After losing the first four meetings this season, Midway defeated Wolf Lake when it counted the most.
Midway, which lost to Wolf Lake 7-3 and 3-0 during the regular season and 6-5 and 13-2 in the Lake and Pine League North Division playoffs, made up for those setbacks with a dramatic 6-5 win in 13 innings in the Region 16C tournament Saturday night at Perham. That victory sent the Snurdbirds to the state Class C amateur baseball tournament.
Midway will play the St. Cloud Snappers at 7:30 Sunday night at Gaylord in the first round of the state Class C tournament. The Snurdbirds carry a 23-13 record to state.
Wolf Lake held a 4-2 lead in the third inning before Midway scored single runs in the third, sixth and eighth innings to claim a 5-4 edge. Wolf Lake tied the game in the ninth before the Snurdbirds took advantage of two errors to score the winning run in the 13th.
Ron Litzau walked and scored on Tom Juberian's sacrifice fly to give Wolf Lake a 1-0 lead in the first.
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Midway countered in the bottom of the first on Zach Etter's lead-off home run and took a 2-1 lead in the second when Brad Lusti doubled and scored on Brett Dormanen's RBI single.
A three-run third gave Wolf Lake a 4-2 lead. Luther Kangas singled and Juberian was safe on a fielder's choice. After a passed ball, Jack Juberian lined an RBI single. Another passed ball and a balk led to the other two runs.
Jeff Marjamaa singled and scored on Chris Baso's RBI single in the bottom of the third and James Burkman's RBI single scored Sean Dormanen in the sixth as Midway tied the game at 4-4.
Baso walked and scored on Lusti's RBI single to give Midway a 5-4 lead in the eighth before Kangas reached on an error and scored the tying run on Corey Pudas' two-out RBI single in the ninth.
Midway earned a state berth by scoring the winning run in the 13th. An error, a two-out walk to Dormanen and a single by Etter set up a game-winning RBI single by Drew Rasmussen.
Etter went 4 for 7, Rasmussen and Marjamaa each went 3 for 6, Baso went 2 for 5 and Lusti went 2 for 6 to lead Midway's 17-hit attack. Etter started and allowed four runs on five hits and three walks over 2 1/3 innings before Jake Lund went the final 10 2/3 innings, allowing one unearned run on seven hits while striking out 12 for the win.
Kangas and Pudas each went 3 for 6 and Shane Hendrickson went 2 for 6 to lead Wolf Lake's 12-hit attack. Pudas started and gave up five runs on 11 hits over the first seven innings. Hendrickson took the loss, allowing one unearned run on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Wolf Lake left 18 runners on base while Midway stranded 12 runners.
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Midway edges Hurricanes
Midway used a five-run sixth inning to spark a 7-6 win over Fergus Falls in an elimination game Friday night at Perham.
The Snurdbirds strung together four of their six hits in the sixth and had their other two hits in the seventh in scoring the two game-winning runs.
Fergus Falls scored three times in the top of the sixth to claim a 4-0 lead before Midway rallied.
In the bottom of the sixth, Rasmussen led off with a solo homer. Marjamaa singled, Lund walked, Chris Baso lined a two-run double, Lusti followed with an RBI single, Mike Baso reached on an error, and Brett Dormanen had an RBI grounder.
Midway took a 7-4 lead in the seventh when Lund singled, Chris Baso reached on an error and Tony Meech singled.
The Hurricanes scored twice in the eighth, but Lusti pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the win. Lusti went the distance, allowing two earned runs on 13 hits while striking out nine.
Wolf Lake opens strong
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Wolf Lake opened the region tournament with an 11-6 win over Alexandria and a 5-4 win over Dent on Aug. 8 before falling to Brandon-Evansville 12-2 on Aug. 9.
Alexandria jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first before Wolf Lake scored twice in the second and four times in both the fourth and fifth innings to take control.
Litzau's two-run single produced the two runs in the second. A two-out RBI single by Litzau, a two-run single by Hendrickson and an RBI single by Jack Juberian led to the four runs in the fourth. Jack Juberian's two-run single with two outs capped the four-run fifth.
Eric Pilgrim went 2 for 5 with two runs, Litzau went 2 for 4 with two runs and three RBI, Jack Juberian went 2 for 5 with three RBI and Hendrickson scored twice and drove in three runs to pace Wolf Lake's 10-hit attack. Hendrickson picked up the win in relief, allowing three runs on seven hits over the final 8 2/3 innings.
In the win over Dent, Kangas singled and scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth to give Wolf Lake the win.
Tom Juberian's grand-slam home run gave Wolf Lake a 4-0 lead in the first.
Dent scored three times in the second and once in the fifth to tie the game before Wolf Lake won it in the ninth.
Kangas went 3 for 5 with two runs, Litzau went 2 for 5 and Tom Juberian went 2 for 4 with four RBI to lead Wolf Lake, which had 11 hits in the game. Pudas went the distance for the win, allowing four runs on 12 hits.
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The Wolf Pack was sent into the loser's bracket with a 12-2 loss to Brandon-Evansville.
The Bluedogs scored three times in the first, four times in the second and four times in the seventh to win via the 10-run rule.
Tom Juberian's sacrifice fly in the first and Boone Caughey's RBI double in the seventh accounted for Wolf Lake's two runs.
Tom Juberian's double in the fourth and Hendrickson's single in the sixth were the only other hits for Wolf Lake.
