sports

CROOKSTON LEGION BASEBALL WINS THE GRAND FORKS TOURNAMENT

June 19, 2023

The Crookston American Legion Post #20 Baseball team won all four games and beat Warroad 11-8 in the championship to win the Grand Forks tournament. Crookston beat Park River (ND) 8-0, Minot Metros 11-5, and Surrey (ND) 8-7 in pool play before beating Warroad.

GAME ONE-
Crookston started the Grand Forks tournament in fine fashion as they beat Park River, North Dakota, 8-0 in the first game of the weekend.

FIRST INNING
Crookston’s Blake Melsa singled, a pitch hit George Widman, and Alex Longoria walked to load the bases with one out. Melsa scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead.
Park River had three runners reach, but they hit into a couple of fielder’s choice plays, and they didn’t score.

SECOND INNING
Both Crookston and Park River were retired in 1-2-3 fashion.

THIRD INNING
Crookston’s Widman singled before the next three batters were retired.
Park River sent four batters to the plate and didn’t score in the inning.

FOURTH INNING
Crookston had a big inning with singles from Jackson Demarais, Parker Kelly, Nathan Kelly, and Lucas Miller. One of the runners was out before Melsa hit a double to clear the bases for three runs, and Crookston led 4-0.
Park River only sent four to the plate and didn’t score a run.

FIFTH INNING
Longoria, Tanner Giese, and Demarais had back-to-back-to-back singles to start the inning. After a couple of walks, two more runs scored, and Crookston led 6-0.
Park River was retired in 1-2-3 fashion.

SIXTH INNING
Crookston’s Ashton Larson was hit by a pitch to start the inning and scored on a Longoria double for a 7-0 lead. Demarais knocked in another run, and Crookston led 8-0.
Park River had a one-out single before the next two batters were retired, and Crookston won the game 8-0.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Crookston	1	0	0	3	2	2	8	12	2
Park River ND	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Blake Melsa-Crox (WP)	6.0		0	0	1	5

For Crookston-
Lucas Miller-2 for 2, run
Blake Melsa-2 for 3, run, walk
Alex Longoria-2 for 3, 2 runs

GAME TWO-
Crookston exploded for six runs in the top of the eighth inning to beat the Minot Metros 11-5 in extra innings in the second game of pool play.

FIRST INNING
Crookston was the visiting team on the scoreboard, and George Widman singled with one out, but the next two batters were retired.
Minot started the bottom of the inning with a single, and he later came around to score for a 1-0 lead after one inning.

SECOND INNING
Both Crookston and Minot were retired in 1-2-3 fashion.

THIRD INNING
With one out, Lucas Miller got things going with a single, Blake Melsa walked, and Widman singled to score a run. After an out, Alex Longoria tripled to score two runs, and Crookston led 3-1 after three innings.
Minot was retired in 1-2-3 fashion for the second straight inning.

FOURTH INNING
Crookston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion.
Minot responded with a run in the bottom of the inning when they led off with a single and scored another run on a two-out single to get within a 3-2 deficit.

FIFTH INNING
Miller led off the inning with a double, Melsa singled, and Longoria singled to score two runs to give Crookston a 5-2 lead.
Minot took advantage of a Crookston error to start the bottom of the inning. The next two batters were retired before back-to-back run-scoring singles to bring Minot within a 5-4 deficit.

SIXTH INNING
Crookston only sent four batters to the plate in the inning and didn’t score.
Minot was retired in 1-2-3 fashion.

SEVENTH INNING
Crookston only sent three batters to the plate in the inning.
Minot tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when a run scored on a fielder’s choice, and the game was tied at 5-5, forcing extra innings.

EIGHTH INNING
Longoria started the inning with a walk. After two more walks, the next batter walked, and a run scored for a 6- 5 lead. Two more runs scored on a single for an 8-5 lead. Two walks later, Crookston scored another run. Longoria reached on an error, and another run scored, and they would add another run for an 11-5 lead.
Longoria pitched the eighth inning for Crookston and struck out the first batter of the inning. After two walks and a single, the bases were loaded, but he struck out the next two batters, and Crookston won 11-5.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
Crookston	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	6	11	8
Minot Metros	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	5	9

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Parker Kelly-Crox	7.0	6	5	3	0	2
Alex Longoria-Crox (WP)	1.0	2	0	0	1	3

For Crookston-
George Widman-4 for 5, 4 rbi, run
Lucas Miller-3 for 4, 2 runs, 2 rbi
Blake Melsa-1 for 2, 3 walks, 3 runs

GAME THREE-

Crookston edged Surrey, North Dakota (about 4 miles east of Minot) 8-7 in the final game of pool play.

FIRST INNING
Surrey started the game with a walk. After a ground out, a single scored a run, and Surrey took a 1-0 lead.
Crookston responded in the bottom of the inning when George Widman singled, Larson reached, and Tanner Giese singled to score two runs for a 2-1 lead.

SECOND INNING
Surrey made Crookston pay for another leadoff walk and later scored a run on a double to tie the game 2-2.
Crookston responded in a big way in the bottom of the inning when Parker Kelly started with a single, Lucas Miller singled, and Blake Melsa doubled in two runs for a 4-1 lead. Larson singled to score another run, and Longoria singled in two more runs for a 7-1 lead through two innings.

THIRD INNING
Surrey had a two-out walk and single, but the next batter grounded out.
Crookston only sent four batters to the plate and didn’t score, and they took a 7-2 lead into the fourth inning.

FOURTH INNING
Surrey had another opportunity to get back into the game in the fourth inning with bases loaded, but Crookston retired the next batter.
Crookston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom of the inning.

FIFTH INNING
Surrey got back into the game with a leadoff double, an error, a single, a hit batter, a double, a single, and another error, and six runs later, the game was tied at 7-7.
Crookston answered in the bottom of the inning when Longoria led off with a walk, Jackson Demarais walked, and Parker Kelly singled to score a run for an 8-7 lead.

SIXTH INNING
Neither team scored in the sixth inning, and the game was called because of the time limit and Crookston won 8-7.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Surrey ND	1	1	0	0	5	0	7	8	0
Crookston	2	5	0	0	1	0	8	11	1

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Caden Ames-Crox	4.1	7	8	7	8	2
Lucas Miller-Crox (WP)	2.2	1	0	0	1	2

For Crookston-
Blake Melsa-2 for 3, 2 rbi, run
Parker Kelly-2 for 3, run
Lucas Miller-2 for 3, run

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME-

Crookston took on Warroad in the championship and came away with an 11-8 victory.

FIRST INNING
Warroad scored a run with a two-out rally when Liam Grover reached with a single and came into score after a Crookston error and a Hudson Sproules single.
Crookston’s George Widman singled with one out, but the next two batters were retired, and Warroad led 1-0 after one inning.

SECOND INNING
Warroad added another run in the second inning when Dom Anthony singled and later scored for a 2-0 lead.
Crookston got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Tanner Giese helped his cause with a leadoff single, a pitch hit Jackson Demarais, and both of them scored, one of them on a Lucas Miller single to tie the game at 2-2.

THIRD INNING
Warroad only sent four batters to the plate in the inning, and Giese got three flyouts to get out of the inning without giving up a run.
Crookston didn’t score in the bottom of the inning, even after a two-out double from Alex Longoria, and the game remained tied at 2-2 after three innings.

FOURTH INNING
Crookston committed another error in the fourth inning, but it didn’t hurt as Giese retired the next three batters.
Crookston blew the game open in the bottom of the inning when another pitch hit Demarais, Caden Ames walked, Dalton Delude hit into a fielder’s choice, and Miller singled to score a run for a 3-2 lead. Blake Melsa followed with a rbi single, a pitch hit Widman, Ashton Larson singled to score a run, Longoria walked to score a run, and Giese tripled to score three runs, and Demaraise singled to score another run for a 10-2 lead.

FIFTH INNING
Warroad responded with two runs on three hits in the top of the inning to get within an 11-4 deficit.
Crookston answered with another run when a pitch hit Widman and later scored on a Demarais single for an 11-4 lead.

SIXTH INNING
Giese shut down Warroad in 1-2-3 fashion in the top of the inning.
Crookston only sent four batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning and didn’t score, and the score was 11-4 going into the final inning.

SEVENTH INNING
Warroad started the inning with a Liam Grover walk, a Jacob McFarlane double, and the two would later score to get within an 11-6 deficit. Warroad had a two-out rally with a fielder’s choice, a single, a walk, and two more runs scored to bring Warroad within an 11-8 deficit before Giese struck out the next batter, and Crookston won the championship 11-8.

Crookston is 6-5 on the year and will host Ada-Borup-West on Tuesday for a doubleheader.