RC baseball advances to section tournament

By Danielle Strenke
The Rush City baseball team took on a team it had lost to earlier in the season, and came away with an avenging victory to win the Section 5A north subsection championship.
The Tigers picked up a 14-13 win against Ogilvie May 29 to claim the subsection north title. The Lions had defeated the Tigers earlier in the regular season, but this time Rush City earned a win when it counted.
Rush City Head Coach Bob Schlagel said it was a ìwildî game with several errors and hits from both benches ìOur team never gave up even though we could have folded on numerous occasions,î he said. ìWe battled back four different times to regain the lead.î
Trailing 13-12 in the seventh inning, Rush City scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to win the game.
The runs came as senior Dylan Lindman hit a bases loaded single to score Derek Sjostrom and Dustin Willert.
The Tigers tallied 12 hits in the outing, but those were countered by several errors on the defensive side
Leading the offense was Lindman with 4 hits and 5 RBI, Adam Best with 2 hits and 2 RBI and Brent Freeman with 2 hits and 1 RBI.
The win propelled the Tigers into the Section 5A tournament, as the final four teams in the section battle it out this week for a chance to compete at state.
The week began with a disappointing 8-0 loss Monday for Rush City at the hands of Royalton, a team that earned a trip to the state tournament last year.
The Tigers looked ready in the first inning, as John Bosman walked for its first base runner. He advanced to second, but was stranded there, despite several hard hit balls in the inning.
The Tigers held Royalton scoreless in the first, but were then struck out in order in the second.
The Royals picked up 1 run in the second on a hit and an error.
Royalton pitcher Pete Gleisner continued to hurl strikes in the third, as the Tigers were retired on 2 strikeouts in the inning.
After two Royalton runners reached on a walk and an error, both were driven home on a towering home run over the left field fence in the third inning. Royalton also doubled in the inning and scored another run on a Rush City error, taking a commanding 5-0 lead.
The Tigers had their second base runner of the game in the fourth, as Brent Freeman reached on an error. Derek Benson walked, but both were left on base as Rush City struggled at the plate.
The Royals capitalized on another error and a single to score another run in the fourth, giving Royalton a 6-0 lead.
Freeman came up with Rush Cityís first hit of the game in the fifth, but advanced only to second in the inning before the Tigers were retired.
The Royals added 1 more run in the inning.
After Rush City was retired in order in the sixth, senior Josh Munchow took over from senior Derek Benson on the mound. Munchow gave up 2 hits and 1 run in the inning, for an 8-0 Royalton lead.
Rush City threatened in the final inning, as junior Andrew Kaufmann reached on an error, Lindman singled and junior Kellin Sybrant reached on an error to load the bases. The game ended when the Tigers went down swinging for their 13th strikeout of the game.
The loss brought a must-win situation for the Tigers in the second round of the double elimination tournament, which was scheduled for Tuesday, June 3 at Eden Valley. Rush City was set to face Upsala Swanville Area, a team which defeated Ogilvie in the early game Monday.
A win against Upsala would advance the Tigers into the section 5A championship game Thursday, June 5 where the squad would again face off against Royalton to advance to the state tournament.

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