Falls: Bennett Knapper 1-4, Zac Enevoldson 0-2 r, Christian Kanten 1-2 hbp
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Marshall: Amielewski (W) 9-2-1-1-3-15 … Granite Falls: Adam Brewers (L) 7 2/3 -8-10-4-5-3, Kanten 1 1/3-3-0-0-0-4
North Star
D-C 5, Litchfield 1
Jordan Flick tossed a five-hitter to lead the Dassel-Cokato Saints past the Litchfield Blues at Dassel.
Flick struck out five and walked two, scattering five hits and allowing one earned run. He threw 113 pitches, 76 for strikes. He threw 25 first-pitch strikes to the 34 batters he faced.
For Litchfield, Winky Estrada went 2-for-3 and Dylan Koll was 1-for-3 with a run, a double, a walk, and a stolen base.
Litchfield (5-8 North Star) plays host to Buffalo at 7 p.m. Friday. The Bulldogs lead the North Star with a 12-2 record. Dassel-Cokato is 5-11 in the league.
Litchfield 010 000 000-1 5 5
D-C 110 002 01x-5 9 0
Hitting — Litchfield: Cody Klabunde 0-3 hbp, Jake Jones 1-4, Brady Smith 0-3 bb, Dylan Koll 1-3 r bb 2b sb, Ben Alsleben 1-3 rbi, Winky Estrada 2-3 … D-C: Paul Jacobson 1-3 bb, Steve Boger 0-3 bb, Ben Lindquist 1-4 r sb-2, Tyler Brandel 2-3 r-2 rbi bb sb, Mike Leffler 2-4 r sb-2, Collin Krick 1-3 r rbi bb, Dylan Weber 1-4, Noah Halonen 1-3 rbi sb
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Litchfield: Smith (L) 6-9-4-3-2-6, Jack Ramthun 2-0-1-0-2-2 … D-C: Jordan Flick (W) 9-5-1-1-2-5