Region 10C's top two amateur baseball teams earn state berths

Second-seeded Fairmont broke open a close game by scoring five times in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon and the Martins went on to defeat the visiting sixth-seeded Jackson Bulls 9-3 to win their Region 10C amateur baseball semifinal series two games to one.

Fairmont, which also took game one of the series at home this past Wednesday, automatically qualified for the state tournament with the triumph. They'll next face Windom in a best-of-three series to determine seeding at state. Game 1 is Wednesday at Windom's Island Park.

The Martins grabbed a 1-0 edge in the bottom of the first and then got three more in the fourth for a 4-0 edge. The Bulls, though, responded with three in the fifth to close the gap. Alex Bretzman had an RBI double for Jackson in that inning, and Will Larson added a sacrifice fly and Cael Larson a run-scoring double of his own in the inning.

The Bulls still have a shot at the state tournament, as they'll meet fourth-seeded Luverne in a best-of-three series to determine the region's third and final qualifier at state.

In the series' second game Friday night, Tucker Sorenson — drafted off the Hadley roster after the Buttermakers were eliminated from the playoffs — struck out 14 hitters over eight innings as Jackson won at home over Fairmont 5-2.

After falling behind 2-0 in the third, the Bulls tied it up in the fifth on RBI hits by Will Larson and JD Schneider. Jackson then got a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to finish off its victory.

Blake Evans and Tyler Netsch each had three hits for the Bulls. Will Larson pitched the ninth, walking three but also striking out three to get the save.

**

The top-seeded Windom Pirates connected for 13 hits Sunday afternoon and clinched a spot in the upcoming Minnesota amateur baseball state tournament by defeating visiting No. 4 seed Luverne 9-3.

The state-ranked Pirates, now 24-3 on the season, captured the final two games of the series with the Redbirds. On Sunday, Windom jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first inning and then got two more in the second to lead 6-0. The Redbirds got a pair of runs in the third, but a Chase McDaniel hit in the sixth followed by two passed balls made it 9-2.  

Drew Rothenberger tossed the first 7 2/3 innings on the mound for the game three pitching victory. Windom had gotten even in the playoff series Friday night by trouncing Luverne 15-0 at Redbird Field.

Hayden Tietz, who plans to play baseball at Minnesota West next spring, connected for four hits on Friday and also drove in three runs. Jake Tauer added three hits for the Pirates and Kobe Lovell, Quintin Tietz, Kennan Wenzel, Alex Fink and McDaniel all chipped in with a pair of hits apiece. 

Lovell, meanwhile, had a standout night on the mound for Windom, going the distance in the seven-inning game while surrendering just one hit and striking out seven Luverne hitters.