The West Marshall Fusion took a 9-2 lead before Fosston tied the game at 10-10, but the Fusion held on to win 13-11 in a loser-out game of the Section 8A Baseball tournament at Jim Karn Field in Crookston.
FIRST INNING
West Marshall’s Blair Potucek struck out, but reached on a passed ball. The next batter hit into a double play, and the half-inning was over.
Fosston’s Jakob Rudie led the bottom of the inning with a walk before stealing second base. Jake Wickham singled to score a run for a 1-0 lead. The next three batters were retired.
SECOND INNING
West Marshall’s Rylan Anderson laced a line drive to centerfield, and it kept going with the strong wind behind it and went over the centerfielder’s head for a double. Anderson advanced to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch.
Fosston was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a pair of strikeouts and a popout.
THIRD INNING
West Marshall broke the game open with a big third inning when Shay Setterholm led off with a single, Ryan Swanson walked, Blair Potucek singled, and a run scored on an error. Wes Olson followed with a double to score two runs for a 4-1 lead. After an out, Dylan Widner doubled to score a run, and Sebastian Johnson crushed a line drive over the left field fence for a two-run home run and a 7-1 lead.
West Marshall’s Shay Setterholm settled in on the mound as he retired Fosston in 1-2-3 fashion for the second straight inning with a strikeout, ground out, and pop fly.
FOURTH INNING
West Marshall’s Swanson walked with one out, stole second base. He moved to third on a sacrifice fly to right field and scored on a wild pitch for an 8-1 lead.
Fosston’s Tanner Vig led off the bottom of the inning with a walk. Parker Nelson singled, and a run scored on a Jake Howard groundout to bring the Greyhounds within an 8-2 deficit.
FIFTH INNING
West Marshall’s Dylan Widner singled with one out. After the second out of the inning, Mason Smith reached on an error, and Widner moved to third base on the play. Widner scored on a wild pitch to give the Fusion a 9-2 lead.
Fosston answered in a big way in the bottom of the inning when Tucker Djernes reached on an error, Rudie singled, and Wickham walked to load the bases. Vig singled to score two runs, and Parker Nelson doubled to score two runs. After the second out of the inning, Howard tripled to score a run to bring the Greyhounds within a 9-7 deficit.
SIXTH INNING
West Marshall’s Blair Potucek singled with two out, and Olson walked. Anderson followed with a single to score a run for a 10-7 lead.
Foston countered in the bottom of the inning with singles by Djerness and Rudie. Wickham walked to load the bases. Vig flew out to score a run, and another run scored on a wild pitch. Jonas Johnson pinch hit and singled to score another run to tie the game at 10-10.
SEVENTH INNING
West Marshall was looking for some more late-inning heroics, and it started with Johnson getting hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Mason Smith moved the runner to second, and an error allowed Johnson to score for an 11-10 lead. Shay Setterholm singled to score a run, and after Swanson walked for the third time in the game, Wes Olson singled to score another run for a 13-10 lead.
Fosston needed three runs to tie and four to win, and it had a great start with a Caden Murphy double. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch. The next batter struck out before a groundout scored a run to bring Fosston within a 13-11 deficit. West Marshall got the final out on a groundout and won the game 13-11.
West Marshall improves to 13-9 on the year and will take on Win-E-Mac at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday in Crookston in a loser-out game. Fosston’s season comes to an end at 12-10.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| West Marshall | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 3 |
| Fosston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 3 |
OFFENSIVE LEADERS-
West Marshall–
Wes Oldon – 2 for 4, 3 rbi, run
Dylan Widner – 2 for 4, 2 runs, rbi
Shay Setterholm – 2 for 4, 2 runs, rbi
Blair Potucek – 2 for 5, 2 runs, rbi
Rylan Anderson – 2 for 5, run, rbi
Sebastian Johnson – 1 for 2, 2 rbi, 2 runs, homerun, walk, hit by pitch
Fosston–
Jakob Rudie – 2 for 4, 3 runs, walk
Tanner Vig – 2 for 3, 3 rbi, 2 runs
Parker Nelson – 2 for 4, 2 rbi, run
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | K |
| S. Setterholm-WM | 4.2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| E. Ellerbush-WM | 2.1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| T. Vig-Fos | 5.0 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| J. Howard-Fos | 2.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
