NYM to host Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in sub section opener

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The New York Mills Eagles improved to 16-2 overall after sweeping a pair of doubleheaders last week.

On Tuesday NY Mills defeated Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale by scores of 5-4 and 8-1, before defeating Parkers Prairie by scores of 10-0 and 10-2 to secure their eighth straight win.

This week the Eagles will look to defend their Section 6A title for the third straight year when the sub section playoffs open in one of the top sections in all of Class A. The top four teams in the section have a combined record of 67-6 and all four teams, which includes NY Mills, Ashby, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and Upsala/Swanville are all ranked in the top 7 in the QRF. 

The Eagles are currently ranked first in the QRF and have won eight games in a row. They are 16-2 on the season with their two losses coming at the hands of Wadena-Deer Creek.

NY Mills, who has placed second in each of the past two state tournaments, will open the playoffs at home against eighth seeded Hillcrest. 

The winner of the game will take on either fourth seeded Parkers Prairie and fifth seeded Long Prairie-Grey Eagle on Thursday in NY Mills at 2:30 p.m. 

Ashby received the second seed in the sub section and is ranked sixth in the QRF with a record of 16-2. They will host seventh seeded Breckenridge in the opening round of the sub section tournament on Tuesday. The winner of the game will take on either third seeded Brandon-Evansville or sixth seeded Browerville on Thursday in Deer Creek. 

The sub section championship game will be held on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in NY Mills. 

On the other side of the bracket, KMS is ranked third in the QRF with a record of 17-1 overall. Upsala/Swanville received the second seed with a record of 18-1 overall with a QRF ranking of 7. 

The section tournament will continue next week at Minnewaska High School. 

Tuesday

A 3-run top of the first inning would be all of the run support Bren Salo would need as the Eagles topped the Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale Raiders by a score of 6-1.

Salo put the Eagles in front when he hit an RBI single to bring Jacob Guck across to score in the top of the first inning. The Eagles would jump out to a 3-0 lead two batters later when Jonah Johnson scored on a Bode Roberts fielder’s choice and Salo scored on an error. 

NY Mills added 2 more runs in the third inning and another in the fourth inning to come away with the win. The lone run for the Raiders came in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Eagles did their part to take advantage of 6 Raider errors. 

Salo, Johnson and Brayden Ehnert led the way offensively with 2 hits apiece, while Salo picked up the win on the mound after going 6 innings and giving up 1 unearned run. 

In the second game of the night, the Eagles won in dramatic walk off fashion as Jonah Ruther stole second base and came all the way around to score on an error by the center fielder to give NY Mills a 5-4 win.

The dramatic finish came after BHV tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth inning after scoring 3 runs of their own. 

The Eagles broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second inning when Cody Barthel hit an RBI single and Monte Briard hit an RBI single to bring Barthel around to score. NY Mills added another run in the fourth inning on a Barthel fielder’s choice. 

Ehnert picked up the win in relief as he pitched a scoreless top of the eighth inning. 

Game one AB R H     BI

Jacob Guck 4 1 1 0

Bren Salo 4 2 2 1

Jonah Johnson 4 2 2 0

Bode Roberts 3 0 0 1

Deshaun Robinson1 0 0 0

Brayden Ehnert 3 0 2 1

Sam Kopveiler 1 0 0 0

Breck Hensch 2 0 1 1

Teagan Lausten 1 0 0 0

Monte Briard 3 0 0 0

Will Oakes 1 0 0 0

Cody Barthel 3 1 1 0

Jonah Ruther 2 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- Jacob Guck, Jonah Johnson

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- Bren Salo 6-5-1-0-0-5, Will Oakes 1-2-0-0-0-3

Game two AB R H     BI

Jacob Guck 3 1 0 0

Bren Salo 4 0 0 0

Bode Roberts 4 0 1 0

Brayden Ehnert 4 1 0 0

Breck Hensch 3 1 1 0

Cody Barthel 3 1 1 2

Will Oakes 3 0 1 0

Jonah Ruther 0 1 0 0

Monte Briard 2 0 1 1

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- Will Oakes 2-2-1-0-2-3, Cody Barthel 4-2-3-2-1-7, Jacob Guck 1-2-0-0-0-0, Brayden Ehnert 1-0-0-0-2-1

Wednesday

NY Mills picked up a pair of lopsided wins over Parkers Prairie to end their regular season on a high note on Wednesday.

In the first game of the night, Jonah Johnson struck out 10 hitters and gave up just 2 hits in a 10-0 win over the Panthers. He needed just 84 pitches to get the complete game win. 

The highlight of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning when the Eagles scored 6 runs thanks to a 2-run single by Jacob Guck, an RBI double by Johnson, an RBI single by Bode Roberts and an error that gave NY Mills an 8-0 lead. The game came to an end in the fifth inning when Roberts earned a bases loaded walk to bring the 10th run across the plate.

In the second game of the night, NY Mills outhit the Panthers by a 15-5 margin, which included a big 5-run top of the second inning, to come away with a 10-2 win. 

In the 5-run top of the second inning, Bren Salo and Breck Hensch each had an RBI single, while Johnson hit an RBI double and Brayden Ehnert hit a 2-run single. 

Bode Roberts led off the fourth inning with a solo home run as well. 

The Eagles were led offensively by Guck, Salo and Ehnert who all had 3 hits, while Johnson and Roberts each finished with a pair of hits. 

Guck picked up the win on the mound after pitching 4 innings and giving up just 3 hits and 1 unearned run. 

Game one AB R H     BI

Jacob Guck 4 1 2 3

Sam Kopveiler 0 1 0 0

Bren Salo 3 1 1 0

Jonah Johnson 3 2 2 2

Bode Roberts 3 0 1 2

Brayden Ehnert 2 1 1 0

Breck Hensch 2 1 1 0

Cody Barthel 2 1 0 0

Monte Briard 2 1 2 1

Will Oakes 0 1 0 0

Jonah Ruther 2 0 0 0

Teagan Lausten 0 1 0 0

HITTING- 2B- Jonah Johnson

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- Jonah Johnson 5-2-0-0-1-10

Game two AB R H     BI

Jacob Guck 5 2 3 1

Bren Salo 4 2 3 1

Jonah Johnson 4 2 2 1

Bode Roberts 4 2 2 3

Brayden Ehnert 3 0 3 3

Jon Rinerson 2 0 0 0

Bren Hensch 3 0 1 1

Hunter Fitzgerald 1 0 0 0

Cody Barthel 2 0 0 0

Monte Briard 1 0 0 0

Will Oakes 3 0 0 0

Jonah Ruther 3 2 1 0

HITTING- 2B- Brayden Ehnert, Jonah Johnson; 3B- Jacob Guck; HR- Bode Roberts

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- Jacob Guck 4-3-1-0-2-3, Brayden Ehnert 1-1-0-0-1-0, Breck Hensch 1-0-0-0-1-1, Bode Roberts 1-1-1-1-1-1