Amateur Baseball: Midway starts strong, but finish runner-up in Nimrod Tournament

Opponents scored only two runs against Midway last weekend during the 5th Annual Nimrod Invitational. Unfortunately for the ‘Birds, those two runs came in the championship game as Richmond held on for the 2-1 victory.

Midway cruised to the title game by impounding the Royalton River Dogs 10-0 in five innings to open the tournament on Friday night. Zach Etter hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the fifth to activate the mercy rule, and Steve Wetterling highlighted the ‘Birds’ five-run fourth with a three-run double.

Midway dished out 11 hits in the contest with Mike Baso going 3-for-3 with a double and two ribbies. The ‘Birds also got two hits apiece from Etter, Brett Dormanen and Brandon Mickelson during the lopsided victory.

Brett Dormanen tossed a one-hitter and struck out two for the mound win.
Andrew Gurbada had the lone hit for the River Dogs with a single in the first inning. Cole Jendro was tagged with the mound loss.

Shane Hendrickson tossed a three-hitter as the Snurdbirds picked up their second straight shutout by blanking the Greenwald Cubs 4-0 on Saturday.

Jake Lund highlighted the ‘Birds’ three-run fifth with a double and Mike Baso capped the scoring with a RBI single. Drew Rasmussen registered three of the ‘Birds’ eight hits in the contest.

Hendrickson ended up walking two and struck out five for his third win of the season.

Richmond could only muster two hits off Etter during the championship game, but Aaron Schneider’s hit was all the Royals needed to to drive home the winning run.

Dusty Adams drew an one-out walk and Schneider followed by clubbing a home run beyond the fence in the second inning.

Midway’s rally in the top of the seventh fell short as the ‘Birds led off the frame with three consecutive singles from Lund, Baso and Jeff Marjamaa. However, a force at second and two flyouts killed the comeback.

Midway (13-7) will head to Red Eye at 1:30 p.m. Saturday for a Lake & Pine league game with the Country Boys.

5th Annual Nimrod Invitational
Midway vs. Royalton on June 24 (First Round)
Snurdbirds 10, River Dogs 0
Royalton 0 0 0 0 0—0 1 1
Midway 1 1 1 5 2—10 11 3
WP: Brett Dormanen (Midway) 5IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
LP: Cole Jendro (Royalton) 5IP, 11H, 10R, 10ER, 2BB, 5K
Royalton—Andrew Gurbada 1-1
Midway—Zach Etter 2-3, 3R, HR, 2RBI; Steve Wetterling 1-2, R, 2B, 3RBI; Jake Lund 1-3, R; Mike Baso 3-3, R, 2B, 2RBI; Brett Dormanen 2-3; Brandon Mickelson 2-3, 2R

Midway vs. Greenwald on June 25 (Semifinals)
Snurdbirds 4, Cubs 0
Greenwald 0 0 0 0 0 0 0—0 3 1
Midway 0 0 1 0 3 0 x—4 8 1
WP: Shane Hendrickson (Midway) 7IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 5K
LP: Brandon Worms (Greenwald) 6IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 3BB, 3K
Greenwald—Derek Worms 1-2; R. Repemen 1-2; Eric Primus 1-2
Midway—Drew Rasmussen 3-4, R; Hendrickson 1-2, R; Etter 0-3, R; Wetterling 1-2, 2RBI; Lund 1-3, R, 2B, RBI; Baso 1-3, RBI; Jeff Marjamaa 1-1

Midway vs. Richmond on June 26 (Championship)
Royals 2, Snurdbirds 1
Midway 0 0 0 0 0 0 1—1 4 0
Richmond 0 2 0 0 0 0 x—2 2 1
WP: Josh Engquist (Richmond) 7IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 6K
LP: Etter (Midway) 6IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 7K
Midway—Hendrickson 1-3, 2B; Lund 1-3, R; Baso 1-3; Marjamaa 1-2
Richmond—Adam Backes 1-3; Aaron Schneider 1-2, R, HR, 2RBI