Meet Baltic In First Round Of State Tourney At Garretson On Friday
The Britton U14 baseball team took the tough road in regional tournament play last week but the end result was a berth in the state tournament in Garretson this weekend.
Coach BJ Richter’s crew rolled past Webster 16-1 in opening round action last week Monday but fell to Groton in the nightcap that day 10-1, forcing the local nine to battle through the loser’s bracket of the double elimination tourney.
Last week Tuesday Britton walloped Webster again 15-0 to earn another shot at Groton and posted a convincing 111 decision in the first title game to force a final game last week Wednesday. In the finale Britton weathered a late Groton rally for a 6-5 victory to earn its’ state trip.
Britton will open state tournament play against Baltic at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The other game in Britton’s half of the bracket pairs Ethan-Emery against Freeman-Marion at 11 a.m., Winner meets Parkston at 4:30 p.m., and Clark Area vs. Garretson at 7 p.m. in the other side of the bracket.
Games begin at 11 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday with the championship, third place, and consolation games played on Sunday.
Britton coach BJ Richter was impressed with the way his players performed in downing a good Groton ballclub twice to earn the state spot.
“I’m so impressed with these young player’s ability to execute our game plan,” said Richter. “Tuesday night we were facing a pitcher who has a ton of swing and miss potential, but also can walk our hitters. We worked hard to get deep into counts and ended up drawing 17 walks. That was monumental in ultimately earning a 10-run win. Ben Suther was tremendous on the mound, and it was a total team effort from player #1 through player #17.
“Championship night was a battle between two good teams who battled to the very end,” Richter added. “Chaz Vietor and Kaden Mills pitched a gem of a game and offensively we kept putting pressure on a very good Groton team. As any great game that is played, it was back and forth, but we managed to survive a last inning rally with a couple of big putouts with runners on.”
Britton 6 Groton 5
Britton jumped out to a 51 lead after three innings but Groton battled back with three in the top of the fourth to cut the margin to 5-4. The local nine answered with the eventual game-winner in the bottom of the fourth and Groton managed a single tally in the top of the seventh for the final margin.
Both teams had just three hits but the locals took advantage of nine walks. Colton Chapin came up with a pair of singles and collected three RBI’s to lead Britotn at the plate. Mitchell Burger added a safety and scored twice, and Drew Heitmann knocked in the other run. Ben Suther drew three walks and scored twice.
Chaz Vietor went six innings on the mound, fanning four and walking just two. Chapin and Kaden Mills came on in relief.
Groton 010 300 1 – 5 3 2 Britton 203 100 x – 6 3 3 T. Schuster, E. Kroll; Chaz Vietor, Colton Chapin (7), Kaden Mills (7)
Britton 11 Groton 1
Britton scored three in the top of the third to grab a 3-1 advantage and then broke the game open with four tallies in the fifth and two more in each of the sixth and seventh frames.
The local nine out-hit Groton 5-2 but also took advantage of 17 walks. Lofton Heer had a hit, four walks, two RBI’s, and scored three times, while Ben Suther, Drew Heitmann, Vietor, and Kaden Mills all had singles. Lincoln Kilker added a pair of walks and had two RBI’s.
Suther had a strong performance on the mound, going six innings and fanning 11 Groton batters while allowing three walks. Mills threw an inning of relief.
Britton 003 042 2 – 11 5 2 Groton 001 000 0 – 1 2 5 Ben Suther, Kaden Mills (7) and Colton Chapin; J. Schwan, B. Fliehs (5), S. Crank (6), R. Schelle (6) and A. Abeln
Britton 15 Webster 0
Luke Bosse pitched a nohitter and Britton exploded for nine runs in the first inning to decide things early in the elimination contest. Britton had just three hits but used 10 walks and did not commit an error to fuel the three-inning victory. Suther, Chapin, and Heitmann all singles with Chapin knocking in a pair of runs and scoring three times. Bosse struck out three in going the distance on the mound.
Webster 000 – 0 0 7 Britton 924 – 15 3 0 H. Lesnar, S. Simonson (3) and D. Rasmus; Luke Bosse and Drew Heitmann
