A four-run eighth inning broke a 5-5 tie with Nimrod and locked up the Lake and Pine League regular-season amateur baseball title for the Midway Snurdbirds Sunday afternoon at Midway.
Home runs by Zach Etter, Robert Weaver and Bobby Lusti sparked Midway's 9-5 victory as the Snurdbirds ended league play with a 13-1 record. Midway enters the Region 14C tournament with a 16-4 overall record and the Lake and Pine's No. 1 seed.
Midway scored twice in both the first and fifth innings for a 5-1 lead before the Gnats tied the game by scoring three times in the sixth and once in the eighth.
Etter (2 for 4 with two runs), Drew Rasmussen (2 for 4 with two RBI), Chris Baso (3 for 5 with two runs), Weaver (3 for 4 with two RBI) and Lusti (2 for 3 with two runs and two RBI) led Midway's 13-hit attack.
Stetson Burkman allowed one run on five hits over the first five innings while Jake Lund struck out eight and gave up one unearned run over the final 3 2/3 innings.
ADVERTISEMENT
New York Mills scored three times in the sixth and twice in the seventh to edge Midway 5-4 Saturday night at New York Mills.
Midway scored twice in the first and once in the sixth for a 3-0 lead before the Millers rallied.
Etter (3 for 3) and Baso (2 for 4 with two runs) led the Snurdbirds' seven-hit attack. Etter and Rasmussen scored the other runs while Lund had two RBI and Baso and Weaver drove in a run each.
Lusti allowed five runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over the first 6 2/3 innings before Etter finished up.
