Lakers, Muskies, Orioles and Bulldogs finish atop DRS
With the regular season complete, Prior Lake, New Market, New Prague and Union Hill finished atop the Dakota-Rice-Scott regular season standings and earned byes into the Region 3C playoffs. Those four teams will host first-round games Sunday, July 30, with New Prague playing their home game at St. Patrick due to construction at the New Prague stadium.
The remaining eight teams are competing in best-ofthree playoff series this week to determine the four teams that will enter the Region 3C double-elimination tournament. Game 1 of each series was scheduled for Tuesday, July 25, with Game 2 on Thursday, July 27. Game 3, if needed, will be played either Friday or Saturday, July 28 or 29. For the full schedule, see separate story.
The 13th league team, Elko, continues its regular season this week. They are currently the third seed for the Section 1B playoffs, which begin in early August.
Last week’s results: Tuesday, July 18 Mudcats 15, Coyotes 1 An eight-run first inning propelled Prior Lake to a 15- 1 win over Shakopee. Ryan White was the winning pitcher, while Matt Griebel took the loss. Jonny Houston led the Mudcats with three hits, including a home run, and four RBIs.
Wednesday, July 19 Orioles 12, Lakers 0 New Prague defeated Faribault behind a strong pitching performance by Joel Zimmermann and timely hitting. In seven innings of work Zimmermann gave up only three hits and struck out four. New Prague's Justin Novak had three hits and scored all three times he was on base. Both Dan Shetka and James Fuerniss had singles that each drove in two RBIs. Will Forberg and Eric Wagner also contributed RBI singles for the Orioles. Zack Dubanoski had a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Evan Jensen took the loss for the Lakers.
Thursday, July 20
Bulldogs 13, Coyotes 3
Bulldogs 4, Coyotes 2 Shakopee traveled to Union Hill Thursday, July 20, to complete a suspended game and another regularly scheduled game. The game was suspended from a game in early June due to a light problem in Shakopee. The game was resumed in the bottom of the 6th inning with Union Hill winning 4-2. They would quickly extend that lead, and would go on to win 13-3. Eric Bisek had a three-run home run, and Derek Masberg earned the win. Union Hill would also win the second game of the evening, by a score of 4-2. Both teams had lots of chances to break the game open, but pitchers did a great job of getting out of jams. Derek Masberg would get his second win of the night, and Hunter Piehl earned the save. Nathan Berg had a big tworun double. The two wins clinched a top-four seed in Region 3C for the Bulldogs.
Lakers 5, Warriors 3 Faribault took a 5-0 lead after six innings and held on for a 5-3 win over Veseli. Blake Radloff allowed six hits and struck out five in taking the loss for the Warriors. Matt Perkinson had three hits and Cody Shimota two for Veseli. Joey Grote and Christian VonRuden each had two hits for the Lakers. Jack Helgeson started and took the win, with Tyler Francis getting a save.
Friday, July 21 Mudcats 11, Mallards 1 Montgomery’s sevengame winning streak ended with a thud as Prior Lake scored five runs in the first inning on their way to an 11- 1 win over the Mallards. Cole Bjorge went 4-for-4 and Jake Lehrer 3-for-5 for the Mudcats. Zach Lovera went six innings for the win. The Mallards scattered six hits, with Pat Lloyd driving in Tyler Bednar for their only run.
Saints 9, Aces 1 The St. Benedict Saints defeated the Lonsdale Aces 9-1 on Friday night in Lonsdale. Paul Hentges pitched fiveplus innings of shutout baseball while Jeremy Heitkamp had three hits and three RBIs for the Saints.
Saturday, July 22 Saints 17, Sox 4 The St. Benedict Saints defeated the Webster Sox 17-4 on Saturday afternoon in St. Benedict. Zach Bakko had three hits and four RBIs for St. Benedict. Mitchell Martin drove home three and stole three bases. Cole Minnick earned the win in relief.
Muskies 2, Bulldogs 1 Nate Rost of New Market bested Dan Feneis of Union Hill in a pitcher’s duel as the Muskies claimed a 2-1 win. Rost allowed six hits and struck out six in nine innings. Dusty Steinhoff drove in the Bulldogs’ only run on a base hit, scoring Nathan Berg in the first inning. Feneis allowed one run in the fifth and one in the seventh. Rost drove in one of the Muskies runs and Scott Lyden had the other RBI.
Mallards 6, Mudcats 1 The Mallards took game two of the back-to-back games with Prior Lake, claiming a 6-1 win Sunday. Robbie Marshall started for the Mallards and went nine innings, giving up two hits and one earned run for the complete game win. Lucas Pumper started for the Mudcats going 6-1/3 innings giving up five runs, two of them earned. Tom Flicek had two hits and an RBI for the Mallards. Johnny Krocak added a triple and Eric Iverson had a hit and RBIs. Kyle Schmidt hit a home run for the Mudcats. The game was tied 1-1 going into the top of the seventh inning when the Mallards scored five runs.
Coyotes 4, Warriors 0 Shakopee ended the regular season on a winning note, taking a 4-0 win over Veseli. Dylan Pass and Logan Becker each had three hits, with Zak Hoffman, Chris Isensee and Henry Henk getting two apiece for the Coyotes. Isensee got the win, with Matt Perkinson taking the loss.
Muskies 11, Saints 0 New Market scored five runs in each of the first two innings and the Muskies cruised to an 11-0 win over St. Benedict. New Market’s Tyler Bergstrom went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. Joe McKibben drove in two runs, as did Kyle Bergstrom. Brett Herber started and got the win, allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Wade Olsen was tagged with the loss. Tanner Oakes and Paul Hentges had the only two hits for St. Benedict.
Orioles 8, Irish 7 The Orioles and Irish went back and forth for 10 innings. Justin Novak, Bryce Novak, Aaron Kes, and James Fuerniss each had two hits, Fuerniss also had two RBIs. Will Forberg added a two-run double and Jake Klein had a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th that was the difference in the game. Nathan Sprouls started and pitched five innings, Zach Sirek, Josh Flink and Bryce Novak pitched in relief. Novak was the winning pitcher on the day. For the Irish Kyle Sticha and Jack Friedges both had two hits. Matt Ambroz had an RBI double. Zack Seurer started the game and pitched six innings, then Jake Allen came in and pitched four strong innings but took the loss.
