CROOKSTON PIRATE BASEBALL LOSES TWO GAMES TO TRF

The Crookston Pirate Baseball team took a 6-3 lead in the fourth inning over the Thief River Falls Prowlers when the field became unplayable and the game was suspended until Thursday at Jim Karn Field in Crookston.  It was raining the entire game and the field had puddles on the base paths and around home plate.

Thief River Falls started the scoring in the top of the first inning.  Keaden Kempert reached on a walk and after two outs Hunter Tabatt doubled down the right field line to score a run.  The next two Thief River Falls batters walked, and two more runs scored on separate wild pitches and the Prowlers led 3-0.  “The mound wasn’t in the best shape, but I think Leyton was overthrowing a little bit,” said Pirate Coach Mitch Bakken.
Crookston responded in the bottom of the second inning when Brooks Butt was hit by a pitch, Jade Selzler laid down a perfect push bunt down the first base line and Jacob Miller laced a single to the outfield to score two runs.  Walker Winjum was hit by a pitch and Joe Doda walked to load the bases and Miller scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3. “Jade Selzler had a nice push bunt and we work on that,” said Coach Bakken. “Jacob Miller has been hitting the ball well and he has been big for us the past couple of games.  He is nice to have on base because he is quick and a smart baserunner.”
Leyton Salentine started to settle in and retired Thief River Falls in order in the third inning, including two strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Crookston added three more runs when Gunner Gunderson led off with a single to left field and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.  Joe Doda singled and stole second base and Gunderson scored on a wild pitch to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead.  Brady Butt and Leyton Salentine walked to load the bases.  Gavin Salem hit a single to right-centerfield to score a run and Ashton Larson grounded out to second base to score a run and Crookston led 6-3. “We hit the ball well throughout the lineup and that was nice to see,” said Coach Bakken. “We took some walks and had some good at-bats.  Once we realized we were going to be playing in the rain they started playing better and that was nice to see.”
At the end of the inning, the two coaches and umpires talked for a few minutes and decided to suspend the game until Thursday.  “We had the lead and had some good at-bats and we were hoping to get another half inning in, but the field was getting too wet and their coach suggested we suspend the game and that was probably the best decision and is fair for both teams,” said Coach Bakken. “It has been a year to forget, that is for sure.  The weather hasn’t been great all spring.”

The game resumed on Thursday afternoon with the sun shining down on the field and neither team scored a run in the fifth inning, but Thief River Falls scored three runs in the sixth to tie the game.  TRF led off the inning with a single and after an out, Crookston committed an error, the next batter was hit by a pitch before a Hartmann single to score two runs.  Another run scored on a ground out and the game was tied at 6-6.
It looked like Crookston was going to have a chance to win the game in the seventh inning when the first two Thief River Falls batters were retired in the top of the seventh inning, but Zach Praska singled, the next batter walked and Kempert singled to load the bases.  The next batter walked to score the eventual game-winning run and Thief River Falls won the game 7-6.  “It was a tough loss,” said Coach Bakken. “It didn’t seem like we showed up to play today, which was too bad because we played well yesterday.”

For Crookston
Joe Doda – 2-4, run, walk
Jacob Miller 2-4, 2 rbi, run

For Thief River Falls
Zach Praska – 3-4, 2 runs, double
Hunter Tabatt – 1-4, rbi, run, double

GAME TWO-
Crookston started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning when Joe Doda walked and scored on a Gavin Salem single for a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
Thief River Falls responded in a big way in the top of the second inning when they led off the inning with three singles to score a run.  The Prowlers also scored a run on a balk.  They added two walks and with two outs, Hartmann hit a bases-clearing triple for a 5-1 lead and they added another run on a single for a 6-1 lead.
Thief River Falls broke the game open with seven runs in the top of the third inning behind five hits and three walks for a 13-1 lead.
Crookston tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the fifth inning when they needed three runs to keep the game going.  Doda and Brady Butt reached on back-to-back errors and Doda scored on a Leyton Salentine ground out to get within a 13-2 deficit, but the next batter was retired and Thief River Falls held on for the 13-2 victory to complete the sweep.
Crookston ends the regular season with a 3-11 record and will play Bagley in a Section 8AA Baseball tournament play-in game on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in East Grand Forks.  The winner will play #1 seed East Grand Forks at 6:00 p.m.   Thief River Falls improves to 7-10 on the year.

For Crookston-
Five players had one hit

For Thief River Falls – 
Grant Hartmann – 3-3, 2 runs, triple
Keadon Kempert – 2-3, 2 runs