Amateur Baseball: Region 16C: Brandon-Evansville rallies to outlast Midway, 8-5

Midway suffered its first loss of the Region 16C Tournament when Brandon-Evansville rallied from a 3-0 deficit to outlast the Snurdbirds 8-5 in Perham on Saturday.

The Snurdbirds wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard in the top of the opening frame behind a two-run single from starting pitcher Jake Lund and a Brandon Mickelson RBI fielders choice.

Brandon-Evansville got one of those runs back in the bottom half courtesy of a wild pitch, and then tied the game in the second on Chris Shea’s two-run homer.

The Bluedogs chased Lund from the mound after he walked two batters and unleashed a wild pitch. Brett Dormanen came in relief and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. The next batter Monte Hinzmann hit into a double play, but Nate Meissner scored on the play. The Bluedogs tallied two more runs in the frame when Brent Meissner drove in a run with a single and Travis Santjer doubled in a run to make it 6-3.

Mike Baso singled home pinch runner Sean Dormanen in the top of the seventh, only to have the Bluedogs answer with RBI singles from Hinzmann and Robert Wood during their at-bat to cement the victory.

The Snurdbirds capped the scoring in the eighth on Mickelson’s double for the 8-5 final.

Midway collected eight hits in the loss with Lund and Mickelson notching a pair of ribbies. Lund was tagged with the loss after lasting four innings and finished with six strikeouts.

The Snurdbirds drop into Sunday’s (today) elimination game with Lake & Pine North rival Wolf Lake in Perham. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the winner advancing to play the Vergas/Osakis winner at 8 p.m. Friday in Perham.

Region 16C Playoffs
Midway vs. Brandon-Evansville (at Perham) on August 6
Bluedogs 8, Snurdbirds 5
Midway 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0—5 8 1
Brandon-Evansville 1 2 0 0 3 0 2 0 x—8 11 3
WP: Aaron Lund (B-E) 6.1IP, 6H, 4R, 2ER, 5BB, 3K
LP: Jake Lund (Midway) 4IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 6K
Midway—Shane Hendrickson 1-4, R; Zach Etter 1-4, R; Lund 1-4, 2RBI; Robert Weaver 1-4; Brandon Mickelson 1-4, 2B, 2RBI; Derek Dormanen 1-4, 2B; Mike Baso 1-3, RBI
Brandon-Evansville—Chris Shea 1-5, R, HR, 2RBI; Nate Meissner 3-3, 2R; Ryan Hendrickson 3-3, R; Monte Hinzmann 1-4, RBI; Brent Meissner 1-3, R, RBI; Travis Santjer 1-4, 2B, RBI; Robert Wood 1-4, RBI

BOXSCORE & GAME SUMMARY (Courtesy of Ron Berns)