110th Article at the Independent

JUNIOR LEGION BASEBALL: Marshall 15U Orange goes 2-1 to finish tournament

CHRIS DRUMMOND cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

MILROY — After dropping a close game against Brandon Valley (S.D.) to open the Marshall Junior Legion tournament, the Marshall 15U VFW Orange baseball team looked to bounce back against Mankato West VFW on Saturday. But when Marshall fell in another tough one-run loss (5-4), they knew they needed a strong performance to close out the tournament. Marshall Orange did just that, taking out Bellevue East (Neb.) 16-9 later in the day on Saturday before facing them again on Sunday, with Marshall Orange edging Bellevue East 13-10 in 10 innings.

In the first game against Mankato West, the Tigers kept their bats at bay and really controlled the most of the game. Marshall starting pitcher Owen Kesteloot pitched a solid game, going six innings while allowing just three runs and striking out three as well. Kesteloot would also rip a huge two-run double to deep left-center field breaking a tied ballgame to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Tigers would score all four of their runs in the game in that inning.

After a scoreless bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, Mankato West came up to bat with one last chance. With two runners on second and third with two outs, a Mankato West player laced a line shot to left field and trimmed the deficit to one. On the very next at-bat, Mankato West smoked a ball in the gap of left and center field, scoring the final two runs to win in walk-off fashion 5-4 over the Tigers.

Marshall Orange head coach Peyton Grant talked about the heartbreaking loss for his team.

“I think we brought a better aspect of putting the ball in play with our hitting,” Grant said. “We’re coming out and showing some fight and I was proud of the way we did that.”

Grant also chimed in on how resilient this team is, using the word “grit” and regardless of what deficits this team faces, they keep battling and that’s what he most loves about this team.

In the second game of the day versus Bellevue East, the Tigers’ bats finally came alive. In the very first inning the Tigers would bat around and put up five runs. However in that bottom half of the inning, Bellevue East batted around as well and put up four runs of their own to trim the lead of the Tigers down to one. From there, it was a game of hot potato.

Bellevue East would take the lead at 6-5 after two innings, only to lose it again to the Tigers 8-6 in the top of the third but the Tigers lost the lead again 9-8 in the bottom half of the third, only to recapture the lead 11-9 in the top fourth inning and never would relinquish it again.

Marshall would add five more runs in the top of the sixth inning extending their lead to seven, 16-9. Marshall outfielders Alex Franson and Sam Thor each led the team in hits with three apiece and including Thor, four other Marshall Tigers (Ethan Bly, Kesteloot, Brody Wixon and Connor Mensink) would have two RBIs in the ballgame. Grant spoke on getting the team’s first win in the tournament and the message moving forward.

“I was happy to see the bats get going,” Grant said. “It was a good win for us. I told the team that I want us to put a complete game together of great hitting and pitching. Once we can do that, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

In the final game of the tournament for Marshall on Sunday, they would play Bellevue East again and although the Tigers built a comfortable lead at 8-1, Bellevue East didn’t quit and forced extras by scoring seven runs combined in the bottom of the fifth and sixth inning.

The Tigers would score a run in the eighth but Bellevue East matched that run and showed they weren’t done. After a scoreless ninth inning for both teams, the combination of Liam Kruse and Josh Kraft was nothing short of sensational. Kraft had five hits, including two doubles and four RBIs while Kruse had four hits, one double and also three RBIs leading the Tigers to victory in 10 innings, 13-10. Grant again spoke on how his team closed out the tournament winning the final two games.

“We got that big lead 8-1, but then we got complacent but we fought back and was able to pull out the win in extra innings,” Grant added. “We played well this tournament. This is great experience for our guys going up against great competition because our ultimate goal is to win the state tournament at the end of the year and this will better prepare us for that.”

Saturday

Mankato West 5, Marshall 4

Marshall 000 400 0 – 4

Mankato West 001 100 3 – 5

Hitting: Marshall (Franson 2-4; Kraft 1-3, RBI; Kruse 1-3, RBI; Kesteloot 2-4, 2 RBI; Thor 1-2; Wixon 1-2; Schaefer 1-4, Mensink 1-3).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall (Kesteloot 6-4-3-9-3-3; Kraft 0.1-0-1-1-0).

Marshall 16, Bellevue East 9

Marshall 503 215 0 – 16

Bellevue East 423 000 0 – 9

Hitting: Marshall (Franson 3-4, RBI; Kraft 1-2; Kruse 1-5, RBI; Kesteloot 2-5, 2 RBI; Thor 3-5, 2 RBI; Wixon 2-4, 2 RBI; Bly 1-5, 2 RBI; Mensink 2-4, 2 RBI).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall (Bly 3-9-6-8-2-2; Miller 4-0-0-3-1-2).

Sunday

Marshall 13, Bellevue East 10

(10 innings)

Marshall 030 230 010 4 – 13

Bellevue East 001 034 010 1 – 10

Hitting: Marshall (Franson 2-5; Kraft 5-6, 4 RBI; Kruse 4-6, 3 RBI; Kesteloot 1-6, RBI; Thor 1-1, RBI; Wixon 1-5; Schaefer 2-4; Mensink 1-3; Miller 1-2, 2 RBI; Griebel 1-3).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall (Wixon 6-8-5-9-0-3; Miller 2-1-1-3-0-1; Kraft 2-1-1-2-1-2).