The Crookston American Legion Nels T. Wold Post 20 baseball team led 5-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Warroad scored six runs in the sixth inning to win the game 6-5 in the first round of the District 9 Division II American Legion sub-district tournament. In a loser-out game, Crookston outlasted Lancaster to beat them 8-7 in eight innings to advance to play again on Sunday.
GAME ONE – VS WARROAD
After a scoreless first inning, Crookston got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. After an out, Carter Bruggeman reached on an error after a hard-hit ground ball went off the glove of the third baseman. Bruggeman advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scored on an Ashton Larson double to right field for a 1-0 lead.
Crookston added some more runs in the top of the third inning. George Widman led off with a walk, Alex Longoria doubled and Crookston had runners at second and third base without an out. Jacob Miller grounded out to the third baseman, and a run came into score. Longoria scored on an error and Crookston had a 3-0 lead through three innings of play.
In the fifth inning, Crookston’s Longoria led off with a walk, Miller singled and Cade Coauette followed with a single to score a run. Brooks Butt followed with an rbi single and runners were at second and third base after a wild pitch. Warroad made a pitching change and it turned out to be a great move as Blake Norris stuck out the next three batters he faced and Crookston led 5-0.
Warroad finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Jeremy Cole led off the inning with a single. After an out, Tucker Sproals hit a ground-rule double. Daniel Rose followed with a two-run scoring single to get within a 5-2 deficit. The next batter reached on an error after a hard-hit ball to shortstop, the next batter was hit by a pitch. The next Warroad batter, Chance Smith, reached on an error on the third baseman and a run scored to get within a 5-3 deficit. Bo Thompson walked with bases loaded to score a run and Anthony Foster reached on an error on the second baseman to tie the game at 5-5. Cole batted for the second time in the inning, and hit into a fielder’s choice to score a run for a 6-5 lead.
Crookston had two runners on base in the seventh inning, but that is all they could muster and Warroad held onto a 6-5 victory.
Crookston drops to 7-12 on the season and will play Kennedy in a loser-out game at 5:00 p.m. Warroad will play Fosston in the winners bracket game at 7:30 p.m.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Crookston | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Warroad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | – | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | K | BB |
| Jacob Miller – Crox | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Daniel Rose – War | 4.0 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Blake Norris – War | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Chance Smith – War | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FOR CROOKSTON
Cade Coauette – 2 for 4, rbi
Alex Longoria – 1 for 1, 3 walks, 2 runs
Brooks Butt – 1 for 3, walk, rbi
FOR Warroad –
Tucker Sproals – 2 for 2, run
Daniel Rose – 1 for 3, 2 rbi, run
GAME TWO – VS LANCASTER
Lancaster came out strong in the top of the first inning when Adam Gustafson singled and scored on a Frank Finney single for a quick 1-0 lead.
Crookston responded with back-to-back walks to Jacob Miller and Cade Coauette. The two runners advanced to second and third base on a wild pitch and Miller scored on a Brook Butt sacrifice fly. Coauette scored the second run of the inning on a wild pitch and Crookston led 2-1 after the first inning.
Lancaster responded with four runs in the top of the second inning with a walk and back-to-back singles to score a run. After another walk, Adam Gustafson singled in two runs, and Calvin Hanson grounded out to score another run for a 4-2 lead.
Crookston answered in the bottom of the inning when Austin Trinkle drew a one-out walk. After another out, George Widman walked and Alex Longoria blasted a double off the base of the fence in the left-centerfield gap to score two runs. Jacob Miller followed with another double to score a run to tie the game at 5-5.
Lancaster took the lead when they scored a run in the fourth inning.
Crookston regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Miller walked, Coauette was hit by a pitch, Butt reached on an error that scored Miller to tie the game at 6-6. Ashton Larson followed with a double to score Butt’s courtesy runner (Jackson Demerais) for a 7-6 lead.
Crookston retired the first two batters they faced in the top of the seventh inning and were one out away from winning the game, but two errors and a bloop single allowed a run to score and Lancaster tied the game at 7-7, forcing extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Crookston’s Trinkle was hit by a pitch, stole second base, advanced to third on a beautiful bunt single from Widman. A few pitches later, Trinkle scored on a balk and Crookston won the game 8-7.
Crookston improves to 8-12 on the year and will advance to another loser-out game on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E | |
| Lancaster | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| Crookston | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | K | BB |
| Brooks Butt – Crox | 8.0 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Frank Finney – Lan | 6.2 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| Adam Gustafson-Lan | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
FOR CROOKSTON
Ashton Larson – 2 for 4, double, rbi
Jacob Miller – 1 for 1, 3 walks, 2 runs, rbi
George Widman – 1 for 3, walk, run
