Amateur Baseball: Region 16C: Revenge of the Loons—Vergas knocks out defending state champion Midway, 3-0

Garrett Dahlgren got a measure of revenge as the Vergas Loons knocked out the defending Class C State Champion Midway Snurdbirds 3-0 during a Region 16C elimination game Friday night in Perham.

Dahlgren, who was rocked for six earned runs on 10 hits during a seven inning outing in the Loons’ 10-1 loss to the Snurdbirds on August 4, threw a five-hitter in nine scoreless innings this time around.

Area amateur baseball fans witnessed a classic pitchers duel between Dahlgren and the ‘Birds veteran Jake Lund for the better part of the game, and had to contend with a 15-minute rain delay before the Loons finally broke through in the top of the sixth. Jason Hofmann launched a two-out, solo home run past the left field fence for the first run of the game.

Vergas tacked on another run in the seventh when Matt Richter led off the frame with a bunt single and advanced to second on a Midway throwing error on the play. Josh Hoskins followed with a single to right center to advance Richter to third, where he later scored on a balk.

Hofmann scored on a passed ball in the eighth capped the Vergas scoring.
Midway committed two errors and stranded nine runners on base during the loss.

The ‘Birds had a chance to to break open the game in the bottom of the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out. However, Dahlgren was able to get out of that jam by getting the next two Midway batters to line out.

It was the first time the Snurdbirds have been shut out in 83 games since a 3-0 loss to Wolf Lake during the 2009 season.

Lund went the distance and struck out 11 and Steve Wetterling had two hits in the loss.

Dahlgren finished with four walks and eight strike outs. Hofmann registered two hits as the Loons advanced to play Pelican Rapids in the semifinals.

The Lake & Pine North regular season and playoff champion Snurdbirds finished the season with a 22-9 record.

Region 16C Playoffs
Midway vs. Vergas (at Perham) on August 12
Loons 3, Snurdbirds 0
Vergas 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0—3 7 0
Midway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0—0 5 2
WP: Garrett Dahlgren (Vergas) 9IP, 5H, 0R, 0ER, 4BB, 8K
LP: Jake Lund (Midway) 9IP, 7H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 11K
Vergas—Jason Hofmann 2-3, 2R, HR, RBI; Jake Bachmann 1-4; AJ Bunkowske 1-4; Marcus Zitzow 1-4; Matt Richter 1-3, R; Josh Hoskins 1-4
Midway—Drew Rasmussen 1-3; Steve Wetterling 2-4; Brandon Mickelson 1-3; Mike Baso 1-4

BOXSCORE & GAME SUMMARY (Courtesy of Ron Berns)