Comeback Cubs
Crosby rallies in its last at bat for second-straight dayBy MICHAEL LINNELL, Sports Editor mlinnell@minotdailynews.com
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GARRISON - Start calling Crosby's American Legion Baseball team the "Comeback Cubs."
For the second straight game, Crosby rallied in their last at bat to earn a place in today's Section 6 Tournament winner's bracket with a 12-8 win over Watford City Thursday at Garrison.
"It would be nice to have an easy one and keep the lead, but these are fun too," Crosby's staring pitcher Austin Dhuyvetter said.
Dhuyvetter was somewhat responsible for the nail biting in the Cubs dugout. After Crosby took a 4-0 lead with runs in the first, second and third innings, Watford City started to threaten. The Walleye scored two runs in the third as Kevin Sanford knocked in two with a single, but Dhuyvetter got out of the inning with the lead. WC had the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth, before Dhuyvetter earned a strikeout, pop out and a ground out to end the threat. In the fifth, the Walleye had runners on the corners with no outs, but Dhuyvetter bared down to get a force out at home and two pop outs to end the inning.
"That happens a lot. I seem to struggle early," he said.
His luck ran out in the sixth as he loaded the bases on a Ty Skarda single, a hit batsman, a fielder's choice and a throwing error. Tyler Fixen promptly cleared the bases and tied the game with a grand slam to left.
"I thought about taking him out a couple of times and was thinking about going to Kyle (Stephens) with the No. 9 hitter up to give him a chance to throw to someone before the top of the order," Cubs head coach Monte Ellingson said. "But he talked me out of it."
The Cubs, however, had plenty left in the offensive tank. Crosby started the rally like they ended it Wednesday night, getting two hit batters. Dane Dhuyvetter and Brock Overbo, who were hit to start the inning, moved up on a wild pitch and Dane Dhuyvetter came home on Morgan Jacobs' sacrifice fly. Overbo scored on a suicide squeeze play by Chase Haggin and the Cubs finished with six runs in the inning, without a hit in the inning.
"We have good speed on the bases and I like to be aggressive and make the other teams make plays," Ellingson said.
"I appreciated the runs a lot after given up the grand slam," Austin Dhuyvetter said. "(Rallying Wednesday) helped a lot. We know we can do it. We got the job done both days."
Kenny Liebel hit a two-run home run to try to rally the Walleye one more time in the bottom of the seventh, but Stephens closed the door on WC. Liebel went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and Fixen was 2-for-3.
Crosby, who take on Makoti today at 10 a.m. in a semifinal, had two hits from Chase Hagen. Stephens had a three-run triple and Aaron Winfaldet was 1-3 with a RBI double and a stolen base.
Loser out
Garrison-Max-Central McLean 13, Ray 11
Garrison-Max-Central McLean built a 9-4 lead and held off hard charging Ray 13-11 to escape the tournament's first loser out game.
Evan Nelson came on in relief in the seventh and shut the door on Ray to earn a save and keep the Titans' season alive. Sam Hultberg earned the win on the hill, only giving up six hits, but 11 runs.
Ray was able to get three runs in the fourth and fifth innings and tacked on another in the sixth to get close, but couldn't keep the Titans from scoring. G-M-CM scored two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings, countering the momentum by Ray.
Levi Solen suffered the loss on the hill, but went 2-for-3 at the plate for Ray. Ryan Perdue's only hit of the game was a two-run home run and Kolton Jungemann scored two runs.
Hultberg helped his own cause with a 2-for-4 showing at the plate for G-M-CM. Jake Fannik had three hits and two RBIs.
Watford City 12, Tioga 2 (6)
Watford City exploded for five runs in the sixth inning to end Tioga's run in the tournament, defeating Tioga 12-2 by virtue of the 10-run rule in the sixth inning. The game stayed close for much of the way as the Walleye only led 4-2 entering the bottom of the fourth ininng. WC, however, scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and added five in the sixth.
Christian Schulz earned the win on the hill for the Walleye, while Tyler Lalim suffered the loss.
Nathan Sem had two hits to pace Tioga in the loss.
Kevin Sanford went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for WC. Daylen Langerud and Ty Skarda each had two hits for the Walleye. WC moves on to face Renville County today in loser out action at 12:30 p.m.
Renville County 14, Garrison-Max-Central McLean 8
Renville County gave up an early lead, but rallied for six runs in the top of the seventh to keep its hopes alive, winning 14-8 over Garrison-Max-Central McLean.
John Nilsen stopped the bleeding for the Muskrats as he went the final two innings of no-hit ball in relief to get the win.
RC built a 7-0 lead after two innings, but the Titans scored three in the fourth and five in the fifth to tie the game at eight. Dan Gackle and Ramsey Crawford each collected two hits.
Jared Helming finished the game with a solid 4-for-5 performance including a double and four RBIs. Brady Hefter added three hits for the Muskrats. RC continues today with a clash with Watford City at 12:30 p.m. The winner takes on the loser of the Crosby-Makoti winner's bracket game at 3 p.m.
