In convincing fashion, the oncoming Adrian Dragons won a pair of Section 3A high school baseball games last Saturday (May 25), defeating Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (8-3) and Edgerton / Southwest Minnesota Christian (11-1).
The two playoff victories advanced Adrian to the third round of the double-elimination phase of the tournament, earning the chance to tangle with top-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at Marshall on Tuesday (May 28) — if the fields are dried out after Monday’s heavy rains.
In outscoring their two South Sub-Section opponents by a combined spread of 19-4, the Dragons utilized a four-of-four hitting performance by junior catcher Brent Hokeness, a home run by sophomore Marshall Wagner and strong pitching performances by juniors Ian Stamer, Lance Luettel and Grant Jansma.
Junior Noah Reyne and Jansma both had two hits in the win over R-T-R before Hokeness and Jansma each stroked a pair of hits in the 10-run rule victory against the Flying Dutchmen.
Jansma had quite a day Saturday on the home field, striking out nine Dutchmen while pitching all six innings and finishing the day with four hits.
The Dragons (10-10) and K-M-S (17-1) were scheduled to play at Milroy Tuesday, beginning at 5 p.m.
Murray County Central (8-10) and Edgerton / SW Christian (7-9) were scheduled for an elimination game at Jackson, also at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Rebels opened tournament play Saturday with a 7-5 win over Wabasso at Minneota before being blanked 3-0 by Minneota, the top-seeded team in the South. Seniors Justin Benda and Danny Blankenship each ripped two hits in the victory over the Rabbits.
Heron Lake-Okabena / Fulda hit the ball hard and often (11 singles, two doubles and a triple) in a competitive 12-8 loss to Mankato Loyola last Thursday (May 23) in the opening round of the Section 2A Tournament at beautiful Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato. The Coyotes gave up seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning which changed a 5-3 deficit to 12-3. HLOF rallied with five runs on six hits in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Crusaders, who advanced with a fine 15-3 overall record.
How about those Twins? They just continue to roll, being impressive in every phase of the game. They are now in the midst of a key series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Target Field, coming off an opening-game 5-4 loss, which snapped a six-game winning streak. But, the Twins have won nine of their last 11 games and are 36-17 (.679) overall — which is still the best among all 30 Major League teams.
Let’s home the weather stays dry for more than three days in a row and the tractors can roll through the fields without stopping this week.
The Section 3A golf meet continues at Worthington Wednesday (May 29) and the Section 3A track and field meet is at Luverne on Thursday, May 30. Best of luck to all the advancing qualifiers as they strive to reach the state meet.
