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May 26—ADRIAN — The Adrian/Ellsworth baseball team is headed back to Milroy.
For the first time since winning the title in 2021, the Dragons (16-7) opened section playoffs with two wins, beating Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian 5-4 and then Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 8-0 on Saturday.
Head coach Joe Kruger's team stumbled toward the end of the regular season, dropping its final five games after starting 14-2. But the Dragons reset and displayed superb baseball to advance in the south subsection main bracket.
"We're feeling good," Kruger said. "We've had a rough go of it the last week and a half, and we said 'New season, we want to put our best foot forward.' We know that we've got work in front of us and we're going to try and keep it rolling."
The next test for the Dragons is Dawson-Boyd Tuesday at Milroy's Irish Yard.
The Blackjacks are the top seed out of the north subsection with a 14-5 record this spring. They are currently on a six-game win streak, which included a 13-0 shutout of Lakeview in the first round and a 7-5 win over Canby in the second round.
The winner of Tuesday's game would advance to the section semifinal on Saturday, May 30 back at the Irish Yard.
Adrian/Ellsworth's season was potentially in danger of ending in the first round against seventh-seeded Edgerton/SWC.
The Flying Dutchmen started fast, plating two runs in the top of the first off an Isaiah Brands RBI double and a Jaron Brands RBI single.
But the Dragons responded in the bottom frame with four runs. That surge started with four straight walks as Isaiah Brands struggled to find the strike zone early. An RBI walk from Garrett Penning, followed by a Dutchmen error and an RBI fly out from Jayden Lautt, gave the Dragons the lead. Matt Geister hit an RBI fly out to plate the fourth Dragon run.
Brands was pulled in that inning and Levi Van Essen pitched the rest of the game.
After Garrett Penning singled to open a 5-1 Adrian lead in the bottom of the second, the Dragons didn't score again. Travis Weiss' pitching had to maintain that lead.
A Karson Kruen double in the fifth and a Josiah Pap groundout in the sixth brought the Flying Dutchmen to within a run, but a big Weiss strikeout, followed by a 1-2-3 seventh helped the Dragons survive.
"In the Edgerton game, credit to them," Kruger said. "They really put us in some situations where we had to make plays and we were able to make one more play than them to get the win."
Weiss finished with seven strikeouts in 89 pitches while he and Caleb Wolf each totaled two hits. Penning finished with two RBIs.
RTR went on to defeat Wabasso 8-2 in the next game, setting up a matchup between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the subsection.
Adrian/Ellsworth beat the Knights twice in the regular season, both by one run, which was likely a key factor behind the Dragons getting the No. 2 seed and home field advantage.
Nearly all of the Dragons' runs came in the bottom of the second inning, all with two outs.
"We talk a lot about it," Kruger said. "We get two outs, that's when we got to really get tough and get the third, because the third one's the toughest to get. "And the same thing (at the plate), if we could put pressure, put quality at bats... we were just trying to keep it to keep it rolling."
Jackson Jenniges drew a walk and Matt Geister doubled, setting up a 2-RBI single from Keaton Schettler. A Joe Rahe single and a drawn walk from Wolf plated two more runs. Another bases-loaded walk and a Lautt 2-RBI single capped off the inning that proved to be the difference in the game. Penning added an RBI groundout in the third.
The Dragon pitching and defense was showcased for the rest of the game.
It started with a diving catch from Penning in center field in the top of the second, but was followed up by a couple of nice plays from Schettler at catcher. He made a nice catch behind home plate in the third and then threw out RTR's Colton Chandler at second base in the fifth.
Along with that came a pitching gem from Geister. He went all seven innings with 115 pitches, struck out nine and surrendered only one hit.
"He pitched great," Kruger said. "He's come so far from when we got him as a freshman. Super proud of him, super proud of the pitcher he's becoming."
The Dragons totaled six hits at the plate, including Schettler going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. For RTR, Kolby Louwague had the lone hit while the Knights drew four walks. They were also plagued with three defensive errors.
RTR fell to the elimination bracket, where it'll face Minneota Tuesday at Yankee Field in Milroy. Another elimination game will feature Canby and Lac qui Parle Valley.
The other side of the Section 3A main bracket features the south subsection's top seed Murray County Central. The Rebels received a bye into the second round, where they shut down Minneota 11-1.
In that game, Dugan Kluis hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning and Teague Meyer went 3-for-4 at the plate. Krew Schneider fanned seven in 4.2 innings on the mound.
The Rebels are 18-1 and ranked third in the MN State HS Baseball Coaches Association as of May 10. They will face Yellow Medicine East Tuesday following the Adrian game in Milroy. YME is the north's No. 3 seed with a 10-11 record.
Continue reading...
For the first time since winning the title in 2021, the Dragons (16-7) opened section playoffs with two wins, beating Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian 5-4 and then Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 8-0 on Saturday.
Head coach Joe Kruger's team stumbled toward the end of the regular season, dropping its final five games after starting 14-2. But the Dragons reset and displayed superb baseball to advance in the south subsection main bracket.
"We're feeling good," Kruger said. "We've had a rough go of it the last week and a half, and we said 'New season, we want to put our best foot forward.' We know that we've got work in front of us and we're going to try and keep it rolling."
The next test for the Dragons is Dawson-Boyd Tuesday at Milroy's Irish Yard.
The Blackjacks are the top seed out of the north subsection with a 14-5 record this spring. They are currently on a six-game win streak, which included a 13-0 shutout of Lakeview in the first round and a 7-5 win over Canby in the second round.
The winner of Tuesday's game would advance to the section semifinal on Saturday, May 30 back at the Irish Yard.
Adrian/Ellsworth's season was potentially in danger of ending in the first round against seventh-seeded Edgerton/SWC.
The Flying Dutchmen started fast, plating two runs in the top of the first off an Isaiah Brands RBI double and a Jaron Brands RBI single.
But the Dragons responded in the bottom frame with four runs. That surge started with four straight walks as Isaiah Brands struggled to find the strike zone early. An RBI walk from Garrett Penning, followed by a Dutchmen error and an RBI fly out from Jayden Lautt, gave the Dragons the lead. Matt Geister hit an RBI fly out to plate the fourth Dragon run.
Brands was pulled in that inning and Levi Van Essen pitched the rest of the game.
After Garrett Penning singled to open a 5-1 Adrian lead in the bottom of the second, the Dragons didn't score again. Travis Weiss' pitching had to maintain that lead.
A Karson Kruen double in the fifth and a Josiah Pap groundout in the sixth brought the Flying Dutchmen to within a run, but a big Weiss strikeout, followed by a 1-2-3 seventh helped the Dragons survive.
"In the Edgerton game, credit to them," Kruger said. "They really put us in some situations where we had to make plays and we were able to make one more play than them to get the win."
Weiss finished with seven strikeouts in 89 pitches while he and Caleb Wolf each totaled two hits. Penning finished with two RBIs.
RTR went on to defeat Wabasso 8-2 in the next game, setting up a matchup between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the subsection.
Adrian/Ellsworth beat the Knights twice in the regular season, both by one run, which was likely a key factor behind the Dragons getting the No. 2 seed and home field advantage.
Nearly all of the Dragons' runs came in the bottom of the second inning, all with two outs.
"We talk a lot about it," Kruger said. "We get two outs, that's when we got to really get tough and get the third, because the third one's the toughest to get. "And the same thing (at the plate), if we could put pressure, put quality at bats... we were just trying to keep it to keep it rolling."
Jackson Jenniges drew a walk and Matt Geister doubled, setting up a 2-RBI single from Keaton Schettler. A Joe Rahe single and a drawn walk from Wolf plated two more runs. Another bases-loaded walk and a Lautt 2-RBI single capped off the inning that proved to be the difference in the game. Penning added an RBI groundout in the third.
The Dragon pitching and defense was showcased for the rest of the game.
It started with a diving catch from Penning in center field in the top of the second, but was followed up by a couple of nice plays from Schettler at catcher. He made a nice catch behind home plate in the third and then threw out RTR's Colton Chandler at second base in the fifth.
Along with that came a pitching gem from Geister. He went all seven innings with 115 pitches, struck out nine and surrendered only one hit.
"He pitched great," Kruger said. "He's come so far from when we got him as a freshman. Super proud of him, super proud of the pitcher he's becoming."
The Dragons totaled six hits at the plate, including Schettler going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. For RTR, Kolby Louwague had the lone hit while the Knights drew four walks. They were also plagued with three defensive errors.
RTR fell to the elimination bracket, where it'll face Minneota Tuesday at Yankee Field in Milroy. Another elimination game will feature Canby and Lac qui Parle Valley.
The other side of the Section 3A main bracket features the south subsection's top seed Murray County Central. The Rebels received a bye into the second round, where they shut down Minneota 11-1.
In that game, Dugan Kluis hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning and Teague Meyer went 3-for-4 at the plate. Krew Schneider fanned seven in 4.2 innings on the mound.
The Rebels are 18-1 and ranked third in the MN State HS Baseball Coaches Association as of May 10. They will face Yellow Medicine East Tuesday following the Adrian game in Milroy. YME is the north's No. 3 seed with a 10-11 record.
Continue reading...
