Lake Henry 11Sartell 4
Scott Klaphake's second inning grand slam jump started the Lakers' offense as Lake Henry opened regional play with an 11-4 win against Sartell on Saturday.
A seven-run rally by Becker in the bottom of the third propelled them to a 9-7 victory over Lake Henry in a regional semifinal game in Lake Henry on Sunday.Both teams won on Saturday in the opening round of the Region 15C tournament, and Lake Henry took a 2-1 lead into the third, but Becker scored seven runs as they batted around their order in the third.
The Lakers' Doug Fuchs slides safely into home against Sartell Saturday.
Mike Stalboerger kept the Lakers in the game by pitching nearly six innings of relief for Lake Henry and allowing only one run.
Down 9-3, the Lakers rallied in the late innings but fell short. Jake Thielen, a draftee catcher from St. Martin, hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and Ryan Wuertz added a solo shot.
Roger Wuertz hit a solo homer for the Lakers in the ninth.
Corey Stanger pitched a complete game victory for Becker. Stanger is the son of Paynesville native Chuck Stanger, and the grandson of Cal and Arlene Anderson of Paynesville.
Lake Henry hosted regions for the first time in 50 years. Over the weekend, over 1,300 people attended games in Lake Henry. The attendance record in regions is 2,000, so just a little more than 600 fans are needed next weekend to break the record.
Lake Henry, now 1-1 in regions, will play a rematch with Richmond, also 1-1, at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Lake Henry. The winner keeps their state hopes alive, and the loser will be eliminated.
| Lake Henry-- | 200 | 000 | 131 | - 7 | 11 | 1 |
| Becker-- | 017 | 000 | 10x | - 9 | 12 | 0 |
Lake Henry - Hitting: Jake Thielen 2-4 HR RBI-2; Ryan Wuertz 2-4 HR RBI-2; Roger Wuertz 2-4 HR; Scott Klaphake 2-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Roger Wuertz (L) (2.1-5-8-5-4-3); Mike Stalboerger (5.2-7-1-1-4-5).
Becker - Hitting: Randy Baumgartner 3-5; Jason Pfingsten 2-5 2B; Carl Ogren 2-2; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Corey Stanger (W) (9-11-7-7-2-7).
Lake Henry 11
Sartell 4
Scott Klaphake's second inning grand slam jump started the Lakers' offense as Lake Henry opened regional play with an 11-4 win against Sartell on Saturday.
Klaphake, who finished the game with five RBIs, erased a 1-0 deficit and gave the Lakers a 4-1 lead with his second inning blast.
The Lakers added three more runs in the third and another in the fourth to build an 8-2 advantage. When Sartell cut that to 8-4, Ryan Wuertz clubbed a couple homers to seal the win. Wuertz hit a two-run blast in the sixth and a solo shot in the eighth to make the final margin 11-4.
Sam Rothstein (pitching at right), a draftee from St. Martin, pitched a complete game for the victory. He struck out 11 while yielding only four runs, including three solo homers.
•The Spring Hill Chargers, making their first ever appearance in regions, lost two games over the weekend and were eliminated.
| Sartell-- | 101 | 020 | 000 | - 4 | 9 | 2 |
| Lake Henry-- | 043 | 102 | 01x | - 11 | 13 | 3 |
Sartell - Hitting: Jerrod Schonecker 2-4 HR; Kevin Sucker 2-5 HR; Derek Hanson 2-5 HR; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Dan Shea (L) (3-7-8-6-2-1); Rick Dallman (5-6-3-3-0-10).
Lake Henry - Hitting: Steve Lieser 3-5; Ryan Wuertz 2-4 HR-2 RBI-3; Tom Ludwig 2-5; Scott Klaphake 1-4 HR RBI-5; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Sam Rothstein (W) (9-9-4-3-4-11).