The Otters did play at home against the Sauk Centre Streeters on Thursday evening and split a pair of games. The Otters won game one 8-4 behind a solid starting pitching performance by Isaac Ellison and RBI hits by Garrett Kuhn-Rice, Levi King, and four straight RBI base hits in the fourth inning by Lucas Hanson, Andrew Klinnert, Robert Ehlert and Isaac Ellison.

The Otters were not quite as sharp in game two as the Streeters used a big 7 run second inning to put the game out of reach for the Otters, and they lost the game 11-5.

In the Sauk Centre tournament Saturday, the games were shortened to four inning games because of a rain delay in the morning and a late start to the tournament. That means you need to play good ball right from the start and the Otters did just that in game one against the Browerville Tigers.

The Tigers opened the game with a double, but the Otter defense made a great play to erase that baserunner. With the Tiger runner on second base, the Tiger batter hit a sharp ground ball to Kuhn-Rice at third base. He played it perfectly, looking the runner back to second and firing across the diamond to first baseman Alex Ellison for the out at first. On the throw, the runner from second was trying to advance to third. Ellison kept the play alive and looked to third where shortstop Levi King had alertly rotated over to cover the bag after Kuhn-Rice had made the throw. Ellison made a perfect throw and King stuck the tag to get the runner at third for the double play. The Otters would not have made this play a month ago, but the continuation of a play is something the Otters have worked hard on in practice and it paid off in a big way with a key double play early.

Alex Ellison scored the first run for the Otters as he walked and circled the bases courtesy of some wild pitches by the Tigers for a 1-0 lead. The Otters added a second run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Isaac Iverson to make the score 2-0.

The Otters used to more good defense in the top of the third to keep the score 2-0. The Tiger leadoff batter singled but was promptly thrown out trying to steal by Otter catcher Logan Larson. His throw was right on the money and Isaac Iverson stuck the tag for the out.

The Otters put the game away in the bottom of the third. Walks to Boston Rosin and Jon Krava followed by an RBI single by Isaac Ellison pushed a couple runs across for a 4-0 lead. Kuhn-Rice came in to pitch in relief of Isaac Ellison and preserved the shutout for a very efficient 4-0 Otter lead.

Ellison pitched three innings and struck out 6. Kuhn-Rice pitched one inning striking out three.

That win advance the Otters to the championship game against the Jaguars from BBE. The Otters took an early lead in the top of the first with three singles to start the game. King, Larson and Alex Ellison all singled with Larson and Ellison picking up an RBI’s on their hits. Kuhn-Rice picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice for a quick 3-0 lead.

The Jaguars did a nice job of putting the ball in play and the Otters were not at their best in the field this game as the hits and a couple of misplays led to three runs in the Jaguar second inning to tie the game. They scored two more in the third inning for a 5-3 lead. That lead would hold up as the Otters were never able to get a baserunner after the first inning and fell 5-3, taking second place in the tournament.

That tournament finished the season for the Otters and through practice and hard work they were a much improved team at the end of the season. The support of the parents was awesome and the players worked hard in practice to make it a very rewarding season.