Bluffton to face Fergus Falls in elimination bracket

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The top seeded Bluffton Braves fell just short of its quest to secure a state tournament berth during the opening weekend of the Region 5B tournament over the weekend as they fell to third seed Ada in the winner’s bracket championship game by a score of 9-2. The Braves advanced to the game after defeating the Bemidji Blue Ox by a score of 2-0 in the semi-finals of the region tournament.

With the loss the Braves will take on second seeded Fergus Falls on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Bluffton. Fergus Falls fell to Ada 2-1 in the opening round of the tournament, before defeating Dilworth 8-4 and Bemidji 9-5 in the elimination bracket.

The winner of the game on Saturday morning will qualify for state and take on Ada for the top seed out of the region. The region seeding game will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. The loser of the game will qualify for state as the second seed out of the region. 

Bluffton is in its first year as a Class B team after being reclassified from Class C by the Minnesota Baseball Association. 

The state tournament will be held from Aug. 15-17, Aug. 22-24 and Aug. 29 through Sept. 1 in Browntown, Hutchinson, Gaylord and Glencoe. 

Saturday

Bluffton received a bye in the opening round of the Region 5B tournament and squared off against fifth seeded Bemidji in the semi-finals. Bemidji defeated fourth seeded Dilworth 4-1 in the opening round of the tournament on Saturday morning. 

Isaac Hamann threw a gem on the mound as the righty pitched a complete game shut out by going all nine innings, striking out five hitters and giving up just six hits. He threw strikes throughout the game and surrendered just one walk in the contest. 

Bluffton scored just two runs in the game, both coming in the bottom of the second inning when Justin Dykhoff led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second base on an error by the pitcher. Logan Pulju followed with a single of his own and both runners would eventually cross the plate to give the Braves an early 2-0 lead. 

Bluffton had runners reach scoring position in both the third and fifth innings, but were unable to plate another run in the contest as both pitchers remained strong down the stretch, but the Braves were able to secure the 2-0 win to advance to the winner’s bracket championship game.

Hamann led the way offensively for the Braves as he collected a pair of hits, including a double, while Dykhoff, Pulju and Tyson Barthel all collected hits for the Braves. 

AB R H     BI

I Hamann 4 0 2 1

P Rondestvedt 3 0 0 0

C Davis 3 0 0 0

Ju Dykhoff 3 1 1 0

L Pulju 3 1 1 0

K Dykhoff 3 0 0 0

T Barthel 2 0 1 0

W Hamann 2 0 0 0

G Geiser 3 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- I Hamann

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- I Hamann 9-6-0-0-1-5

Sunday

Bluffton collected eight hits, but were only able to get a pair of runs across the plate as they fell to the Ada A’s by a score of 9-2 in the winner’s bracket championship game on Sunday afternoon. The Braves scored a pair of runs in the game, on a Josh Dykhoff sacrifice fly in the third inning and a Logan Pulju sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. 

Unfortunately, Ada scored one run in the first, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, as well as two in the second, three in the fourth inning to come away with a 9-2 win. 

Tyson Barthel took the loss on the mound for the Braves as he went four innings and gave up four hits, six runs and walked three batters. Payton Rondestvedt pitched four innings and gave up three runs, seven hits and four walks, before Dustin Geiser struck out two hitters in  scoreless ninth inning.

Offensively the Braves were led by Rondestvedt and Justin Dykhoff who each collected a pair of hits, while Isaac Haman, Josh Dykhoff, Connor Davis and Kyle Dykhoff each picked up a hit in the loss. 

AB R H     BI

I Hamann 4 1 1 0

P Rondestvedt 4 0 2 0

Ju Dykhoff 3 1 1 1

Jo Dykhoff 4 0 2 0

C Davis 4 0 1 0

L Pulju 3 0 0 1

W Hamann 1 0 0 0

T Barthel 2 0 0 0

K Dykhoff 4 0 1 0

G Geiser 4 0 0 0

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- T Barthel 4-4-6-6-3-1, P Rondestvedt 4-7-3-3-4-1, D Geiser 1-0-0-0-0-2