Tigers Slug Their Way To Round Two
8/19/07
Springfield made their way to Hamburg on a soggy Sunday morning for an opening round match-up against Carlos in the 2007 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament. The Tigers came out with their bats blazing, pounding out twenty hits, including four home runs, as they cruised to a 14-2 victory.
Draftees, Terry Helget and Colby Pack, led the offense as the Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the first. Helget ripped a one-out single. With two down in the inning, Pack came through with a two-run homer to left-center field. Springfield added to their lead in the second with another two-out rally. Kyle Kraska got a single and Helget followed with a double to deep center, giving Springfield a 3-0 lead.
The hardest hit balls off Tiger starter, Colby Pack, came in the top of the third inning. The Cougars started the inning with back-to-back doubles to cut the Springfield lead to two. The Tigers were held scoreless in the bottom of the third, in only inning they didn't score. Carlos scratched to within one in the fourth when they put together three hits, making the score 3-2.
The Tigers broke things wide open in the bottom of the fourth when they batted eleven and scored seven runs. The bats caught fire as Matt Baier, Helget, Brady Schwab, Bob Fink, and Chris Sturm hit singles. The big blows came off the bats of Ryan Sturm, who crushed a three-run bomb, and Jim Eckstein, who hit a two-run homer. The Tigers took a 10-2 lead into the fifth.
After the Cougars scored their second run, Pack retired eight of the last nine batters he faced. He surrendered a harmless single in the sixth, his final inning of work. Terry Helget got his fourth hit of the day when he led off the Tigers' fifth with a solo home run. Springfield pushed the lead to twelve when they plated three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. The inning was highlighted by singles from Baier, Pack, and Ryan Sturm, along with an RBI two-bagger by Kraska.
Matt Tews came on to finish things up in the seventh, facing the minimum after a double play erased a lead-off single. With the Tigers leading 14-2, the ten-run rule was in effect, ending the game after seven innings.
Pack picked up his third win for the Tigers this postseason. Every Springfield starter had at least one hit. The Tigers newest addition, draftee Terry Helget, was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Due to the wet weather, the Springfield/Carlos game was the only one played at Hamburg on Sunday. The second weekend of the tournament has been pushed back and the Tigers will continue their work in the State Tournament next Sunday when they are scheduled to take on Elko at 5pm in Hamburg. Hopefully, the sun will be shining on the Tigers as they look to continue their 2007 season.
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
| Carlos | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | x | 2 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| Springfield | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | x | x | x | 14 | 20 | 2 | 10 |
Springfield Box
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | |
| Kraska, SS | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Helget, C | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Schwab, 2B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Pack, P | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Haseleu, PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tews, P | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R. Sturm, 1B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Fink, DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Wilhelmi, CF | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eckstein, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Sturm, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Moritz, LF | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Baier, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 | 14 | 20 | 13 | 1 | 5 | |
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| Pack (W, 3-0) | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Tews | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pictures
