Cubs fall to Fairmont in game one of series; team play again Friday

The Worthington Cubs fell behind 1 game to none in their best-of-three amateur baseball playoff series on Wednesday by losing on the road 9-1 at the Fairmont Martins.

Fairmont scored twice in the third inning, four times in the fourth and tacked on three more runs in the seventh to post the victory.  Worthington got its only run in the fifth on an RBI single by Ethan Dufffy. Ethan Meyer added a double for the Cubs and Tyler Linder, Kent Lais and McKinley Bush also picked up hits. 

Tucker Brandner started on the mound for Worthington and went four innings, allowing five hits and six runs, just two of which were earned. The No. 7-seed Cubs will aim to keep their season alive when they host game two of their series with the second-seeded Martins at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

In other amateur baseball playoff action Wednesday, top-seeded Windom beat Fox Lake 10-3. Keenan Wenzel went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, Drew Rothenberger had three more hits and Luke Gilbertson tossed six scoreless innings. The teams play again at 7:30 p.m. Frfday in Truman.

No. 6 seed Jackson went on the road and knocked off No. 3 Milroy 8-2 as it scored four runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth. The teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Jackson. Additonally, Blake Sauer cracked a grand slam to help boost fourth-seeded Luverne over fifth seed Hadley 8-0. The teams meet at 2 p.m. Saturday in Hadley.