New Market claims Region championship

New Market earned the Region 3C Championship and a first-round bye at the State Class C Baseball tournament with a 3-1 win over Prior Lake Friday, Aug. 9. The tournament begins Friday, Aug. 16, at Delano, Maple Lake and Dassel.

The Muskies earned the bye for the second straight season. They will begin their quest for a state championship Sunday, Aug. 25, at 4:30 p.m. at Maple Lake, playing either Carver or Luverne.

Three other Dakota-Rice- Scott League teams will play in the tournament’s opening weekend. St. Patrick faces Cold Spring Friday, Aug. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Delano. St. Benedict takes on Waterville Sunday, Aug. 18, at 1:30 p.m. in Delano and Prior Lake faces Foley at 1:30 p.m Saturday, Aug. 17, in Maple Lake.

In two tournament games last week, St. Patrick defeated St. Benedict to advance to the championship game, then lost to New Market in the finals.

Irish 3, Saints 2 Jack Friedges went 3-for-5 and scored two runs for St. Patrick as they defeated St. Benedict 3-2 in an elimination game Wednesday, Aug. 7, in New Prague. Will Walsh drove in two runners in the top of the third inning with a double and Matt Ambroz had the other RBI with a double in the fourth inning. After St. Patrick took the 2-0 lead, St. Benedict responded with two runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game. Mitchell Martin and Andrew Huss had the RBIs, driving in Jeremy Heitkamp and Wade Olsen. Huss and Carter Johnson had two hits each for the Saints. Zach Seurer started for the Irish and went six innings, allowing six hits and striking out seven to get the win. Nick Spitt came on in relief and pitched three shutout innings, striking out five and earning the save. Alex Donkers started for St. Benedict and took the loss. Trey Kocher pitched five innings of hitless relief.

Muskies 3, Irish 1 In a game with many twists and turns, New Market outlasted St. Patrick 3-1 in Veseli Friday, Aug. 9, to claim the Region 3C Championship and a first round bye at the state tournament. Philip Garcia allowed just four hits in six innings of work, but six walks, a pair of hit batters and a couple of errors allowed the Muskies to score single runs in the first and third to take a 2-0 lead. Both teams had chances to have big innings, with both teams leaving the bases loaded at least once. St. Patrick had nine hits off New Market starter Riley Ahern, but couldn’t bring anyone home. Their lone run came in the top of the eighth on a solo home run to left by Seth Ambroz. New Market added a run in the bottom of the ninth thanks to another error that allowed Dan Phyle to score. Tony Vocca pitched the final three innings and got the save for New Market. For New Market, Andy Henkemeyer had two hits, including a double. Nate Rost also doubled. St. Patrick had two hits each from Kyle Rhodus, Jack Friedges, Seth Ambroz (double and home run), and Matt Pexa. Blake Woodson pitched the final three innings for St. Patrick.

Draftees Each team was allowed to draft three players from the region to join the team for the state tournament. Players are only allowed to pitch and a designated hitter must be used for them. Draftees are:

New Market - Matt Lane (Faribault), Conrad Masberg (Union Hill) and Mike Carpentier.

St. Patrick - Johnny Krocak (Montgomery), Tyler Milford (Lonsdale) and Matt Perkinson (Veseli).

St. Benedict - Nate Sprouls (New Prague), Dan Meger (Union Hill) and Joe Grote (Faribault).

Prior Lake - Ted Christian (Montgomery), Zack Sirek (New Prague) and Phil Tisdel (Lonsdale).

Tournament schedule Here is the schedule for the first round of the State Class C Tournament: at Maple Lake Friday, Aug. 16 New London-Spicer vs. Howard Lake, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 Dumont vs. Bird Island, 11 a.m. Foley vs. Prior Lake, 1:30 p.m. Perham vs. Maple Lake, 4:30 p.m. Carver vs. Luverne, 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18 Lake Henry vs. Avon, 11 a.m. Marble vs. New Munich, 1:30 p.m. Sauk Centre vs. Green Isle, 4:30 p.m. at Delano Friday, Aug. 16 St. Patrick vs. Cold Spring, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 Cokato vs. Sleepy Eye, 11 a.m. Hadley vs. Cologne, 1:30 p.m. Stewartville-Racine vs. Buckman, 4:30 p.m. Isanti vs. Morristown, 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18 Stark vs. Watkins, 11 a.m. Waterville vs. St. Benedict, 1:30 p.m. Fort Ripley vs. Lake City, 4:30 p.m.