The first inning of the first two games of the state Class AA baseball tournament Thursday at Dick Putz Field and Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud set the tone for the Park Rapids baseball team to win the consolation trophy Friday.
In Thursday morning's quarterfinal game at Dick Putz Field, a lead-off single by Cody Hallahan and Hunter Dunbar's home run gave Glencoe-Silver Lake a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first inning, Park Rapids' Curtis Tolle led off with a double to right field and Tom Juberian was hit by a pitch. After a passed ball moved up the runners, Tolle was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to short by Zach Lehrke as the Panthers failed to score.
That first inning proved to be an omen of things to come as Glencoe advanced to the semifinals with a 7-1 victory.
In Park Rapids' second game Thursday at Joe Faber Field, an RBI double by Lehrke, a two-run single by Chris Bruhn and an RBI single by Kyle Blanchard gave the Panthers a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning. Eli Donatelle took care of the rest by throwing a one-hitter to spark the Panthers to an 11-0 five-inning victory over Kenyon-Wanamingo and a spot in the consolation title game.
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In Friday's fifth-place game at Dick Putz Field, the Panthers used Grant Dierk-hising's solo home run in the third inning and two Triton errors in the sixth to spark a 5-4 win to cap off a 22-5 season.
St. Cloud Cathedral edged Glencoe 7-6 in the title game while Jordan rolled to a 16-3 win over Pipestone in the third-place game.
Bruhn (who went 6 for 8 with four RBI, three runs scored and a home run) was named to the state Class AA all-tournament team.
"I was proud of the way we fought back to win our last two games," said Park Rapids head coach Mark Juberian. "Only three teams in the state win their last game and given the fact that we lost our first game, finishing fifth was as good as we could do. The kids played well. We proved that we could play baseball with anybody in the state. We had a great year and we should be in good shape to make it back next year."
The Panthers will celebrate the season with a year-end banquet Monday (June 26) at 6 p.m. at the Park Rapids American Legion. All Park Rapids baseball players in grades 7-12, along with their families and fans, are invited. Players will turn in their uniforms and any other gear at this banquet. Post-season awards and certificates will be presented.
Hallahan stymies Panthers
In addition to scoring the game's first run, Hallahan prevented the Panthers from scoring any runs as Glencoe-Silver Lake opened the state tournament with a win.
Both teams went down in order in the second inning before Glencoe mounted a threat in the third when Matt Odegaard walked and Dunbar singled with one out. But Bruhn coaxed two ground balls to end that threat.
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Two more 1-2-3 at bats followed before the Panthers cut the deficit in half in the fourth on Bruhn's two-out home run to left field. Donatelle followed with a single, but was left stranded on first.
Joey Copas was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth and scored on Dunbar's two-out single to give Glencoe a 3-1 edge.
Glencoe then scored a pair of insurance runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to seal the win.
A single by Panning and Tyler Lang's two-run homer gave Glencoe a 5-1 advantage in the sixth.
The Panthers used one-out singles by Dierkhising and Lehrke to open the bottom of the sixth but neither runner could advance.
An error, a walk, an RBI single by Tony Grant and another error led to Glencoe's final two runs in the seventh.
Park Rapids had a chance to score in the bottom of the inning when Blanchard led off with a walk. He was replaced by pinch-runner Kevin McMorrow. Justin Peterson entered as a pinch-hitter and ripped a double to left center, but McMorrow was thrown out at the plate. After a walk to pinch-hitter Kevin Vaadeland, Panning retired the next two batters to end the game.
Hallahan, who entered the state tournament with a 9-0 record and 1.01 ERA, allowed six hits and struck out nine for the win. Dunbar went 3 for 4 with three RBI as Glencoe advanced to the semifinals with a 23-3 record.
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Bruhn allowed five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings to fall to 7-2 on the season. The Panthers committed five errors while being held to only six hits.
Glencoe 200 012 2......7 7 1
Park Rapids 000 100 0......1 6 5
GLENCOE AB R H RBI
Hallahan, p/cf 2 1 1 0
Bratsch, pr 0 0 0 0
Odegaard, ss 3 0 0 0
Dunbar, 3b 4 1 3 3
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Cox, 1b 4 0 0 0
Robinson, pr 0 1 0 0
Carlson, rf 4 0 0 0
Panning, cf/p 3 2 1 0
Grant, dh 4 0 1 1
Lang, lf 4 1 1 2
Copas, c 1 1 0 0
Gunderson, pr 0 0 0 0
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Schuette, 2b/pr 0 0 0 0
Totals 29 7 7 6
PARK RAPIDS AB R H RBI
Tolle, lf 4 0 1 0
Juberian, ss 3 0 0 0
Dierkhising, 3b 3 0 1 0
Lehrke, c 3 0 1 0
Bruhn, p/1b 3 1 1 1
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Donatelle, rf 3 0 1 0
Gartner, 1b/p 0 0 0 0
Blanchard, dh 2 0 0 0
McMorrow, pr 0 0 0 0
Walsh, 2b 2 0 0 0
Peterson, ph 1 0 1 0
Haas, cf 2 0 0 0
Vaadeland, ph 0 0 0 0
Totals 26 1 6 1
Hallahan (6IP, 1ER, 5H, 0BB, 9K), Panning (1IP, 0R, 1H, 2BB, 1K); Bruhn (6.2IP, 7R, 5ER, 7H, 4BB, 6K), Gartner (.1IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 0K). W-Hallahan, 10-0. L-Bruhn, 7-2. 2B: Tolle 1, Peterson 1. HR: Dunbar 1, Lang 1, Bruhn 1. HBP: Copas 1, Juberian 1. BB: Hallahan 1, Odegaard 1, Panning 1, Copas 1, Blanchard 1, Vaadeland 1. SAC: Hallahan 1. SB: Robinson 1, Gunderson 1. LOB: Glencoe 7, Park Rapids 7.
Panthers rout Kenyon
Donatelle's one-hitter combined with the four-run first inning and a five-run fourth inning to propel the Panthers past Kenyon and into the consolation title game.
In the first, Tolle and Juberian walked to set up Lehrke's double down the left-field line, Bruhn's two-run single up the middle, and Blanchard's RBI single to center.
Gartner led off the second with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Tolle's single to right center.
A five-run fourth inning helped end the game early via the 10-run rule. Juberian and Dierkhising led off with singles and moved up on a wild pitch. A balk scored Juberian and Lehrke followed with an RBI single to right. Vaadeland, who pinch-ran for Lehrke, and Bruhn, who singled, scored on Blanchard's two-run double to right. Justin Peterson's RBI single scored Blanchard as the Panthers held a 10-0 lead.
Cody Schirmers scored the final run in the fifth. Schirmers walked, advanced to third on grounders by McMorrow and Blake Olson, and scored on a wild pitch.
Adam Langer's single with one out in the fifth inning broke up Donatelle's no-hitter. Donatelle improved to 5-1 on the season by walking one and striking out two. Seven outs were on ground balls to second baseman Dylan Walsh.
Lehrke and Bruhn each went 3 for 3 while Blanchard went 2 for 3 with three RBI to lead the Panthers' offense.
Park Rapids 410 51......11 13 1
Kenyon 000 00........0 1 1
PARK RAPIDS AB R H RBI
Tolle, lf 2 1 1 1
Boterman, ph 1 0 0 0
Juberian, ss 2 2 1 0
Schirmers, ph 0 1 0 0
Dierkhising, 3b 3 1 1 0
McMorrow, ph 1 0 0 0
Lehrke, c 3 1 3 2
Vaadeland, pr 1 1 0 0
Olson, ph 1 0 0 0
Donatelle, p 3 0 0 0
Bruhn, 1b 3 2 3 2
Blanchard, dh 3 1 2 3
Haas, cf 2 0 0 0
Peterson, ph 1 0 1 1
Gartner, rf 2 1 1 0
Walsh, 2b 0 0 0 0
Totals 28 11 13 9
KENYON AB R H RBI
Laue, 2b 2 0 0 0
Anfinson, c 2 0 0 0
Yunker, cf 2 0 0 0
Grove, 1b 2 0 0 0
Steenblock, ss 2 0 0 0
A. Langer, p 1 0 1 0
C. Langer, 3b 2 0 0 0
Lewis, pr 0 0 0 0
Peterson, rf 2 0 0 0
Schaefer, lf 1 0 0 0
Totals 16 0 1 0
Donatelle (5IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 2K); A. Langer (3IP, 5ER, 7H, 3BB, 2K), Steenblock (2IP, 6ER, 6H, 1BB, 4K). W-Donatelle, 5-1. L-A. Langer. 2B: Lehrke 1, Blanchard 1. SB: Tolle 2, Vaadeland 1. BB: Tolle 1, Juberian 1, Schirmers 1, Donatelle 1, A. Langer 1. LOB: Park Rapids 6, Kenyon 2.
Panthers win consolation
Led by a nine-hit attack, the Panthers were able to defeat Triton and bring home their second trophy in their second appearance at the state tournament.
The Panthers, who were the state Class A runner-up in 1986, trailed 2-0 when Triton capitalized on two errors in the bottom of the first inning. A pair of two-out errors set up Jake Harmon's two-run single to give Triton the early lead.
In the second, Donatelle led off with a single and Bruhn walked. Donatelle scored on a single by Doug Haas and Bruhn attempted to score on Gartner's grounder, but was thrown out at the plate as Triton held a 2-1 lead.
Dierkhising's solo home run tied the game before Lehrke singled, stole second and scored on Bruhn's RBI single to give Park Rapids a 3-2 lead in the third.
After Bryce Long's RBI single tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth, the Panthers scored the winning runs in the fifth. Gartner walked with one out and stole second. After Juberian reached on an error, another error on Dierkhising's grounder plated Gartner. Lehrke's RBI single then scored Juberian with what proved to be the winning run.
Triton made it 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth on Long's solo homer. Donatelle took over for Dierkhising and retired all four batters he faced to preserve the win and earn the save.
Lehrke, Donatelle and Bruhn each had two hits to pace Park Rapids' offense. Dierkhising improved to 4-0 on the season by allowing two earned runs on five hits over the first 5 1/3 innings.
Park Rapids 012 002 0......5 9 3
Triton 200 101 0......4 5 4
PARK RAPIDS AB R H RBI
Tolle, 3b/rf 5 0 0 0
Juberian, ss 4 1 1 0
Dierkhising, p/3b 4 1 1 1
Lehrke, c 4 1 2 1
Donatelle, rf/p 4 1 2 0
Bruhn, 1b 2 0 2 1
Blanchard, dh 3 0 0 0
Schirmers, pr 0 0 0 0
Haas, cf 3 0 1 1
Peterson, ph 1 0 0 0
Gartner, lf 1 1 0 0
Vaadeland, ph 1 0 0 0
Walsh, 2b 0 0 0 0
Totals 32 5 9 4
TRITON AB R H RBI
Sorenson, cf 4 0 0 0
Kispert, p/ss 4 0 0 0
Erdmann, ss/p 4 1 1 0
Johnson, 1b 3 1 0 0
Thaden, c 1 1 0 0
Fate, pr 0 0 0 0
Harmon, lf 3 0 2 2
Long, 3b 3 1 2 2
Andrews, rf 2 0 0 0
Bucher, dh 3 0 0 0
Huber, 2b 0 0 0 0
Totals 27 4 5 4
Dierkhising (5.1IP, 4R, 2ER, 5H, 2BB, 0K), Donatelle (1.2IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 0K); Kispert (1.1IP, 1ER, 3H, 1BB, 0K), Erdmann (5.2IP, 4R, 2ER, 6H, 4BB, 3K). W-Dierkhising, 4-0. L-Erdmann. Sv-Donatelle (1). HR: Dierkhising 1, Long 1. SB: Lehrke 1, Gartner 1. BB: Bruhn 2, Blanchard 1, Gartner 2, Thaden 1, Andrew 1. HBP: Thaden 1. LOB: Park Rapids 11, Triton 5.
