Amateur Baseball: Region 14C: Bluffton fends off late Miltona rally to win opener, 6-4

Bluffton opened the Region 14C Tournament by racing to a 5-0 lead after six innings, but had to withstood a late rally by the Resorters East Champion Miltona Tigers to pull out a 6-4 victory in Perham Friday night.

Bluffton scored twice in the top of the third without registering a hit. Jake Seelhammer led off the frame with a walk, and after Kurt Mursu struck out, Dustin Geiser followed in the order by reaching second base on a throwing error by the Tiger’s third baseman. Seelhammer had advanced to third on the error and then scored on a wild pitch. Dustin Geiser came around on a groundout by his brother Cody Geiser to wrap up the scoring.

The Braves tacked on another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Dykhoff and Mursu’s bases-loaded single up the middle in the sixth made it 5-0.

Back-to-back Bluffton errors allowed Miltona to light up the scoreboard for the first time in the bottom of the seventh as the the Tigers rallied to pull within a run during the stanza. Cody Curry and Colin Erickson registered RBI singles and the third Brave miscue scored Caleb Curry to make the game interesting, 5-4.

Bluffton would add an insurance run in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice bunt from Seelhamer that scored Kevin Tumberg to complete the scoring.

Dustin Geiser had a solid complete game outing on the hill for the Braves. The right-hander struck out seven while giving up seven hits and four runs (two earned) to pick up the win. The Braves collected five hits—all singles—from five different players.

Bluffton advances to take on Lake & Pine South runner-up Nimrod at 11 a.m. Sunday in New York Mills. If the Braves win, they will play the winner of the Wadena-Deer Creek/Bertha game later that afternoon at 5 p.m., also in New York Mills. If the Braves lose, they will travel to meet the winner of the elimination game between Staples and Carlos at 5 p.m. in Carlos.

Region 14C Playoffs
Bluffton vs. Miltona (at Perham) on August 5
Braves 6, Tigers 4
Bluffton 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 1 0—6 5 3
Miltona 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0—4 7 3
WP: Dustin Geiser (Bluffton) 9IP, 7H, 4R, 2ER, 3BB, 7K
LP: John Mohror (Miltona) 5IP, 1H, 3R, 0ER, 4BB, 3K
Bluffton—Dustin Geiser 1-4, R; Cody Geiser 0-5, RBI; Kyle Dykhoff 0-4, RBI; Marc Sweere 1-5; Kevin Tumberg 1-2, R; Kyle Geiser 1-3, R; Jake Seelhammer 0-0, 3R, RBI; Kurt Mursu 1-3, 2RBI
Miltona—Tyler Erickson 1-5, R; Caleb Curry 2-4, R; Sam Steidl 1-4, R, RBI; Cody Curry 1-3, R, RBI; Colin Erickson 1-3, RBI; Shawn Krueger 1-2

BOXSCORE & GAME SUMMARY (Courtesy of Ron Berns)