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Tiger Bats Come Alive to Drop Longhorns

7/21/13

Springfield wrapped up their regular season on Sunday night when they hosted Stark. It was also Merchant's Night, the Tiger's annual Thank You to all their sponsors who support them through ads on the website and signs on the fence at the ballpark. The Tigers built a 7-0 lead, but the Longhorns battled back to within two. After one tough inning, Springfield pulled away for a solid 11-5 win.

Cooper Scheffler drew a walk in the bottom of the first and Alex Fink drove him in for the game's first run in the bottom of the first. Stark starter, Landon Zinniel, kept the score at 1-0 with a scoreless second, the only inning he kept the Tigers from plating any runs.

Jacob Menage started the Tiger's third with an infield single. He moved around to third via a stolen base and ground out. Tiger starter, Matt Vogel, helped himself out when he doubled his lead with an RBI base hit.

Vogel was stellar in his first four innings of work. A fourth inning walk was the only blemish on his otherwise perfect start.

Zinniel ran into trouble in the fourth. An infield hit, followed by a one-out error provided the sparks for a rally. Three straight walks pushed across two runs. A sac fly from Fink knocked in the third run of the inning. Christian Loomis and Vogel continued the inning with back-to-back run scoring singles to make the score 7-0.

After getting two outs and giving up his first hit in the top of the fifth. The Diesel ran out of fuel, as five straight batters reached base on four hits and a walk. The five quick runs spelled the end of the line for Vogel who was relieved by Fink. Fink promptly got a strikeout to end the inning.

The Tigers answered the Longhorns rally in the top of the fifth with one of their own in the home half. Alex Frank started things with a base hit. With two down, Scheffler, Menage and Fink came through with three straight run-scoring hits to push the lead back to five.

Fink worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings on the mound for the Tigers. Jake Mangen took over on the bump in the bottom of the sixth for Stark. He allowed just one run in the bottom of the seventh when Menage and Fink had back-to-back knocks.

Mike Salazar worked a scoreless eighth. Jason Nachreiner faced just three batters in the top of the ninth to wrap up the 11-5 win.

Springfield's fourteen hit attack was led by Jacob Menage, Alex Fink, and Alex Frank with three hits each. Matt Vogel had two hits on the night. Cooper Scheffler, Christian Loomis, and Marc Salazar added one apiece. No one had more than one hit on the night for the Longhorns. Though all but two starters had a hit as they bunched five of their seven hits together in the five-run fifth. With Vogel not working the required five innings for the starter to get the win, Fink earned the victory to even his record at 1-1 on the year. He worked two and one-third innings, giving up one hit and striking out four. Landon Zinniel took the loss, going five innings, allowing ten runs, six earned, on eleven hits with just one strikeout, but five walks.

The Tigers end the regular season at 14-8 in the Tomahawk East and 16-11 overall, good for third place in the National Division. Now it's back to 0-0 as they'll battle the Essig Bluejays in a best-of-three series beginning on Friday night at Riverside Park. The series will shift to Essig on Sunday and then back to Springfield on Tuesday for the if needed game three. The winner of the series will advance to the six-team Region 2C Tournament. Four of those six teams will advance to the 2013 Minnesota State Amateur Tournament. Come cheer on the Tigers in what should be some great baseball against the Bluejays!

NOTES: The Tigers fourteen hits in the ballgame marked a season high...Springfield's 14-8 regular season record is their best Tomahawk East record since they finished 14-6 in 2000...The last time Springfield and Essig matched up in the postseason was in the 2007 Region 2C Tournament. Springfield defeated Essig in an epic best-of-three series that included scores of 3-1, 5-4, and 4-3 in 10 innings. Essig's last Region Tournament appearance came in 2010. They claimed the Region 2C title and advanced to the State Tournament. Springfield's last Region appearance was in 2007. They were also Region 2C champions, earning their most recent state berth that season.


Scorecard


Linescore

123456789RHELOB
Stark0000500005714
Springfield10153010x1114212

Springfield Box

ABRHRBIBBSO 
Wilhelmi, 3B/SS410011HP
Scheffler, 2B431220 
Menage, RF443210 
Fink, SS/P/LF4034002B(2), SAC
Loomis, 1B301120 
Vogel, P/3B402200HP
   Kirschstein, 3B------ 
Ma. Salazar, DH501000 
Vanderwerf, CF------ 
Frank, LF323000SAC
   Mi. Salazar, P------ 
   Brandl, PH100001 
   Nachreiner, P------ 
Bisel, C310000SAC
   C. Milbrath, PH000010 
 3511141172 
        
 IPHRERBBSO 
Vogel4 2/355424 
Fink (W, 1-1)2 1/310004 
Mi. Salazar1 10000 
Nachreiner1 00011

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