The Crookston Reds used a strong start from Sean Minder on the mound, thirteen hits, and solid defense to rout the Moorhead Miners 10-2 in a Red River Amateur Baseball League game played at Jim Karn Field in Crookston.
The Reds wasted little time getting their offense going with Noah Zimmerman and Matt Morin leading off the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles. Bailey Schmitz plated both runners with a triple into left field before scoring from third on a wild-pitch giving Crookston a 3-0 lead. A two-out double hit by Cody Magsam concluded the first inning scoring, plating Lars Brevik to give the Reds a 4-0 lead after one inning. “It was huge (to get off to a strong start),” said Crookston player/manager Matt Morin. “Talking to the guys I think we’ve only had one other game where we started out scoring runs in the first inning. It gives you some morale. We started the game with three straight hits and that got everyone into the game.” Sean Minder looked dominant in his start on the mound tallying seven strikeouts while protecting Crookston’s early lead by allowing only one unearned run over seven strong innings. “He definitely came prepared to pitch tonight and started out throwing strikes,” said Morin. “He kept their batters off balance all night long and we played solid defense behind him and that was huge.” The Reds offense continued producing in the third inning with Dave Grabowski reaching on a two-out triple before Lars Brevik singled Grabowski home giving Crookston a 5-1 lead after three innings. In the fifth inning, the Reds plated two more runs after Noah Zimmerman and Matt Morin both singled a groundout hit by Bailey Schmitz plated Zimmerman before Lars Brevik drove a sacrifice fly into center field plating Morin and giving the Reds 7-1 lead. The Reds added three more runs in their final two innings with RBI doubles from Dave Grabowski and Cody Magsam in the seventh inning growing the host’s lead to 9-1 before an RBI groundout from Matt Morin in the eighth inning made it 10-2. “Everybody started looking for their pitch right away, guys were looking first-pitch fastball and were driving the ball,” explained Morin. “We weren’t working from behind in counts, we were jumping ahead early and that made a big difference.” Lars Brevik finished out the final two innings on the mound racking up four strikeouts to secure the Reds’ 10-2 win over Moorhead. “This showed the character of this team and just how much fun we were having tonight,” summarized Morin. “The guys wanted to be here and put there best effort in and it showed.”
The Reds improve to 8-11 overall and 3-3 in League play. Crookston returns to the diamond on Saturday for a tournament in Grafton beginning at 11:00 AM.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Moorhead | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Crookston | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | X | 10 | 13 | 1 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sean Minder – Crox (WP) | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Lars Brevik – Crox | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
For Crookston
Dave Grabowski – 3-4, run, rbi, triple, double
Matt Morin – 3-5, 3 runs, rbi
Noah Zimmerman – 3-5, 2 runs
Cody Magsam – 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 rbi
Dave Grabowski knocks down a throw with his body
Noah Zimmerman hits the ball late in the game
Chris Wavra throws to first base
