CROOKSTON PIRATE BASEBALL BEATS BAGLEY, FALLS TO EGF TO END SEASON

The Crookston Pirate Baseball team beat the Bagley Flyers 7-6 with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning in a Section 8A play-in game and lost to the #1 seed East Grand Forks Green Wave 10-0 in five innings in the first round of the Section 8AA tournament played in East Grand Forks.

CROOKSTON vs BAGLEY
Bagley started the scoring in the first inning when Alec Norum tripled and scored on a ground out for a 1-0 lead.  Crookston responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning when Joe Doda walked and stole second base, Brady Butt singled and scored Doda to tie the game at 1-1.  Leyton Salentine walked and Brooks Butt grounded out but scored his brother Brady to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.  Salentine scored on an error and Crookston had a 3-1 lead with only one hit in the inning.  “To start the game we had some great at-bats,” said Pirate Coach Mitch Bakken. “The boys bounced back and it was big to take the lead right away.”
Bagley tied the game with two runs in the third inning and they added another run in the top of the fourth inning after a walk, error, and single for a 4-3 lead.  It didn’t take Crookston long to respond when the countered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Walker Winjum and Gunner Gunderson both reached on errors.  Winjum scored on the second error to tie the game at 4-4.  Joe Doda grounded out, but Gunderson scored and the Pirates led 5-4.  “Gunner had a great push bunt and put pressure on the defense,” said Coach Bakken. “It was a nice play for Gunner and he was able to execute and it was nice to regain the lead.”
Bagley led off the sixth inning with a hit and a walk and the scored the tying run on a double steal and added another run on a single for a 6-5 lead.  Crookston responded in the bottom of the sixth inning when Gunderson singled and scored on an Ashton Larson singled to tie the game at 6-6.  “Coming off the bench, that was huge for Ashton.  He drove the ball to right field to tie the game and that was a big at-bat for us.”
Crookston held Bagley scoreless in the top of the seventh inning for a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Gavin Salem led off the inning with a walk, Brooks Butt was hit by a pitch and Jade Selzler blasted a line drive to right field to score Gavin Salem and Crookston won the game 7-6.  “We had some great at-bats and everybody had a big at-bat, big play, and it was a good all-around team effort,” said Coach Bakken.  “We had a solid game and the guys came up with a big play whenever we needed it and they left everything out there.”
With the win, Crookston advanced to the Section 8AA first-round game to take on the East Grand Forks Green Wave.  See the story from the game below.

For Crookston
Jade Selzler – 2-4, game-winning rbi
Ashton Larson – 1-1, rbi

For Bagley
Alec Norum – 3-4, 2 rbi’s, run

CROOKSTON vs EAST GRAND FORKS
Crookston started the game with back-to-back singles from Joe Doda and Brady Butt, but East Grand Forks turned a 6-4-3 double play on a great effort from second baseman Logan Spencer and shortstop Carter Beck.  The Green Wave’s Evan Pederson was able to get the next batter to fly out and the Pirate threat was squashed.  East Grand Forks had a threat of their own in the bottom of the inning when Beck reached on an error, stole second and was stranded at third base and the teams were scoreless after the first inning.  “I was happy with the start we had,” said Coach Bakken. “We had a couple of hits and we held them scoreless and I thought it was a good start.  You take away the great play by their second baseman and it could have been a great start.”
The second inning was a different story.  In the bottom of the second inning, East Grand Forks batted 12 and had seven different players scored to take a 7-0 lead.  The inning started when Cooper Holm singled, Ross Corbid and Jack Osowski walked to load the bases and Kade Spencer hit a two rbi single.  Another run scored on a sacrifice fly, a run scored on a wild pitch, another scored on a passed ball, another run scored on an error and a run scored on a ground out for a 7-0 lead through two innings.  “Walks and pass balls hurt us and all of a sudden they have four or five runs up before we know it,” said Coach Bakken.
East Grand Forks didn’t score in the third inning, but they added three runs in the fourth inning behind an error, three singles and a walk for a 10-0 lead.  “They hit the ball hard and I thought we kept them off-balance for most of the game,” said Coach Bakken. “We let guys get on and they put three hits together and they are so good that a 10 run deficit is too much to come back to beat them.”  Crookston knew a comeback against a very good Green Wave team wasn’t likely and Coach Bakken decided to insert Jack Doda, Joseph Ramirez, and Kaleb Thingelstad into the lineup and even though all three didn’t get a hit, they had great at-bats and had some good swings. “It was nice to see three good at-bats from those guys.  They all had great at-bats,” said Coach Bakken. “I told the guys that all the spots in the line-up are up for grabs next year.  We have some good young players that are going to put in some time and if any of the guys don’t play summer baseball and don’t get in the weight room, they might not make the line up next year if others are working hard in the offseason.”
Crookston didn’t score in the fifth inning and East Grand Forks won the game 10-0 in five innings.  “We had too many errors and that came back to hurt us in the game, but East Grand Forks put the ball in play and made us make plays and we didn’t a handful of times.  We made our own mess tonight with errors and walks,” said Coach Bakken. “East Grand Forks is the top seed for a reason and they showed it tonight.”
Crookston’s season comes to an end with a 4-12 record and they don’t have a senior on the team.   East Grand Forks improves to 16-4 and will play Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton on Thursday in the second round of the Section 8AA tournament.

For Crookston
Carter Bruggeman – 1-1
Brady Butt – 1-1
Joe Doda – 1-2

For East Grand Forks
Kade Spencer – 2-3, 2 rbi’s, run
Jack Osowski – 1-2, 2 runs, rbi, walk

Pirate Baseball - Pictures by Bruce Brierley of the Exponent

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