Vultures fall to Cottonwood in finals
It's never easy to lose. It's even harder to lose when the victory is within your grasp, but you can't quite reach it.
The Minneota Junior Legion Vultures were seeded No. 5, yet reached the finals of the double-elimination Sub-State Tournament on Saturday needing to beat Cottonwood twice to advance to this week's state tournament in Montevideo.
After beating MACCRAY/RCW in the first round and then upsetting No. 1 Granite Falls in the quarterfinals, Minneota fell to No. 2 Cottonwood 7-5 in the semifinals but worked its way back into championship with a 9-5 win over Montevideo on Friday night in Granite Falls.
The Vultures avenged the earlier loss to Cottonwood with a 2-1 victory, forcing a second game. Cottonwood then pulled out a 6-5 victory to advance to the state tournament.
In the championship game, Minneota held a 5-2 lead after four innings before Cottonwood rallied back.
With two outs and no one on base, Cottonwood plated two runs on two hits and two errors to whittle the deficit to 5-4.
Both teams failed to score in the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Cottonwood managed to score twice more and then held Minneota scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win and a state tournament berth.
Minneota (8-10) was bidding to become the first Legion team from Minneota, Junior or Senior, to reach the state tournament.
"It was a very good year and I am very proud of this group of young men," said coach J.D. Pesch. "They improved immensely and we had a lot of fun along the way."
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Saturday, July 31
Cottonwood 6, Minneota 5
Cottonwood............................200 020 2 - 6 8 2
Minneota................................011 300 0 - 5 7 2
Minneota hitting: Peyton Gillund 0-for-4, rbi; Alex DePestel 1-for-3; Ryan Dalager 2-for-4, rbi; Isaac Pohlen 0-for-3, run; Keaton Jurrens 1-for-2, run; Peyton Sheik 1-for-2, run, 2b, rbi; Adam Dalager 1-for-3; Destin Fier 0-for-0, run; Brody Larson 0-for-3, rbi; Jack Lacek 1-for-2, run, rbi
Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Peyton Gillund 2 1/3-2-2-0-0-3, Isaac Pohlen (L) 4 2/3-6-4-3-2-8
Minneota 2, Cottonwood 1
Minneota............................000 100 1 - 2 4 1
Cottonwood........................000 100 0 - 1 2 0
Minneota hitting: Peyton Gillund 0-for-3, rbi; Alex DePestel 0-for-4; Ryan Dalager 0-for-3; Isaac Pohlen 1-for-3; Keaton Jurrens 1-for-2; Parker Bradley 0-for-0, run; Peyton Sheik 1-for-3; Adam Dalager 0-for-1; Ryan Meagher 0-for-1; Brody Larson 0-for-3; Jack Lacek 1-for-2, run
Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Ryan Dalager 4-2-1-0-4-8, Peyton Gillund (W) 3-0-0-0-1-5
ELIMINATION ROUND
Friday, July 30
Minneota 9, Montevideo 5
Minneota..................................320 040 0 - 9 8 1
Montevideo..............................100 130 0 - 5 8 3
Minneota hitting: Peyton Gillund 1-for-4, 2b, 2 runs; Alex DePestel 2-for-3, 2 runs, rbi; Ryan Dalager 0-for-3, run, rbi; Isaac Pohlen 1-for-3, 2 runs; Keaton Jurrens 1-for-4; Peyton Sheik 1-for-3, rbi; Eli Gruenes 0-for-1, run; Adam Dalager 0-for-3; Parker Bradley 0-for-0, rbi; Ryan Meagher 0-for-4; Jack Lacek 2-for-3, run, 2b, rbi
Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Isaac Pohlen (W) 2-2-1-1-0-2, Jack Lacek 2 1/3-5-3-3-2-0, Peyton Sheik 1 2/3-2-1-1-3-1, Ryan Dalager 1-0-0-0-0-0
QUARTERFINALS
Tuesday, July 27
Cottonwood 7, Minneota 5
Minneota...............................000 032 0 - 5 6 1
Cottonwood...........................220 120 x - 7 12 1
Minneota hitting: Peyton Gillund 0-for-3, run; Alex DePestel 0-for-0, 2 runs; Ryan Dalager 2-for-4, 2 rbi; Isaac Pohlen 1-for-4, 3 rbi; Keaton Jurrens 0-for-2; Peyton Sheik 1-for-1; Brody Larson 0-for-3; Adam Dalager 1-for-1; Ryan Meagher 0-for-4; Jack Lacek 1-for-2, 2 runs
Minneota pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Peyton Gillund (L) 4-8-6-2-1-5, Isaac Pohlen 2-4-1-1-3-3