Staff
Even an infusion of Canadian talent and home-field advantage weren’t enough to push two International Falls baseball teams through to a shot at Minnesota mastery.
The International Falls U12 and U11 squads both went 0-2, and lost in their respective semi-finals, of the 2017 Minnesota District Four Little League Age Little League Tournament in the Falls on the weekend.
The U12 squad, which included Josh Ward and Emerson Evans of Fort Frances, was routed 21-2 its opening game Friday against Itasca, which was called after three-and-a-half innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Ward and Evans both struck out in the first inning against fireballing righty Ben Keske, who had eight K’s in the game, while Itasca’s three runs in the bottom half was a small sample of what was to come.
Itasca sent 20 batters to the plate in the second, scoring 14 runs on just six hits, with Falls’ pitchers walking nine batters in the frame.
Then they added four more in the third, including a two-run homer to centre that landed well beyond the normal fence surrounding Tony Rizzo Field.
Ward got aboard on an error in the fourth as the Falls needed an 11-run miracle to extend the game, but was picked off first.
Evans followed with a ringing double to left, then scored ahead of Julius Maish’s two-run shot to spoil the shutout.
The loss put the Falls up against Ely, who led 3-1 after two innings although Ward did reach on a walk in his first at-bat.
After Ward grounded out to the pitcher in the third, Evans singled and Maish got on with an infield hit.
With two out, Will Gilbert singled home Evans before Maish raced home with the tying run when centre-fielder Jason Kerntz mishandled the ball.
A big two-out rally led to five runs in the fourth for the Falls, with Ward and Evans both right in the middle of it.
Matt Wuerli and Ward each reached on an error to Ely’s second baseman, with Evans then ripping an RBI single off shortstop Joey Bianco’s glove for a 4-3 lead.
Maish singled and Noah Shiwkowsky went opposite field for a two-run single that brought home Ward and Evans before Gilbert belted a two-run triple to centre.
But Ely stormed back in the bottom of the inning on Kerntz’s two-run homer to right.
Ward flew out and Evans struck out with two runners on to prevent the Falls from adding to their lead–and that proved to be the boost Ely needed in the last half of the fifth.
A solo homer was followed by two singles and then a two-run single by C.J. Anderson that the tied the game 8-8, although not without controversy.
Ward’s throw home beat the runner to the plate on one hop and Shiwkowsky appeared to slap the tag on the second runner coming in, but the umpire made the safe call as Anderson went all the way to third in the confusion.
Evans was brought in from his shortstop spot to relieve Maish and try to get the Falls out of the jam.
He was able to elicit a sharp grounder that was knocked down by Falls’ first baseman Cody Joslin, who tagged the bag for the out, but Anderson motored in unchallenged for the go-ahead run.
Evans then gave up an infield hit and a walk, but struck out Logan Loe with two on to limit the damage.
Kerntz came in from centre to close the game out, but not before giving up a single to Gilbert and hitting Joslin with a pitch.
Chase Hoel ripped a sinking liner that had a chance to sneak through, but Bianco made a desperation stab to snag the ball and seal the 9-8 victory for Ely.
In the U11 division, with the Fort quartet of Nolan Antonick, Seth Mason, Reed McKinnon, and Aiden Jean fortifying the Falls’ lineup, the host team was drubbed 15-1 by Itasca in three-and-a-half innings on Friday.
Then in the semi-final against Ely, Cade Chittum singled home Luke Rice in the second to kick off an eight-run outburst.
An RBI infield hit by Sammy Prijatel, an RBI walk drawn by Brecken Sandberg, and a three-run triple by Ty Walker made it 6-0.
Rice then cranked a liner to right that eluded Mason to bring in another run before Gavin Larson’s RBI single concluded the onslaught.
Ely scored two more in the third for a 10-0 gap, leaving the Falls needing to get at least one run in the fourth to extend the game.
They got three, instead, after Rice relieved Prijatel following his three innings of superb one-hit shutout work.
Antonick, who made a diving catch in the third after getting moved from third base to centre, reached on an error but was caught stealing second on a perfect throw by Sandberg.
Kaden Rostie whiffed to leave the Falls with just one out to survive.
But McKinnon, who came on in the third at third base and then eventually moved over to second, singled to centre.
The Falls eventually loaded the bases before scoring the run they needed on an RBI walk to A.J. Knaeble.
Starting pitcher Thomas Larson then smacked a two-run single to trim the gap to 10-3.
Ben Leeson’s RBI groundout brought in Rice in the fourth to boost the lead back to eight.
Jean, coming on to pinch hit for Jake Olson in the fifth, worked Rice for a lead-off walk and then took second on Parker Olson’s bleeder in front of the plate.
Antonick then lifted a fly ball that the right-fielder had tip off his glove to allow Jean to sprint across the plate for the final run in an 11-4 Falls’ loss that eliminated them from further contention.
Itasca went on to beat Ely for both the U12 and U11 titles to advance to the Minnesota State Little League Championship later this month.
