93rd Article at the Independent

SECTION 3A BASEBALL: Resilient Rebels go 2-0, RRC/WWG earn split in Section 3A tournament

CHRIS DRUMMOND

cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

SLAYTON — On a beautiful, humid spring day that featured an extra inning game, an upset and the most runs scored combined in the first round of the bracket, the Section 3A baseball playoffs got underway on Saturday afternoon in Slayton. Murray County Central was able to go 2-0 on the day while Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove earned a split and Wabasso fell in its only game.

The first matchup was Wabasso facing off against MCC. The Rabbits, playing unafraid and loose, got out to a quick start and had a two-run lead after the top of the first. The Rebels quickly responded with two runs of their own and it was all tied after the first inning. Then Wabasso starting pitcher Joe Liebl settled in and shut down the Rebels over the next four innings, while protecting a lead of 4-2.

The Rabbits’ consistent pressure by getting hits and being aggressive on the basepaths was a big factor in them leading most of the game. It was in the bottom of the sixth where MCC head coach Nathan Wieneke came out and spoke to his team, igniting a spark. The ensuing inning Rebels outfielder Carter Benda had a sacrifice fly trimming the deficit to one and first baseman Nathaniel Kleven had an RBI single to tie up the ballgame at four-all heading into the seventh. Each team then held the opposition from scoring, forcing extra innings.

The Rabbits would score off of a base hit by shortstop/pitcher Adrian Tietz. Tietz would have a game-high four hits in the ballgame and put the Rabbits back in the lead at 5-4, heading into the bottom half of the eighth. The Wabasso fans were loud all game long cheering on their team for the upset bid, as the Rebels fans had nervous energy being dismayed throughout the entire game.

That would change very quickly, though. With two runners on and the Rebels down to their last out, shortshop/pitcher Abram Paulzine ripped a shot deep to right-center to plate the game-winning two runs and seal a 6-5 victory in walk-off fashion in eight innings. Paulzine would lead the team in RBIs and had three hits also struck out six while giving up just one run in five innings of work. Paulzine spoke on his game-winning hit.

Do what you can, hit the ball and get the ball in play,” Paulzine added. “I didn’t know right away it was a good hit because it was pretty windy but once I saw it go over his head, I knew.”

Wieneke, overcome with emotion, spoke on his team’s performance in the game and resiliency to come back and win.

“First of all, I’m going to give all the credit to Wabasso, they came out and played a heck of a game,” Wieneke said. “They made us work for everything. Our guys battled and fought, made big plays for us. We talk about battling adversity in practice every day, handling that emotion and how you control yourself to have the mentality to make the next play.”

Wabasso head coach Chad Olson spoke on his team’s valiant effort and what to improve heading into the offseason.

“I love the effort, there were situations where I was on them a little bit for decisions we made but will not fault them for the effort that they gave,” Olson said. “It was incredible, one of the best hard-fought games played all year by us. We’ve got some good players to build the team around for the next few years, continue to improve and get better.”

The second game of the day pitted the RRC/WWG Falcons against the Adrian Dragons. The Falcons controlled the the game from the start and never let the Dragons into the contest. The Dragons couldn’t get the bats going and trailed the entire game. The energy the Falcons fans provided relentless as they saw their team complete an upset over the Dragons 6-2, eliminating the No. 3 seed in the South bracket and moving on to face the Rebels in the next game of the tournament.

The scoring started off with two successful bunts that allowed runners to be on first and third with no outs and the Falcons didn’t look back after that. RRC/WWG head coach Derrick Jenniges assessed his team’s performance in the victory.

“I thought we did a good job of manufacturing runs against Adrian,” Jenniges said. “I thought we made some great defensive plays and if you’re going to win games you’re not supposed to win, you gotta make plays.”

The final game of the day had RRC/WWG and MCC battling it out to see who would continue in the championship bracket and who would go to the consolation bracket. This game was the highest scoring of the day as both teams’ bats came out on fire. The Rebels once again had a deficit to climb out of as the Falcons would score seven of the first 10 runs. However, as the “resilient” Rebels showed in their first game, no lead is safe. By the time of the fifth inning, the game was all tied at nine apiece.

The Rebels had a three-run fifth inning and followed it up by scoring two more in the sixth to extend their lead to five at 14-9. The Rebels would score runs in every inning in the ballgame and hold on by that margin. Both teams would combine for 15 errors in the game, where a lot of runs were scored off of. For the Rebels, Christian Tentinger led the team with three RBIs and two hits, including a home run as well. Teammate Kleven also had two hits in the ballgame as well. For the Falcons, first baseman Isaac Simonson and third baseman Cole VanDeWiele both had two hits apiece. Wieneke spoke on his resilient team winning in comeback fashion twice and moving on.

“I’m absolutely speechless at the moment, the kids put in time and work, they have shown that they can handle adversity,” Wieneke said. “Hopefully in the next round, our resiliency continues.”

Wabasso 202 000 01 – 5

MCC 200 002 02 – 6

Hitting: Wabasso (Anderson 2-4, RBI; Tietz 4-5, RBI; Irlbeck 2-5; Liebi 1-3, RBI; Wagner 1-3; Harms 1-1); MCC (Kleven 1-4, RBI, Tentinger 2-5; Paulzine 3-5, 2 RBI; Coulter 2-3, RBI).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Wabasso (Liebl 5-4-1-4-4-3; Tietz 2.3-2-2-4-1-4); MCC (Coulter 3-4-2-5-0-7; Paulzine 5-1-1-6-2-6).

RRC/WWG 251 100 0 – 9

MCC 322 232 x – 14

Hitting: RRC/WWG (Vold 1-5, RBI; Juhnke 1-5; Simonson 2-4, RBI; VanDeWiele 2-4; Long 1-3); MCC (Benda 1-3; Kleven 2-4, RBI; Tentinger 2-3, 3 RBI; Paulzine 1-4, 2 RBI; Coulter 1-2, RBI; Blankenship 1-2, 2 RBI; Kluis 1-3, RBI; Graphenteen 1-3).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): RRC/WWG (Kleven 2.2-7-6-6-3-1; Hensch 0.1-2-1-1-0-0; Jenniges 1.2-3-2-2-2-1; Long 1.1-2-2-1-1-0); MCC (Tentinger 1-4-3-2-1-0; Benda 3-5-0-3-2-5; Coulter 2.2-0-0-2-1-6; Degreef 0.1-0-0-0-0-0).