SUB-SECTION 3A BASEBALL: MINNEOTA 1, TMB 0
Once again, the Panther baseball team watched their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion
The Panther baseball team brought its ‘A’ game to Slayton on Saturday for their first-round Sub-Section 3A tournament game against Minneota. So did the Vikings. But they got a little extra credit.
Despite getting just two hits, Minneota clipped the Panthers 1-0 to advance in the tournament and end TMB’s season.
Saturday’s game was the latest example of May heartbreak for Fultz and his Panthers. Last year, their season ended with a 12-inning 2-1 loss to RTR. This one might have been just as hard to stomach.
“Very similar to last year,” TMB manager James Fultz said. “I told the seniors that it sucks that the last two seasons have ended like this, but sometimes that’s just how baseball goes. But they’ll look back and realize they had fun this year … bus rides and all that — that’s what they’ll remember, not losing 1-0 in a playoff game, I hope.”
Perhaps, but for now, this one stings, as TMB played one of its best games of the season Saturday. Pitching, check. Defense, check.
The only thing missing was that one timely hit.
“It’s frustrating; I think the guys even feel it more,” Fultz said. “Last time we played the guys, it was ugly. We had six errors, and we told them if they wanted a chance you have to play clean, and they did today.”
TMB stranded Connor Lanoue at second base in the top of the first, and the Vikings scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the first, stringing together a walk, a wild pitch and two sacrifice flies to muster up the run.
“That first inning, it was just a walk that hurt him,” Fultz said. “He did everything he could to give us a chance. It just wasn’t enough. It’s unfortunate I have to say that again.”
In the top of the second, TMB tried to get things going and looked like they were going to after eighth-grader Brayden Marron doubled to left. But Minneota starter Creed Stassen got Aiden Sanow to fly out to center and Nolan Carlson to ground out to short to end the threat.
TMB turned a slick 6-4-3 double play in the second, but stranded its third runner in the top of the third after Lanoue’s two-out single.
It was official: Lanoue and Stassen were locked in a true pitchers’ duel, with hits and even baserunners hard to come by.
The Vikings went 3-up-3down in the bottom of the third, as did the Panthers in the top of the fourth. Lanoue’s stretch of consecutive retired batters hit seven with another 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth, and TMB got another runner to second in the fifth when Sanow was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch.
But once again, Stassen got himself out of the camp by striking out Carlson and getting Taylor Squires to ground out.
“He’s got three pitches, similar to Connor, and when you’re locating … he was hitting his spots today,” Fultz said. “When you get the zone down, you’re a tough pitcher, no matter who you are.”
A leadoff double by Stassen started the Vikings’ half of the fifth inning, but Lanoue once again was up to the task, retiring the next three batters on eight pitches.
Schuh was robbed of a sixthinning hit by a diving catch by Minneota’s centerfielder with one out, as the Vikings were able to hold on to their momentum. In the bottom of the sixth, the Vikings got an infield hit and appeared to have put runners on first and second with a bunt single, but the hitter was called for runner interference at first. That turned a two-on-one-out situation into a one-on-twoout circumstance, and Lanoue recorded his fourth strikeout on his 71st pitch to end the inning.
With one out in the seventh, Marron struck again, sending a fastball to the deepest part of the park that hit off the base of the left field fence on the fly for his second double. Like Lanoue though, Stassen dug deep and struck out Sanow and Brody Hauger to end the game and the Panthers’ season.
“You do everything as a coach to get guys to second base … no matter what game you’re in, it’s going to come down to two-out hitting,” Fultz said. “We were in position, just didn’t get it today.”
• The Vikings would end up falling to MCC 11-1 in the second game Saturday. That sent the Vikings to the elimination bracket where they fell to RTR 8-3 on Tuesday. The Knights beat Wabasso 7-2 in the first round before losing to Adrian-Ellsworth 8-0 in the second-round game Saturday. RTR will face YME at 7 p.m. today (May 28) in an elmination game, with the winner taking on either LQPV or A-E on May 30 at Irish Yard. Before that game, MCC and D-B will play at noon at Irish Yard in the section semifinals.
The section championship game will be at 5 p.m. on June 4 at Irish Yard. A second game, if needed, will follow.
TMB 000 000 0 — 0 3 0 Minneota 100 000 x — 1 2 0 Lanoue (L) and Squires.
2B: Marron (2). HBP: Sanow.
With the loss, the Panthers said good-bye to a trio of seniors. Fultz shared his thoughts on each: Griffin Zick: “ Grif has been playing for us in varsity games for four years now. He played a little outfield early on, but his best spot is the middle of the infield. He is a great athlete and has a great arm as well. He puts in tons of work and does whatever he can to make himself better. You saw this year he got to pitch a little more, and he did a great job on the mound. He was a prominent hitter in the top of our lineup, even if he wasn’t hitting the ball well.
David Schuh: “Like his older brother, Dave loves the game of baseball. You could really tell how well he knew the game and how happy it made him when he played. He was a great leader and always brought a ton of energy to the dugout. Dave also has played a ton of innings since his freshman year, mostly playing second base early on, and then transitioning to third base this year.”
Connor Lanoue: “Just like the other two seniors, Connor has been contributing to the varsity baseball team since he was a freshman. He got thrown into a big playoff game as a freshman and closed the game down for us. Connor was always ready to play, which as a coach is one of the best things an athlete can do. He played a great first base in the last three years and even got some time in the outfield, where he was great as well. Connor will be known for his pitching, and he beat a ton of good teams over the past three years when he has been starting games for us. At the plate he was very similar to Griffin. When he was hitting the ball well, it was all over the field, and when he wasn’t hitting, he was always getting on base.”
