Union Hill, St. Patrick, Prior Lake win in Class C State Tournament, New Prague is defeated

The DRS amateur baseball teams are doing quite well in the Class C State Tournament after the second weekend of play.

Three of the four teams from the local league are in the round of 16 after wins.

Union Hill pulled off a 2-1, 10 inning win over Region 2 Champion Lamberton Friday, Aug. 28.

St. Patrick defeated Region 5 Champion, 10-1, Saturday, Aug. 29.

Prior Lake knocked off Region 15 Champion, 2-1, Saturday, Aug. 29.

New Prague dropped its first game in the tourney Sunday, Aug. 30, being shut out by Foley, 4-0.

Here are the recaps of the three local teams games, courtesy of mnbaseball.org

Foley 4, New Prague 0 In round one, Foley needed a big comeback. In round two, it prevented its opponent from doing the same. The Foley Lumberjacks never let the New Prague Orioles heat up in a 4-0 win. JT Harren came up big on the mound once again, throwing a complete game four-hit shutout. He fanned 11 batters and walked four after pitching eight innings of relief in the Lumberjacks 8-7 win in 11 innings over Hanska last week. Foley led nearly wire-to-wire, scoring a run in the top of the second and three in the fourth. Sam Keeler had a RBI single and Brandon Buesgens squeeze bunted in another in the fourth. The Lumberjacks ended with nine hits led by two by Mitch Keeler. Keeler had one of four team doubles. New Prague was led by cleanup man James Fuerniss. He had a double, single and pitched a scoreless ninth inning. The Orioles threatened in the ninth with runners on first and third with one out. Harren coaxed a double play to end the game. New Prague starter Nathan Sproles took the loss. He went eight innings, allowing eight hits, three earned runs of four and two walks to go with five strikeouts. Foley advances to the round of 16 to play 7:30 p.m. Friday in Springfield against Buffalo Bulldogs.

Union Hill 2, Lamberton 1, 10 innings Union Hill didn’t get a hit until the sixth inning, but it finished with enough of them to win. It was a pitcher’s duel at Riverside Park as the Union Hill Bulldogs escaped past the Lumberton Longsox, 2-1, in 10 innings. Starting pitchers Conrad Masberg of Union Hill and Lamberton’s Johnny Pistulka were dealing early on. Neither allowed a hit through the first three innings. Lamberton’s Neil Eichten broke up Masberg’s no-hitter to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Masberg escaped a few jams with two runners on and finished with a line of seven innings, four hits, no runs, a walk and seven strikeouts. The Bulldogs’ Nate Lee hit a sharp single to end Pistulka’s no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth. That proved to be a spark as Adam Giesen later singled him in for the game’s first run. Union Hill held on to that 1-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Masberg walked the leadoff batter and was replaced by Nathan Berg. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner up and a wild pitch pushed him to third. With two runners on, Berg got out. After Union Hill went down quickly in the top of the ninth, Lamberton made the most of its last shot. Relief pitcher Nick Altermatt walked to help his cause, stole second and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. Austin Irlbeck singled him in with one out. The Longsox finally had momentum but couldn’t scratch the winning run across. Lee and Giesen came up big again with singles to start the top of the 10th. Zach Dubanowski walked to load the bases with one out. An infield single by Jack Kreutzian on a tough play up the middle scored Lee for the ultimate game-winning run. Altermatt pitched 3 1/3 innings of solid relief and escaped with one run allowed. Another rally appeared in the cards for the Longsox when Eichten reached first on an error. He was gunned down stealing second base. Colby Pack walked to once again bring the winning run to the plate. Berg got a strikeout swinging to end the game. Giesen finished with a game-high three hits as part of eight for Union Hill. Pack had two of Lamberton’s five hits. Pistulka threw 6 1/3 innings allowing four hits, a run (earned), a walk and striking out seven. Berg allowed one hit, one run (earned), walked three and struck out four. Union Hill will play Region 7 Champion Young America Saturday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. in Springfield.

St. Patrick 10, Rochester 1 St. Patrick had little trouble marching on to the next round.. A tied game turned the way of the Irish when they posted three runs in the top of the third and kept adding from there en route to a 10-1 victory over the Rochester Roadrunners. The Roadrunners were only outhit 10-7 but committed four errors to the Irish’s one. Two inning-ending double plays were rally killers. Four Irish finished with multi-hit days led by three with two RBI from Matt Ambroz. Jack Friedges, Ryan Friedges and Jordan Gorackke added two. Collin Denk got the win for St. Patrick last week in round two with a complete game gem. It was Zach Seurer’s turn Saturday and he was as effective. Seurer allowed seven hits, one earned run and two walks while striking out five. Phillip Garcia followed up with two hitless innings of relief. Rochester was led by Jacob Ihrke and Matthew Hayford who had two hits each. Hayford also drove in a run. Tyler Zelma was hung with the loss on the mound. He went four innings, allowing three earned runs, two unearned runs, a walk and striking out three. St. Patrick advances to the round of 16 to face the Carver Black S