Amateur baseball roundup: Paynesville Pirates pull off 2 upsets

Jul. 16—SPICER — Don't look now, but the Paynesville Pirates are the hottest team in the County Line League playoffs.

Paynesville just put together its two best games of the season, beating the New London-Spicer Twins 9-3 Sunday at the dusty Green Lake Diamonds.

The victory comes after Paynesville upended the Regal Eagles 10-1 on Saturday in the first round of the County Line playoffs.

If you're keeping track at home, that's the league's sixth-seeded team beating the third-seeded Eagles on Saturday then following that with a victory over the second-seeded Twins.

"It feels good," Paynesville pitcher Bennett Evans said. "It feels really good."

The Pirates nailed down one of the three guaranteed berths into the Region 4C tournament, which will be at Yankee Field in Milroy. The County Line also will have a fourth team in a play-in game with a Corn Belt League team.

Paynesville plays at 1:30 p.m. Sunday against top-seeded Atwater at the Chuckers' Kingery Field.

"How about that guy's performance?" said Pirates manager Ron Fuchs of Evans, who went seven innings to earn the victory. Evans struck out three, walked two and allowed seven hits and three earned runs.

"I couldn't be happier with how our guys played this weekend."

Evans is a 2022 Paynesville Area High School graduate who began playing for the Pirates last season after initially playing for the Roscoe Rangers of the Stearns County League.

Fuchs explained how they got the lanky right-hander to come back to town.

"He's friends with everybody here," the manager said. "Him and my son play golf all the time."

Evans said Sunday was his longest performance of the season and it couldn't have come at a better time after Grady Fuchs, the St. Cloud State right-hander, shut down Regal for seven innings on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Pirates (5-9) also are hitting the ball. They had 10 hits Sunday and opened things up with a five-run ninth inning against the Twins (10-8).

"Our hitters are getting hot at the right time and they're doing some real good situational hitting," said Evans, who is an economics major at St. Cloud State. "Everything's coming together at the right time."

Luke Johnson led the way Sunday. The shortstop went 3-for-5 with a double, a run and four RBIs. Right fielder Drew Tangen was 2-for-5 with two runs and catcher Griffin Bjerke went 1-for-2 with two walks, a double and a run.

New London-Spicer, meanwhile, has a big game with fifth-seeded Starbuck Stars. The Twins aren't sure when their playoff game with Starbuck will be exactly because of the availability of a two-man umpiring crew. It's initially scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Spicer, but could be moved to Saturday afternoon or evening.

Twins manager Jon Rambow gave credit to Evans, which New London-Spicer had beaten in the first game of the season.

"That kid pitched well," Rambow said.

The Twins are going to have to piece together their pitching in the playoffs. Hunter Magnuson, their ace, recently signed with the Northwoods League's Willmar Stingers, where he's expected to stay until the end of the playoffs, which could extend into early August.

"It's hard when you lose not only your ace but your No. 3 hitter as well," Rambow said of Magnuson, who was hitting .324 with a .500 on-base percentage and .529 slugging percentage. On the mound, the Mayville State right-hander was 5-1 with a 2.10 earned-run average. He had 79 strikeouts in 51-1/3 innings before heading to the Northwoods League. He's eligible to return when the Stingers' season is over.

With no Magnuson, The plan then was to go with Ben Kulset, Cayden Hansen and Carson McCain. Kulset went the first four. Hansen went the next four, giving up a walk and a double to pinch hitter Grant Fuchs in the ninth when he gave way to McCain. That's when the Pirates blew it open.

Meanwhile, Grayson Fuchs, the 2023 Paynesville graduate, finished up with two scoreless innings. The right-hander, who is headed to St. Cloud State to continue his baseball career in the fall, had pitched Monday for the Paynesville Plums American Legion baseball team, which got eliminated from the playoffs Saturday.

The harder-throwing Grayson Fuchs was a contrast to Evans.

"I'm a pitch-to-contact pitcher," Evans said. "I need my defense to make plays."

It happened Sunday and Paynesville is undefeated in the league playoffs and getting ready for a regional run.

Paynesville 102 000 105-9 10 2

NL-Spicer 000 201 000-3 7 2

Hitting — Paynesville: Grayson Fuchs 1-4 r rbi sf sac, Drew Tangen 2-5 r-2, Luke Johnson 3-5 2b r rbi-4, Garrett Leusink 1-5 rbi, Grady Fuchs 0-4 rbi sf, Tanner Stanley 0-3 r bb, Blake Vagle 1-3 r, Griffin Bjerke 1-2 2b r bb-2, Sam Oehrlein 0-2 r rbi bb hbp, Grant Fuchs 1-1 2b r ... NL-Spicer: Cayden Hansen 2-3 bb hbp, Jake Rambow 1-5, Mike Danielson 0-3 r bb, Derek Dolezal 2-3 2b hr r-2 rbi-2 bb sb, Scott Rambow 0-3 rbi sf sac, Josh Soine 1-4, Brayden Skindelien 1-4

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Paynesville: Bennett Evans (W) 7-7-3-3-2-3, Gray. Fuchs 2-0-0-0-2-2 ... NL-Spicer: Ben Kulset 4-7-3-3-0-1, Hansen (L) 4-2-3-3-2-2, Carson McCain 1-1-3-3-2-1

Josh Kingery went eight innings for the pitching win and also homered and scored three times in Atwater's playoff win over Starbuck at Kingery Field in Atwater.

Kingery struck out 11 with no walks, scattering seven hits and allowing three earned runs. At the plate, he was 1-for-2 with three walks and an RBI.

David Kingery was 2-for-5 with a run and Jeff Peterson went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice, a run and an RBI.

Andy Toop went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Stars.

Starbuck 010 120 000-4 8 4

Atwater 112 103 00x-8 9 0

Hitting — Starbuck: Mike Gruber 1-4 r, Darion Alexander 1-4 r, Austin Ver Steeg 0-4 rbi, Matt Gruber 1-1 r-2 rbi hbp-2, Austin Friese 1-3 sac, Aaron Ver Steeg 1-4 rbi, Andy Toop 2-4 rbi, Jack Hendrickson 1-3 2b hbp ... Atwater: Josh Kingery 1-2 hr r-3 rbi bb-3, David Kingery 2-5 r, Jeff Peterson 2-4 r rbi sac, Kobe Holtz 0-4 rbi bb, Jordan Olson 1-5 2b r rbi, Chris Fellows 1-4 r, Jack Peterson 1-2 hbp-2, Logan Straumann 1-4 rbi-3, Jaxon Drange-Leyendecker 0-0 r bb sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Starbuck: Au. Ver Steeg (L) 6-8-8-6-4-5, Mi. Gruber 2-1-0-0-2-1 ... Atwater: J. Kingery (W) 8-7-4-3-0-11, Holtz 1-1-0-0-0-0

Dylan Gass tossed a two-hitter, striking out three and walking one, as Bird Island earned the victory at Lilleberg Field in Raymond.

Braeden Tersteeg was 3-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI, James Woelfel was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run and Aidan Elfering was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Bullfrogs.

Isaac Call and Brett Swanson had Raymond's hits.

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Raymond 000 000 000-0 2 0

Hitting — Bird Island: Braeden Tersteeg 3-5 2b r rbi, James Woelfel 2-3 r bb, Aiden Elfering 2-4 2b rbi, Nic Taylor 1-4 2b r ... Raymond: Isaac Call 1-4, Brett Swanson 1-3

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Bird Island: Dylan Gass (W) 9-2-0-0-1-3 ... Raymond: Tanner Bauman (L) 6-7-3-3-1-6, John Sawatzky 2-1-0-0-2-3, Wylee Lottman 1-0-0-0-0-2

Hunter Wienhoff tossed an eight-hitter, striking out seven and walking two, to lead the Marshall A's to victory over the Willmar Rails at Klemmetson Field in Willmar.

Chase Douglas went 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and hit-by-pitch for Marshall.

For Willmar, Zach Reierson went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Jack Baumgart was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Marshall 210 000 000-3 8 1

Willmar 001 000 000-1 8 0

Hitting — Marshall: Chase Douglas 2-4 r rbi hbp, AJ Toulouse 1-4 sac, Peyton Grant 1-3 2b r bb-2 sb, Seth Resnick 1-3 bb, Matt Hmielewski 1-3 2b rbi-2 bb, Logan Tomasek 1-4, Josh Kraft 1-4 3b r ... Willmar: Zach Reierson 2-5 rbi, Sam Etterman 1-4, Jack Baumgart 2-3 bb, Ashton Gregory 1-4, Caleb Owens 1-3 r sb, Jordan Steffer 1-1

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Marshall: Hunter Wienhoff (W) 9-8-1-1-2-7 ... Willmar: Jayden Dierenfeld (L) 6-7-3-3-3-4, Patrick Courtney 3-1-0-0-1-2

Needing 13 innings to decide a winner, Granite Falls' Brandon Grund reached home on a wild pitch to give the Kilowatts the walk-off victory over the Wabasso Jaxx at Richter Field in Granite Falls.

Colton Vien, Ty Schulte, Nikson Knapper, Jake Odegard and Hunter Wilke each had hits for Granite Falls. Wilke also got the win on the mound after six innings of relief. He struck out five and give up two runs on three hits and no walks.

Wabasso 000 010 002 000 0-3 7 4

Granite Falls 010 002 000 000 1-4 5 3

Hitting — Wabasso: Colton Taylor 2-6 sb, Adryen Tietz 1-5 bb sb-2, Noah Anderson 1-6 rbi, Bryant Haas 2-4 r sb-2 sac, Caleb Kent 0-4 r hbp, Cooper Freitag 0-5 rbi, CJ Theis 1-3 r rbi bb-2 ... Granite Falls: Colton Vien 1-6 2b r, Bryce Sneller 0-5 r bb, Ty Schulte 1-4 2b r rbi hbp, Nikson Knapper 1-4 bb-2, Jake Odegard 1-4 rbi bb sac, Hunter Wilke 1-5 rbi, Derrick Grund 0-1 r, Brandon Grund 0-0 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Wabasso: Joe Liebl 9-5-4-0-2-7, Tietz 3-0-0-0-2-2, Anderson (L) 0.1-0-1-1-1-0 ... Granite Falls: Sneller 7-4-1-1-3-7, Wilke (W) 6-3-2-2-0-5

The Blues clinched a Region 12C tournament spot with its victory at Optimist Park in Litchfield.

Avery Liestman pitched eight innings to earn the win for Litchfield.

Ryan Quast's two-out RBI single scored Liestman for the Blues' game-winning run in the sixth inning.

Litchfield plays Maple Plain at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday back at Optimist Park.

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Anthony Revermann allowed one hit and one run over six innings to earn the pitching win for the Spring Hill Chargers at Spring Hill.

Revermann struck out five and walked four. Reagan Nelson went the final three innings for the save, allowing two hits and one unearned run. He struck out two and walked three.

Eric Terres, Ben Welle, Jamie Terres and Austin Schoenberg all had two hits for the Chargers.

Jackson Peterson, Ashton Dingmann and Brandon Roelike had hits for the Saints.

Elrosa 001 000 001-2 3 1

Spring Hill 202 010 00x-5 11 1

Hitting — Elrosa: Kevin Kuefler 0-4 rbi bb, Jackson Peter 1-4 sb, Ashton Dingmann 1-4, Will VanBeck 0-2 r bb-2, Brandon Roelike 1-1, Riley Lenarz 0-0 r bb, Casey Lenarz 0-2 rbi ... Spring Hill: Eric Terres 2-4 2b r-2, Devon Orbeck 1-3 3b r-2 rbi bb, Ben Welle 2-3 2b r rbi-2 hbp sb, Jamie Terres 2-4 2b, Austin Schoenberg 2-4 2b rbi sb, Owen Meyer 1-4 2b, Luke Dehmer 1-3

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Elrosa: VanBeck (L) 3-8-4-4-0-0, Riley Meyer 3-2-1-1-2-3, Dingmann 2-1-0-0-0-0 ... Spring Hill: Anthony Revermann (W) 6-1-1-1-4-5, Reagan Nelson (Sv) 3-2-1-0-3-2

The Morris Eagles came back from a 5-1 deficit to beat the Benson Plowboys for a Land O' Ducks League win at Benson.

Bryce Jergenson went 3-for-5 for the Eagles. Nate Haseman threw a complete-game victory, striking out three.

Isaac and Patrick Minchow both had four hits for Benson. Patrick went 4-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and a run. Isaac was 4-for-5 with a pair of runs.

Morris 001 403 000-8 11 0

Benson 104 000 100-6 15 5

Hitting — Morris: Zach Bruns 1-5 r rbi sf sf, Brandon Jergenson 2-5 r-2 rbi-2, Tanner Picht 1-4 hr r rbi-2 hbp, Mac Beyer 1-4 bb, Kirby Marquart 2-5, Bryce Jergenson 3-5 r, Brady Jergenson 0-3 r hbp-2, Tyler Henrichs 1-4 2b r-2 hbp ... Benson: Jaxon Nickels 1-5 r, Isaac Minchow 4-5 r-2, Patrick Minchow 4-4 2b r rbi-4, Samuel Lenarz 0-4 rbi-2, Sam Grussing 1-4, Aaron Zosel 1-2, Matthew Lenarz 2-4 2b r, Matthew Goossen 2-4 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Morris: Nate Haseman (W) 9-15-6-6-0-3 ... Benson: M. Lenarz 5-6-5-2-0-2, Daniel Lenarz (L) 4-5-3-3-1-2

The Dumont Saints brought home a victory over the Madison Mallards in Land O'Ducks action at Wheaton.

Paynesville erupted for three runs each in the seventh and eighth innings and one in the ninth to knock off the third-seeded Eagles at Regal.

Grady Fuchs got the pitching win, going the first seven innings. He struck out 10, walked three and allowed three hits and one earned runs. Luke Johnson and Blake Vagle each pitched scoreless innings of relief.

Drew Tangen went 3-for-6 with a run and an RBI and Tanner Stanley was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and four RBis. Johnson cracked a home run and Blake Vagle had two hits for the Pirates.

Luke Knudsen was 1-for-3 with three walks and a stolen base and Adrian Belden was 1-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and an RBI for Regal.

Paynesville 012 000 331-10 15 2

Regal 010 000 000-1 4 1

Hitting — Paynesville: Drew Tangen 3-6 r rbi, Luke Johnson 1-4 hr r-3 rbi-2 bb-2, Garrett Leusink 1-2 r-2 bb hbp-2, Grady Fuchs 1-4 r rbi bb, Tanner Stanley 3-5 2b r rbi-4, Blake Vagle 2-5 ... Regal: Luke Knudsen 1-2 bb-3 sb, Josh Beier 1-4, Blake Karsch 1-4 r, Adrian Belden 1-2 rbi bb hbp

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Paynesville: Grady Fuchs (W) 7-3-1-1-3-10, Johnson 1-1-0-0-1-0, Vagle 1-0-0-0-2-0 ... Regal: Brandon Wedel (L) 6-6-3-3-4-4, Grant Paffrath 3-9-7-7-1-1

Aaron Ver Steeg went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs and three RBIs as Starbuck beat Norway Lake-Sunburg at Willie Reigstad Park in Sunburg.

Michael Gruber also homered for the Stars. Matt Gruber was 2-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base for Starbuck.

For the Lakers, Justin Johnson was 2-for-5 with a run.

Starbuck 024 000 004-10 9 2

NL-Sunburg 000 310 001-5 8 5

Hitting — Starbuck: Michael Gruber 1-5 hr r rbi-2, Darion Alexander 1-3 2b r-2 bb-2, Matt Gruber 2-5 r-2 sb, Aaron Ver Steeg 2-6 hr r-2 rbi-3, Austin Ver Steeg 1-4 r rbi-2, Austin Friese 1-5, Andrew Toop 1-3 3b r rbi, Drew Olsonawski 0-1 r ... NL-Sunburg: Weston Gjerde 0-4 rbi bb, Jaiden Henjum 1-5, Jared Cortez 1-4 r bb, Luke Ruter 1-3 r-2 bb-2, Aaron Zimmer 1-3 r bb-2, Justin Johnson 2-5 r, Regan Carlson 0-4 rbi bb, Titian Norton 1-3 rbi, Luke Jeseritz 1-3 2b rbi bb-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Starbuck: Alexander (W) 7-4-4-2-7-7, Mitchell Gruber (Sv) 2-4-1-1-2-1 ... NL-Sunburg: Gjerde (L) 3-3-6-3-1-0, Johnson 6-6-4-1-1-3