Amateur baseball: Millers' rally knocks out Regal
Aug. 19—LITCHFIELD — The New York Mills Millers went five innings without a hit against the Regal Eagles. But once the Millers put a bat to the ball, their offense finally rallied.
New York Mills scored three unanswered runs — with two runs in the sixth inning and a Brandon Kupfer solo home run to lead off the seventh — to secure a 3-2 come-from-behind win in the first round of the Class C state amateur baseball tournament Saturday at Optimist Park.
It was the first tournament win for New York Mills since 1969.
The late rally was in stark contrast to the start of the game where Regal pitcher Brandon Wedel dominated.
Pitching at state for the first time, Wedel held the Millers without a hit through the first five innings.
"I came in knowing I'm hot right now," Wedel said after striking out eight and giving up two hits and five walks over 6-2/3 innings. "I've been our guy. I kept all the routines the same and just tried to fire strikes and deal with the heat."
Wedel was able to get himself out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and Kupfer at third base, Wedel threw a wild pitch. But, Eagles catcher Derek Dengerud corralled the ball and got it to Wedel for the inning-ending tagout at home plate.
"I knew the ball beat the guy there and I had to get the tag down," Wedel said. "I swept (the ball) and touched his hand before it reached the plate."
Regal put up two runs in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, first baseman Adrian Belden laid down a squeeze bunt toward third base. That allowed Nathan Meyer to reach home for the game's first run. Chi Schneider followed that up with an RBI single that put Regal up 2-0.
"I had a lot of faith in (Belden)," Eagles manager Nathan Beier said on the squeeze bunt call. "It was just a matter of if the base runner was going to be quick enough to get there."
After the fourth, offense proved elusive for Regal. Two of New York Mills' draftees — Chas Melvin of the Perham Pirates and Nicholas Lindberg of the Vergas-Frazee Loons — combined to throw 5-2/3 scoreless innings.
"(Lindberg) pitched well for 'em," Beier said. "You have to give him credit. We didn't get too many hits after he came in.
"It's just a tough loss."
With two outs and runners on first and second, Regal took out Wedel. Reliever Grant Paffrath got Derin Gaudette to an 0-2 count, only for Gaudette to come through with a game-tying, two-run double to left field.
Kupfer led off the bottom of the eighth and put the Millers up for good with a solo homer to left field.
New York Mills will face the Sartell Muskies in the second round.
Regal wraps up the season with an 11-13 record.
"It has been fun," Wedel said. "These young guys that have joined us have helped us so much. Luke (Knudsen), Chi (Schneider), Konnor (Rohloff) and Grant (Paffrath). Grant's been our go-to after me all year. Just didn't quite get us out of the jam, but that happens sometimes."
Regal 000 200 000-2 8 1
New York Mills 000 000 21x-3 4 0
Hitting — Regal: Josh Beier 1-4, Nathan Meyer 3-4 r, Blake Karsch 1-4 r, Adrian Belden 1-3 rbi sb, Chi Schneider 2-4 2b r ... New York Mills: Derin Gaudette 1-3 2b rbi-2 bb, Brandon Kupfer 2-3 hr r rbi bb, Adam Patron 1-2 sb, Braxton Ehnert 0-0 r, Collin Teich 0-1 r bb-2
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Regal: Brandon Wedel 6.2-2-2-2-5-8, Grant Paffrath (L) 1.1-2-1-1-0-0 ... New York Mills: Austin Maneval 3.1-6-2-2-1-2, Chas Melvin (Perham Pirates draftee) 2.2-1-0-0-1-2, Nicholas Lindberg (W, Vergas-Frazee Loons draftee) 3-1-0-0-1-1
