Legion team wraps up - Eagles, VFW win

Morris Legion baseball: 6-3 defeat

Two losses and you're out in the district tourney. Unfortunately for the usually high-flying Morris Legion Nine, loss No. 2 came Thursday night. So the season is over.

The Thursday foe was Granite Falls, in Montevideo, where the District 7 tourney is reaching a climax.

Granite Falls seemed to want to hand this game to Morris on a platter. Granite Falls looked disoriented in the field at times and committed seven errors. Seven errors!

But alas, Post #29 couldn't exploit this weakness well enough. Morris was defeated by Granite Falls 6-3.

Morris committed two errors in this less-than-a-masterpiece game.

Morris is known for showing power bats. Their fans watched with chagrin Thursday as this game grew into an exception. Morris was quite out of character as all eight of their hits were singles.

So let's give some credit to the Granite Falls pitcher. This was Dylan Lindstrom, who worked six innings before giving way to the closer Aaron Zieske who threw one.

Lindstrom gave up the three Morris runs but two were unearned. He struck out two batters and walked three.

Tyler Hansen was the Morris starting pitcher and was hurt badly by unearned runs. All five of the runs that Hansen allowed were unearned. He gave up four hits, struck out four and walked one in his 2 2/3 innings on the hill.

Sam Mattson pitched the other 3 1/3. Mattson allowed four hits, struck out three batters and walked one while allowing one run which was unearned.

Add 'em up and there were six unearned runs scored by Granite Falls which constituted their whole run total.

Yes, it was a heartbreaking way for the curtain to come down on the Post #29 season.

All the Granite Falls runs were scored in the third inning. Hansen got the hook in that inning. A wild pitch allowed two runs to score. Garrett Cole hit a two-run double. Austin Thorstad and Brandon Grund singled.

Morris fans had their hopes lifted in the top of the seventh when their team got two baserunners on with no outs. At this point, Lindstrom is relieved by Zieske.

Zieske responded to the pressure, first striking out a batter and then inducing a double play.

With a thud the Morris season ended. But on the whole, Morris fans can embrace many special memories from the 2011 summer.

Tyler Hansen had one hit in three at-bats. Ditto Ryan Beyer. Cole Riley's hitting eye was sharp as he connected for three hits in four at-bats.

Brady Valnes and Mitch Kill both went one-for-four. Ethan Bruer had a one-for-two evening and drove in a run.

Thanks for the memories, Post #29 boys! Try to stay cool.

Morris Eagles baseball: 12-2 triumph

The Eagles took command vs. Benson to capture the #1 seed in the Canvas Division. They plated 12 runs in this July 20 game played in Chiefs country of Benson.

You might say the Eagles painted a fine picture of victory on this canvas! It was achieved 12-2 and saw the Morris bats sizzle for 14 hits, compared to five by Benson.

The Canvas Division is part of the Land O' Ducks League.

This game was originally slated for Saturday but the obstacle was - you guessed it - the weather conditions of late.
Johnny Carson might have quipped: "How hot was it?"

Well it was too hot for the game to be played to completion on Saturday. This was a suspension and not a total postponement.

The resumption of the action saw the temperature in a much more tolerable range. Mid-game "it actually cooled off a bit," spokesman Matthew Carrington said.

Morris was already in good shape, leading 4-2, at the time of the resumption.

Morris seemed to put the game out of reach with a four-run fifth inning, achieved on just two hits. There were three bases-loaded walks. Benson's woes were compounded by a passed ball.

The Eagles had fuel left in the tank for a four-run ninth. When the dust cleared, this was clearly Morris' night. Morris committed just one error.

Benson's error with two outs in the ninth opened the door for that late rally. Ross Haugen took advantage by walloping a two-run double. Craig Knochenmus connected for an RBI triple down the right field line. The lefty Knochenmus pulled that ball with authority.

All this offense made the pitching job kind of a pipe (whatever that means) for Matthew Carrington.

The veteran Carrington set down the final 16 batters he faced. He finished the night with five strikeouts, he walked just one and he allowed five hits and two runs (one earned).

Knochenmus went to work on the hill for the ninth and he was untouched. "Knochy" fanned two Chiefs.

Dusty Sauter had a boxscore line of all 2's: at-bats, runs, hits, RBIs. The Nathan Gades line was 3-2-1-1.

Chris Boettcher: 3-2-2-1. Ross Haugen: 4-1-3-3. Craig Knochenmus: 3-0-1-3.

Brett Anderson: 5-0-1-0. Mitch Carbert: 1-1-1-0. Ben James: 4-1-2-0.

Jon Jallo: 1-1-1-0. And Tony Schultz: 3-2-0-0.

What's next? The Eagles will face Benson again at 4 p.m. Saturday (7/23) in Appleton.

Then on Sunday, regardless of the Saturday outcomes, the Eagles will play in the late game (4 p.m.) here at Chizek Field.

The Eagles are now eyeing the Region 9C playoffs. They're on a roll, having won six of their last seven games.

Morris VFW baseball: 15-4 triumph

It's always gratifying to beat the "big town." Morris VFW baseball came up against Willmar on Tuesday (7/19) and showed a superior caliber.

As the visitor, Morris erupted big-time in the second and third innings with rallies that helped bury the host. The final score: 15-4.

Willmar was shaky in the field, handing Morris opportunities by committing seven errors. Morris by contrast committed one.

The 15 Morris runs came on 12 hits while Willmar was held to five hits.

Morris Post #5039 scored five runs in the second inning and seven in the third. The score was 12-2 entering the fifth inning.

Morris plated three runs in the top of the fifth and Willmar answered with two, but a ten-run bulge had opened up that ended the game via "the rule" (ten-run rule).

Jake Torgerson pitched the whole way for Post #5039 and fanned five batters while walking none. He gave up five hits and four runs (earned).

The losing pitcher was Brandon Christenson.

Tyler Henrichs supplied lots of punch with his bat for Motown. Tyler posted three-for-four numbers while scoring three runs and driving in one.

Chandler Erickson had two hits in four at-bats. The following batters went two-for-three: Jordan Staples, Tom Holland and Mac Beyer.

Beyer's bat resonated with a home run and triple, and he drove in two runs and scored two.

Staples drove in two runs. Holland picked up a ribbie.

Buzzy Tollefson led Willmar's hitting at two-for-three including a double.

Legion ball: defeat vs. Madison

The normally potent Morris American Legion team offense was humbled on Tuesday, July 19. The Post #29 crew was embarking on districts. The site: Montevideo.

Morris was fresh from two weekend triumphs in which their offense earned that "potent" description.

But on Tuesday their bats became relatively silent in a 4-1 loss.
Double-elimination would allow Post #29 to see another day. (But they would lose to Granite Falls.)

The Tuesday roadblock was thrust by Madison, the long version of which is "Madison Lac qui Parle Post #158."

Madison needed some time to get going. Through five innings it looked like Morris and its accomplished pitcher Alex Erickson might own the day.

It was Erickson who homered in the first and then his pitching arm took over to throttle Madison through the first five innings. But of course a 1-0 lead can be precarious.

Morris couldn't chip away any further because opposing hurler Joey Schreck was quite in command. Erickson and Schreck would both pitch the distance (seven innings).

It was Schreck who would get the "W" next to his name in the boxscore. That's because after giving up that Erickson homer in the first, he totally shut the door. There was a string of zeroes on the scoreboard after that.

Madison had a string of zeroes through five innings but that changed in the sixth. Madison summoned a decisive three-run rally, then proceeded to add an insurance run in the seventh.

Madison had a line score of four runs, seven hits and no errors, while Post #29 put up 1-6-5 numbers.

The telling stat there would appear to be the "five" for Morris errors. Ouch.

Two of the runs that Erickson allowed were unearned. He struck out eight batters, gave up seven hits and walked one.

The winner Schreck had six strikeouts and walked two, while giving up six hits and one run (earned).

Erickson wielded his bat for a double in addition to his home run. Four of his teammates went one-for-three: Eric Riley, Mitch Kill, Brody Bahr and Brady Valnes.

The Haas boys, Sam and Seth, both had two hits for Madison. Other Madison hits were off the bats of Jacob Redepenning, Eric Paulson and Brandon Weber.

For Morris the loss had a sting because Morris prevailed twice vs. Madison previously this summer.

In the other District 7 "Final 4" game on Tuesday, it was Eden Valley-Watkins downing Granite Falls 6-2. Winning pitcher Kevin Kramer struck out ten batters.

Matt Geislinger socked a two-run homer to stoke EV-W's winning fortunes.

- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com