|
 |
Lumberjacks District Champs
|
|
|
|
The Britton Lumberjacks earned their fifth straight state tournament berth by winning the District 2B championship over Redfield on Saturday. Team members in front left to right are Josh Phillips, Pat Krause, Drew Amacher, Scott Swanson, Preston Kilker, Jim Pearson, and BJ Richter. Back row Ryan Wagner, Troy Knecht, Kyle Elsen, Alex Suther, Adam Suther, Justin Link, Bill Bray, and Austin Suther. Not pictured are Joel Backous, Joe Dinger, Jared Pearson, and Terry Tchida.
|
The Britton Lumberjacks earned their fifth straight trip to the state amateur baseball tournament last weekend, but this time it had a different twist.
The Jacks, 14-15, are going this year as District 2B champions after stopping long-time nemesis Redfield twice. Two teams earn a spot in the state event, so Redfield, which has won 14 of the last 16 district titles, will still make the trip to Mitchell this week.
State tournament action will get underway today (Wednesday), and the Jacks will meet Chamberlain in first round play at 1 p.m. on Thursday. Redfield takes on Wynot, NE, at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Britton opened district tournament play on Thursday with a 14-10 win over Groton. The Jacks followed that up with an 18-15 win over Redfield behind nine home runs, turning the tables on the host team that had defeated them 14-5 just seven days earlier on Friday. Then the local nine defeated the defending 2B champs again 10-8 in the championship game of the double elimination tournament on Saturday after Redfield had eliminated Groton 16-6 earlier in the day.
"Redfield was 20-4 going into the district, so it's nice to know we can compete with those guys," said Lumberjacks manager Troy Knecht. "We had just an 11-15 record and our batting averages were down from last year, but we also played a lot better competition this season and hope we're putting things together at the right time. I think maybe some of our experience is starting to show up a little bit."
The last three seasons the Jacks have lost to the eventual champion and two teams that advanced to the semifinals in first round state tournament play. This year they are hoping to change that.
"I don't know a lot about Chamberlain but they make regular appearances at the state tournament," said Knecht. "We just need to continue to pound the ball and keep the pressure on teams like we did in the district. The games we've won and lost this year have all been close, and we're finally putting some runs on the board. At state we want to get on teams early and let the pitchers go to work."
Britton 10
Redfield 8
Britton jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning and then weathered a late Redfield comeback.
The Lumberjacks never trailed after pushing across a run in the second inning. Four more tallies in the fifth, a single run in the sixth, and three more in the seventh gave them a 9-1 advantage as Justin Link allowed just one run in the first six innings. But then Redfield managed four runs in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the ninth to make it close.
Adam Suther tripled and singled twice, while Troy Knecht, BJ Richter, and Ryan Wagner each laced three singles as Britton out-hit Redfield 16-8.
Britton 010 041 310 - 10 16 1
Redfield 000 010 403 - 8 8 2
Justin Link, Alex Suther (9) and Pat Krause; Keith Gall and Rich Osborn
Britton 18
Redfield 15
The Lumberjacks pounded out nine home runs and collected 24 hits in handing Redfield its first loss of the tournament.
Redfield exploded for seven runs in the second inning to take an 8-2 lead, but the Jacks answered with five runs in the third and took a 9-8 lead with a pair of tallies in the top of the fifth. The hosts knotted the game at 9-all in the bottom of the inning, Britton scored two in the top of the sixth but Redfield came right back with four to lead 13-11 after six.
But the Lumberjacks took the lead for good with four runs in the seventh and another in the eighth for a 16-15 lead and then added two insurance runs in the ninth.
Adam Suther ripped three home runs and collected five RBI's to lead the Britton attack. Pat Krause had a pair of fence balls and knocked in three runs, Josh Phillilps homered and laced four singles and batted in five runs, Troy Knecht homered, doubled, and rapped two singles, Joel Backous homered and doubled, and Josh Phillips and Ryan Wagner both homered. BJ Richter and Preston Kilker both added doubles. Richter and Krause teamed up on the mound.
Britton 205 022 412 - 18 24 1
Redfield 170 014 020 - 15 18 0
BJ Richter, Pat Krause (7) and Krause, Richter (7); Scott Bartholomew, Rich Osborn (7) and Rich Osborn, Jared Kuehn
Britton 14
Groton 10
Britton used a pair of big innings to get past Groton in first round play.
The Jacks exploded for seen runs in the fourth inning to erase a 2-0 deficit and then pushed across five more in the seventh frame. Britton out-hit Groton 15-11 and had home runs from Adam Suther, Preston Kilker, and Troy Knecht. Suther also added a double, Joel Backous tripled, and Ryan Wagner added a two-bagger.
Britton 000 700 511 - 14 15 1
Groton 011 000 503 - 10 11 2
Joe Dinger, Bill Bray (7), Alex Suther (7), Justin Link (8) and BJ Richter; Don Godel, Joel Kroll (4) and Mitch Locke
|
|
©Marshall County Journal 2010
|
|
|
