8/10/2009 4:02:00 PM Excelsior Legion falls in regional tournament
Excelsior’s Mark Ulrich steals second base in regional American Legion action against Kansas on Aug. 6 at Veterans Field in Minnetonka. PHOTO: MARK TROCKMAN
The Excelsior American Legion baseball team saw its 2009 season come to a close last week with two straight losses at the Central Plains Regional Tournament at Minnetonka High School's Veterans Field.
Excelsior matched up against the Kansas state champions from Pittsburg in the first round on Thursday, Aug. 6 and wound up on the short side of a 7-4 final score.
Pittsburg did most of its damage in the first three innings against Excelsior ace Anders Dzurak. Pittsburg scored two times in the first inning and then added four more runs in the third inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
In the third inning a hit batter and a walk came back to bite Dzurak as he proceeded to give up a three-run homerun to Pittsburg's No. 3 hitter Jesse Watt.
Excelsior tried to rally as it put together a threat in the fifth inning. A hit batter, a walk, a Pittsburg error and a base hit by Excelsior's Mark Ulrich helped Excelsior scratch across two runs to make the score 6-2.
Excelsior added a run in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Josh Mensch to make it 6-3, but that was as close as they would get.
Brandon Spear pitched a complete game for Pittsburg and scattered nine hits and four walks while striking out eight Excelsior batters.
After Dzurak gave up the six runs in three innings pitched, Robb Miller gave Excelsior a chance to come back by allowing just one run and three hits in six innings of relief work.
Starting pitching was again a cause for concern for Excelsior in its second game on Friday, Aug. 7 against the Nebraska state champion from Omaha.
Ulrich got the start for Excelsior and he ran into trouble immediately starting with the first batter.
Omaha's first two hitters - Jory Goldstrom and Chris Johnson - hit back-to-back homeruns to start the game as Excelsior found itself in an early hole once again.
Excelsior came right back and scored four runs of its own in the bottom half of the first inning to take a brief 4-2 lead.
Mitch Oakes had an RBI triple, Kyle Dahl had an RBI double, and Josh Mensch added an RBI single in the inning.
But the lead did not hold as Omaha scored two more in the second inning to tie the game at four and then three more in the fourth to reclaim the lead at 7-4.
Excelsior trailed 8-7 after the sixth inning, but Omaha put the game away with two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to eventually win 13-7.
Omaha outhit Excelsior 16-8 and Excelsior compounded their problems with four errors in the field.
James McCarthy got the win for Omaha by pitching five and two thirds innings and giving up four earned runs and striking out seven.
Ulrich took the loss for Excelsior by giving up four runs - two of them earned - in three innings pitched.
Excelsior finishes the season with a record of 35-14-1.
Millers look tough at state
The Minnetonka Millers moved into the semifinals of the Class A state tournament last week with a pair of victories.
The Millers defeated Stockmen's Irish 5-3 on Aug. 6 and then defeated Wesley Homes 16-5 in the second round on Aug. 8.
In the win over Stockmen's Irish, Steve Schmitz hit a two-run homerun to propel the Millers to victory. Joe Abellera and Joe Shallenberger each had a pair of hits in the victory.
Donny Erdall went six innings on the mound for the Millers and gave up just three runs and six hits while striking out nine.
Ben Hughes threw three innings in relief and gave up just one hit while striking out five.
In the second round victory over Wesley Homes, the Millers took an early 6-0 lead by scoring runs in each of the first three innings.
Abellera hit a solo homerun in the first, Jake Waldman followed with a two-run shot in the second, and Shallenberger added a two-run shot of his own in the third.
With the game firmly in hand, Aron Amundson added a grand slam in the sixth inning for the Millers.
Brandon Broxey allowed just one earned run in six innings of work on the mound to earn the victory.
The Millers were scheduled to play in the state semifinals on Monday, Aug. 10 at Midway Stadium in St. Paul against Air Freight Unlimited of St. Paul.
Mudhens to play in World Series
Minnetonka's Senior Babe Ruth team won the Midwest Plains Regional Championship and will now play in the Babe Ruth World Series on Aug. 15-22 in Moses Lake, Wash.
Team members are Nate Adams, Jake Boys, David Dolan, Ben Fasnacht, Adam Fredericks, Kyle Freienmuth, Luke Irrgang, Joe Knudsvig, Stu Martin, Trevor Oestenstad, Andrew Prochno, Andrew Roy, Trent Seamans and Bryce Tuma.
Coaches are Brian Tichy, Bruce Twaddle and Ian Walkowski.
