Lake Henry took a 1-0 series lead on Farming with a 14-7 victory on Sunday, in Lake Henry.
Paynesville 12
Norway Lake-Sunburg 6
By Aaron Ziemer
Paynesville defeated Norway Lake-Sunburg by a score of 12-6 in Sunburg, on Sunday.
Dan Starken started on the mound for the Pirates and pitched the entire nine innings.
Darren Michaelis and Starken each collected three hits for Paynesville. Both Starken and Michaelis were 3-5 in the game. Chris Soine and Josh Williams each collected two for the Pirates.
Paynesville got on top in the top of the first inning when Michaelis singled to lead off the game. He then stole second and advanced to third and scored on a base hit by Pat Mohs.
After threatening in the top of the second Paynesville allowed the Lakers to tie the game in the bottom of the second.
However, the Pirates came back strong as they scored seven runs in the top of the third to take an early 8-1 lead.
The Lakers made the the score 8-3 in the bottom of the third, but seemed to be playing catch up the rest of the game.
Paynesville kept scoring and finished with a 12-6 victory.
Paynesville will now travel to Melrose to play them in another playoff game. Melrose is the tournaments number one seed. The game will be played in Melrose on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
| Paynesville-- | 107 | 020 | 110 | -12 | 14 | 1 |
| NL-S-- | 012 | 001 | 002 | -6 | 12 | 1 |
Stearns County League
St. Martin 12
Roscoe 10
By Aaron Ziemer
St. Martin defeated Roscoe 12-10 on Sunday, in St. Martin.
Russ Schaefer started on the mound for the Rangers and went five innings and was tagged with the loss. Schaefer allowed twelve hits and nine earned runs during his work on the mound. Greg Heinen threw relief for the Rangers going the rest of the way.
Greg Heinen also led the way for the Rangers at the plate as he was 3-5 in the game. Brent Heinen also had a good game hitting for the Rangers as he was 2-3.
Roscoe got the lead in the top of the first by scoring two. Schaefer drove in Greg Heinen and Tony Orbeck on a single and Roscoe had a quick lead.
The lead didn't last very long though, as St. Martin came back with two in the bottom of the inning. Jeff Schmidt and James Burg hit back-to-back homers for St. Martin to tie the game at two.
It didn't stay tied long as St. Martin added another run in the bottom of the second then in the bottom of the third took the lead on a two-run home run by Sam Rothstein.
Roscoe was able to get two more back to make it a one-run game at 5-4, but St. Martin added three more in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-4 lead.
No matter what the Rangers did to get back in the game, St. Martin just kept scoring.
Dale Mackedanz pulled the Rangers within two in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer to make the score 11-9, St. Martin.
Roscoe once again allowed St. Martin to score, to make the score 12-9. The Rangers added one more run in the ninth, but it was not enough and they fell 12-10.
Roscoe will now face elimination, but will host St. Martin in the second game of the series on Sunday in Roscoe at 1:30 p.m.
| Roscoe-- | 200 | 220 | 121 | -10 | 11 | 0 |
| St. Martin-- | 212 | 310 | 21X | -12 | 16 | 1 |
Lake Henry 14
Farming 7
By Aaron Ziemer
Lake Henry took a 1-0 series lead on Farming with a 14-7 victory on Sunday, in Lake Henry.
Tim Lieser started on the mound for Lake Henry and pitched five innings earning the win.
Mike Stalboerger had a huge game at the plate going 3-4 with two doubles and a three-run home run and eight RBIs. Ryan Wuertz was also 3-4 with two RBIs and Herbie Weidner was 2-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs for Lake Henry.
In the first inning Stalboerger drove in six runs. He had a three-run double and a three-run homer in the inning as the Lakers scored 11 first inning runs.
Farming tried to chip their way back into the game, but came up short losing 14-7.
The Lakers hold a one-game lead in the best two games of a three-game series. They will travel to Farming on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to go for the final win of the series.
Exhibitions
Paynesville 10
Kingston 3
By Aaron Ziemer
Paynesville defeated Kingston 10-3, on Wednesday night, July 7, in Paynesville.
Dan Starken started on the mound and went two innings, just to get ready for the playoff game on Sunday. Pat Mohs, Chris Stanley, and Jason Schlecht threw relief for Paynesville. Stanley earned the victory for the Pirates.
Darren Michaelis led the Pirates at the plate as he was 4-5 with a home run, a triple, and two singles. Michaelis only missed a double to hit for the cycle. Chris Soine, Chris Stanley, Jeremy Reiter and Aaron Ziemer all had two hits in the game for the Pirates.
Paynesville gained a 1-0 advantage in the third inning, but Kingston was able to get the run back and take a lead at 3-1, in the top of the fourth.
The Pirates did not roll over as they scored five in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead.
Paynesville had a scare late in the game, though. Pirate second baseman, Shannon Olmscheid, singled and drove in a run and was trying to advance to second on the throw, when he turned his ankle on the base. Olmscheid was forced to come out of the game.
Even without Olmscheid in the lineup the Pirates were able to score more runs and defeat Kingston by a count of 10-3.
This was a good win for the Pirates heading into the playoff game.
| Kingston-- | 000 | 120 | 000 | -3 | 4 | 3 |
| Paynesville-- | 001 | 015 | 03X | -10 | 16 | 2 |
Luxemburg 9
Roscoe 1
By Aaron Ziemer
Luxemburg defeated Roscoe 9-1, on Wednesday night in Luxemburg.
Mike Heinen started on the mound and was relieved by Chris VanderBeek, Tony Orbeck, and Dale Mackedanz.
Orbeck also led the Rangers in hitting as he was 2-4 with a double in the game. Dale Mackedanz also was 2-4 for the Rangers.
Luxemburg took the lead by scoring two in both the third and fourth innings, then in the fifth they doubled their score by scoring four to make the score 8-0.
Luxemburg then added one more in the sixth to take a 9-0 lead.
Roscoe got their only run in the eighth when VanderBeek singled and came around to score on a single by Dale Mackedanz.
That gave the Rangers their only run of the game and Luxemburg cruised to the easy victory.
Regal 4
Brainerd 3
Brainerd 8
Regal 6
By Michael Pauly
Regal traveled to Brainerd for a double header on Saturday and came out 1-1 in the two seven inning games.
In the first game Regal won by the score of 4-3. Mike Beier pitched the complete game for the win.
The Eagles managed only five hits in the game but made good use of the hits. Mike Beier was 2-3 with an RBI; Tim Haines, Jeff Deming, and Wade Thonvold each had hits.
In the second game Regal lost to Brainerd by the score of 8-6. Jeremy Glenz started and took the loss with Tim Haines coming in relief.
Regal had eleven hits in this game, Brad Lieser got hot going 3-4 with a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Mike Tangen, Haines, and Randy Beier each had two hits.
Regal will next travel to Litchfield on Sunday, July 18, for a 1:30 p.m. game.
Regal 9
Ultimate 8
Regal traveled to Dick Putz Field on Tuesday night to take on Ultimate Sports in an exhibition game which Regal won by the score of 9-8.
Regal took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on singles by Mike Tangen, Tim Haines, and Ron Fuchs.
Ultimate tied the score in the bottom of the second.
Regal added two runs in the fourth and Ultimate came back and added two runs also in the fourth inning. This made the score 3-3.
In the fifth Regal scored three runs. Fuchs hit a solo home run and Brad Lieser hit a two-run home run after Jeff Deming had singled.
In the sixth inning Ultimate made the score 6-4 on a solo home run.
In the seventh inning Regal scored once on singles by Fuchs, Wade Thonvold, and Lieser.
Regal scored their last two runs in the eighth inning on singles by Mike Beier, Mike Tangen, Tim Haines, and Thonvold.
Ultimate made a last inning come back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. This made the final score 9-8 for Regal.
| Regal-- | 100 | 230 | 120 | -9 | 17 | 3 |
| Ultimate-- | 010 | 201 | 004 | -8 | 13 | 2 |