Regal 12
Melrose 5
Tim Haines had five hits, including a grand slam home run, and seven RBIs as the Regal Eagles defeated Melrose 12-5 Sunday to clinch a spot in the regional tournament.With the bases loaded in the second inning, Haines hit a homer that cleared the bases and helped Regal to an early 5-0 lead in Melrose.
Regal led 7-0 after scoring a run in the top of the fourth. With the score 8-2, Regal scored four runs in the top of the seventh to build a 12-2 lead.
Brad Lieser had three hits for Regal, including a double, and drove in two runs. Jeff Deming (pictured batting at left) and Randy Beier added two hits apiece for the Eagles.
Mike Beier pitched six innings for the victory. He allowed only two unearned runs while striking out seven. Wade Von Eschen pitched three innings for Regal in relief to earn a save.
Melrose posted the best regular season record in the County Line League (8-2) and were the top seed in the playoffs. But Regal, which was 6-4 in league during the season and seeded third, continued its undefeated march through the post season.
With the victory, Regal clinched a spot in the region tournament.
Melrose will play Sauk Centre on Saturday in an elimination game. The winner of that game will play Regal to determine the league champion and runner-up. Regal will either play at Sauk Centre or at Melrose on Sunday, July 30, at 1:30 p.m.
Both the league champion and runner-up will advance to regions.
Regal is back in Class C this year following a stint in Class B after their runner-up finish in the state tournament in 1997. The County Line League representatives will play in a different region this year.
Starting on Friday, Aug. 4, in Eden Valley, the County Line League teams will battle teams from both divisions of the Central Valley League for two state tournament berths. Kimball and Watkins have already clinched spots in the regional tournament from that league, with two more teams yet to qualify.
| Regal-- | 051 | 101 | 400 | - 12 | 15 | 3 |
| Melrose-- | 000 | 101 | 120 | - 5 | 10 | 1 |
Regal - Batting: Tim Haines 5-5 HR RBI-7; Brad Lieser 3-5 2B RBI-2; Randy Beier 2-3; Jeff Deming 2-4; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Mike Beier (W) (6-7-2-0-0-7); Wade Von Eschen (S) (3-3-3-2-3-1).
Melrose - Batting: Jeremy Berscheidt 3-5; Greg Roering 1-2 HR; Chad Hess 1-4 HR; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Eric Meyer (L) 6.2-12-11-5-3-3); Craig Meyer (2.1-3-1-1-2-1).
Stearns County League
Lake Henry 6
Farming 2
The Lake Henry Lakers completed a first-round playoff sweep of Farming Sunday and qualified for the regional tournament for the second straight year.
The Lakers scored five times in the second inning in Farming, highlighted by a two-run single from Jon Lieser, and defeated the Flames 6-2 behind solid pitching from Ryan Wuertz and Mike Stalboerger.
The Flames scored a run in the first two innings, but were held scoreless by Wuertz and Stalboerger the rest of the way. Wuertz got the victory for seven innings of work, in which he allowed only two runs. Stalboerger earned a save for two shutout innings of relief.
The Lakers defeated the Flames 2-0 in their best of three series and earned a spot in the region tournament, which they will host in Lake Henry, starting on Saturday, Aug. 5.
Lake Henry will play at Richmond next Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to determine which team advances as the South champion and as the runner-up.
| Lake Henry-- | 050 | 000 | 001 | - 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Farming-- | 110 | 000 | 000 | - 2 | 8 | 2 |
Lake Henry - Batting: Jeff Olmscheid 2-4 2B; Doug Fuchs 2-3; Jon Lieser 1-3 RBI-2; Chad Spanier 1-3 RBI; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Ryan Wuertz (W) (7-6-2-2-3-8); Mike Stalboerger (S) (2-2-0-0-1-3).
Farming - Batting: Aaron Nett 1-1 2B BB-3; Derek Tamm 2-4 2B; Adam Rushmeyer 1-2; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Ted Nett (L) (2-6-5-4-0-2); Aaron Nett (7-4-1-1-2-5).
Richmond 4
St. Martin 2
For the second week in a row, the Martins came up a little short in a pitcher's duel against top-seeded Richmond in the Stearns County League playoffs.
Each team scored twice in the first inning in St. Martin Sunday and the score remained deadlocked at two until the seventh inning when Craig Erhlichman hit a solo home run to give the Royals the lead 3-2.
Richmond added a run in the eighth on an RBI triple by Jon Dold.
Steve Schreifels pitched a four-hitter for Richmond. He got both pitching victories in the series against the Martins and did not allow an earned run in 18 innings on the mound.
Sam Rothstein allowed only one earned run for the Martins in seven innings of work but ended up taking the loss.
Richmond won the series two games to none and will advance to the regional tournament. They will host Lake Henry next Sunday to determine the champion and the runner-up in the Stearns County League South.
The loss eliminated St. Martin from the playoffs and ended their season.
| Richmond-- | 200 | 000 | 110 | - 4 | 7 | 1 |
| St. Martin-- | 200 | 000 | 000 | - 2 | 4 | 1 |
Richmond - Batting: Craig Erhlichman 2-3 HR; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Steve Schreifels (W) (9-4-2-0-2-8).
St. Martin - Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Sam Rothstein (L) (7-6-3-1-3-8); Ken Arceneau (2-1-1-1-0-4).