Menahga 1
Paynesville advanced to the Division II State Legion Baseball Tournament with a victory over Menahga 2-1, on Sunday night, in Paynesville.
Paynesville defeated Crosby-Ironton 15-0, on Saturday, in the first round of the Sixth District Legion Baseball Tournament, which was held in Paynesville this year.The team receives the District 6 trophy from Gaylord Zelinski, tournament chairman. They will advance to state.
Jon Lieser started on the mound for Paynesville and threw a complete game shutout.
Paynesville hit the ball well including two home runs. One of the homers was a three-run homer by Eric Hartfiel. The other was a two-run shot by Doug Fuchs. Chad Fleischhacker went 3-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs in the game.
James Freese started on the mound for Crosby-Ironton and got tagged with the loss, but only went an inning and a third. John Hoge threw relief for Crosby-Ironton.
Paynesville jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first by scoring on Fuchs' two-run homer.
In the top of the second an error by Crosby Ironton, and two walks loaded the bases for Paynesville with only one out. Brent Heinen doubled in two. Scott Braun then followed suit with a double, and Fuchs drove in his third run of the game for Paynesville.
Both Braun and Fuchs would come around to score in the inning. By the end of the inning Paynesville held a healthy 8-0 lead.
That would prove to be more than enough for Lieser who kept runners off the bases. Paynesville stopped Crosby-Ironton's chance for a run when Paynesville first baseman, Adam Miller, threw out Hoge at the plate.
Paynesville added seven more runs in the game, highlighted by the Hartfiel home run to make the score 15-0 and end the game at the end of five innings.
| Paynesville-- | 260 | 43 | -15 | 12 | 0 | |
| Crosby-Ironton-- | 000 | 00 | -0 | 3 | 3 |
Paynesville 9
St. Augusta 1
Paynesville defeated St. Augusta 9-1, on Sunday, in the second round of the district legion baseball tournament.
Nate Schutz started on the mound for Paynesville and went the distance giving one run on three hits in seven innings.
Jon Lieser led the way for Paynesville at the plate going 3-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored, and a solo home run. Eric Hartfiel had another good game at the plate as he was 2-3 with two runs scored.
For the second straight game Paynesville took the early lead. In the bottom of the first they scored three runs when Ben Bork led the game off with a single.
Doug Fuchs then walked to put runners on first and second and both of them advanced on a wild pitch. Chad Fleisch-hacker then singled, but the ball got past the center fielder and Fleischhacker came all the way around the bases to give Paynesville a 3-0 lead.
Hartfiel led off the top of the second with a single and scored when Brent Heinen doubled. Shaun Fleischhacker was coming around third, but was thrown out at the plate on the same play, but Paynesville held a 4-0 advantage.
Paynesville added one more in the bottom of the third when Fuchs had another single. Lieser drove him in to make the score 5-0, Paynesville.
Schutz remained in command on the mound only allowing the one run in the top of the fourth. Paynesville added a couple more to make Schutz's job that much easier.
In the bottom of the sixth Lieser hit a solo homer to ice the game for Paynesville and give them a 9-1 victory.
| St. Augusta-- | 000 | 100 | 0 | -13 | 5 | |
| Paynesville-- | 311 | 031 | X | -9 | 13 | 0 |
Paynesville 2
Menahga 1
Paynesville advanced to the Division II State Legion Baseball Tournament with a victory over Menahga 2-1, on Sunday night, in Paynesville.
With the victory Paynesville won the 6th District Legion Baseball Champion-ship.
Brent Heinen started on the mound and pitched an excellent game for Paynesville. Heinen kept Menahga off the board until the seventh inning when Travis Lusti hit a ball that was ruled a home run, but appeared to be a foul ball.
Scott Braun had a huge game for Paynesville. He was 3-3 with two RBIs and a home run for Paynesville.
ÒThe kids worked hard, and did the little things that won the game,Ó said Paynesville coach Brad Skoglund.
Paynesville got on the board first when Heinen reached base on an error. Heinen then stole second to move into scoring position.
Braun then doubled to drive in Heinen and Paynesville led 1-0. Braun was thrown out at the plate when he tried to score on a Doug Fuchs single.
Heinen and Jake Lund, of Menahga, dueled for the remainder of the game.
Paynesville added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Braun hit a solo home run that hit the scoreboard in the air.
As the way it turned out Paynesville would need that insurance run and held on to win 2-1.
With the victory Paynesville advanced to the state tournament for the second time in three years.
They will play on Friday afternoon in Ely against Le Suer-Henderson at 1:30 p.m.
ÒThe guys played well through the whole tournament,Ó said Skoglund.
Skoglund also added that he was really pleased with the way the guys on the bench worked. They were Adam Winters, Ryan Schneider, Troy Schmidt, Curtis Christian, and Leon Fuchs.
Paynesville didn't commit an error in the whole tournament, and only gave up two runs in the tournament thanks to great pitching.
The winner of the state tournament will advance to the U.S. Regional Legion Baseball Tournament held in Pratt, Nebraska.
| Paynesville-- | 001 | 001 | 0 | -2 | 5 | 0 |
| Menahga-- | 000 | 000 | 1 | -1 | 4 | 1 |
First Round Games
St. Augusta 5
Holdingford 4
Menahga 6
Pierz 5
Second Round Games
Crosby-Ironton 8
Holdingford 2
Consolation Championship
Crosby-Ironton 7
Pierz 6