The Fergus Falls 12U Maroon team competed in the Moorhead Invitational Tournament over the weekend playing two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. The Otters compiled a 3-1 record and finished in 2nd place.

Fergus Falls 13 Laser Systems 2 
In the first game of the tournament, the Otters faced a Moorhead team sponsored by Laser Systems. Fergus Falls led from the outset and prevailed 13-2. Preston Berge pitched a perfect top of the first, and the Otters wasted no time getting on the board. Aikhem Bethel led off with a single, and scored on Jacob Fronning’s triple. Brock Scheuerman doubled Fronning home. After Luke Pearson and Parker Thielke drew walks to load the bases, Berge helped his own cause by scoring all three of them with a double. That gave the Otters a 5-0 lead after one inning. 

Berge worked a scoreless second, and the Otters added to their lead in their half of the inning. Carson Grenier led off with a double to right and scored when Jacob Fronning changed places with him. Carston Fronning reached on an infield single, and his cousin scored on a great hustle play when the defense fell asleep. 

The Otters added 6 more runs in the 4th inning. Grenier, J. Fronning, C. Fronning, Thielke, and Berge all had hits in the inning.  Grenier led off the inning with his hit, and every other hit drove in a run. Thielke’s double drove in two. 

Jacob Fronning led the Otters at the plate with three hits. Carston Fronning, Preston Berge, and Grenier each had two hits apiece. 

The Berge brothers combined to shut down the Laser System hitters. Preston started on the mound. His line was impressive. He didn’t allow a run or a hit, he struck out six hitters, and walked three. Sean Berge pitched the last two innings. He gave up two runs, but only one was earned. He allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out three. 

Fergus Falls 15 Erbert and Gerberts 4
In Game two, the Otters played another Moorhead team sponsored by Erbert and Gerberts.  The E & G team scored one run to grab an early lead in the top of the first Fergus was undaunted facing their first deficit of the day and answered with five of their own with only one hit. The Otters took advantage of a dropped third strike, five walks, a hit batter, and numerous passed balls to score five runs. Preston Berge’s single was the only hit of the inning, and it drove in two runs. 

Bethel led off the second with a walk, and eventually advanced all the way to third. He scored the Otters’ sixth run on C. Fronning’s sacrifice fly. 

E & G scored two runs in the 4th to cut the lead to 6-3, but the Otters answered back with four of their own. Grenier scored Cam Wiederich after he had led off with a single and got to third on two passed balls. Grenier scored on J. Fronning’s ground out. C. Fronning doubled and Scheuerman singled him in. Jack Ratz hit a double to score Scheuerman to make it 10-3. Five more Otter runs in the fifth ended the game due to the 10-run rule. C. Fronning inning with a two run single. 

Preston Berge led the 13 hit attack as he collected three hits. Carston Fronning, Scheuerman, and Grenier all had two hits for the Otters. 

Jacob Fronning started the game on the mound, and pitched two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked one batter and struck out one.  Wiederich pitched the final three innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He struck out six while only walking one.  

Fergus Falls 5 Scheels 2

Day two of the tournament had the Otters facing another Moorhead team sponsored by Scheels.  The Otters were unable to score until the fourth inning. Finding themselves down 2-0, Scheuerman started a two out rally with a single. Ratz followed with a single of his own, and after Pearson drew a walk, the bases were loaded.  Scheuerman and Ratz scored on consecutive wild pitches. Thielke drew the third walk of the inning. Another wild pitch allowed Pearson to score, and then Grenier singled to right to score Thielke with the fourth run. The final run came in the 5th when C. Fronning singled to score Aiden Schake. 

Bethel pitched the first three innings. He allowed two didn’t give up a hit. He walked three batters and struck out eight of the thirteen batters he faced. Thielke picked up the win by pitching three scoreless innings. He only gave up two hits, didn’t walk any, and struck out five. 

SEBA Royal 8 Fergus Falls 2
In the championship game, the Otters faced a talented and aggressive team out of Sioux Falls, SD. Fergus got on the board immediately in the top of the first. With one out, J. Fronning singled and advanced to third on C. Fronning’s ground rule double. J. Fronning scored on a passed ball, and Scheuerman singled to score Carston. Unfortunately those were the only runs the Otters would score as they were shut down the rest of the game by the Sioux Falls hard throwing right hander in the 8-2 loss. Bethel, the Fronning cousins, and Scheuerman each had one hit in the game. 

Carston Fronning pitched three innings, while Bethel and Scheuerman each pitched one.