The Red Lake County Post 22 and Post 623 scored seven runs combined in the fourth and fifth innings to beat the Crookston American Legion Post 20 Nels T. Wold Baseball team 8-1 in the Northwest North Sub-state tournament loser-out game in Ada.
CROOKSTON VS RED LAKE COUNTY
FIRST INNING-
Crookston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two flyouts and one ground out.
Red Lake County’s first two batters were retired before Brock Seeger singled past the shortstop into left field for the first hit of the game. The next batter struck out, and the game was scoreless after one inning.
SECOND INNING-
Crookston’s Tanner Giese led the inning off with a single to left field. The next two batters were retired before Parker Kelly singled up the middle to center field. The next batter flew out to right field for the third out of the inning.
Red Lake County’s Colin Taggart reached on a walk, stole second, and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Taggart scored on the next pitch after the second straight wild pitch to give Red Lake County a 1-0 lead.
THIRD INNING-
The first two Crookston batters were retired before Blake Melsa reached on a walk. The next batter struck out for the third out of the inning.
Red Lake County’s Will Gieseke singled with one out, stole second base and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. The next batter popped out to second base, and Brock Seeger walked and stole second base. The next batter grounded for the third out of the inning.
FOURTH INNING-
Crookston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion. Red Lake County’s Schmitz led off the bottom of the inning with a single, Taggart hit a fly to centerfield, and the Crookston fielder misplayed the ball, and it went off the top of his glove. Brock Knott reached on a fielder’s choice before stealing second base. Knott’s stolen base was the sixth stolen base in six attempts for Red Lake County. After a strikeout, Riley Broden singled to score two runs for a 3-0 lead. Broden scored on an error to give Red Lake County a 4-0 lead.
FIFTH INNING-
Crookston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two strikeouts and a groundout. Red Lake County broke the game open in the bottom of the inning when a pitch hit Seeger, Audette drew a walk and Schmitz singled to score a run. Taggart struck out but reached on a wild pitch, and a run scored on the play. Knott knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly for an 8-0 lead.
SIXTH INNING-
Crookston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion in the game, and Red Lake County brought in Kegan Schmitz to retire the final two outs after Ben Gullingsrud hit 80 pitches so they could possibly use him in the third place game.
The first two Red Lake County batters were retired before Denny Lanctot had a pinch-hit infield single before the next batter struck out for the third out of the inning.
SEVENTH INNING-
Crookston needed eight runs to keep the game going, and Lucas Peral was hit by a pitch with one out before stealing second base. Isaiah Donarski had a pinch-hit single down the right field line to score a run to bring Crookston within an 8-1 deficit. The next two batters were retired, and Red Lake County won 8-1.
Crookston’s season ends with a record of 11-14. Red Lake County improves to 10-5 and will play the winner of Ada and Roseau at 2:00 p.m. in the third-place game. Red Lake County automatically advances to the Northwest Sub-State tournament next weekend in Red Lake Falls.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Crookston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Red Lake County | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | o | – | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Matt Contreras – Crox | 4.2 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Parker Kelly – Crox | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Ben Gullingsrud – RLC | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Kegan Schmitz – RLC | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Crookston leaders –
Isaiah Donarski – 1 for 1, rbi
Tanner Giese – 1 for 3
Parker Kelly – 1 for 3
Red Lake County leaders –
Kegan Schmitz – 2 for 3, 2 runs, rbi
Will Gieseke – 1 for 2, 2 walks
Denny Lanctot – 1 for 1
Riley Broden – 1 for 2, 2 rbi, run, walk
Brock Seeger – 1 for 2, run, walk
