On Friday afternoon the Otters faced an Albany team that had posted big wins all summer, many of which were in a Jr. Legion schedule and the Otters met their match early, dropping their opening game to the host Huskies 13-2 in 6 innings.  Albany took advantage of Otter miscues in the field and put up 5 runs in the 3rd inning. The Huskies only managed 6 hits in the game as Kaden Conklin and Andrew Johnson held steady on the mound, but defensive shortcomings sealed the fate for the Otters as they committed 9 errors in the field.  The lone Otter threat came in the 4th inning when Sully Krueger and Carter Thielke each walked and an Adam King single led to 2 runs. 

Coach Shane Thielke commented on the loss, “We are missing some key players this weekend, forcing some kids to play positions that they have not had to play all season and that type of inexperience in the field gets exposed against good teams like Albany.”

In game 2 the Otters faced the East Twins, a combined All-star team from a league in the metro area, and the Otters couldn’t hold a late 3-2 lead, as more errors in the field allowed the East Twins to plate 3 late inning runs to earn the 5-4 win.  The Otters managed 5 hits in the game with Thielke (1-3, 2 RBI), Sam Sorum (1-1, RBI), Ben Tollerson (1-3, RBI), Sully Krueger (1-3), and Adam King (1-3) each notching hits in the game.

In the final game for the Otters they matched up against a common foe in the Moorhead 15U All-stars, who already claimed victory over the Otters twice over the course of the season.  The unfortunate trend continued as three first inning errors and 5 unearned runs, gave Moorhead the early cushion. The Otters only managed 2 runs on 4 hits with Thielke (1-3, 2B, RBI), Bailey Culbertson (1-2, RBI), Krueger (1-3) and Conklin (1-3) leading the way.

The Otters finished 20-6 on the summer season, with 3 of the 6 losses to Moorhead.

Coach Dave Conklin commented, “It really has been an awesome summer.  It’s not how we wanted to end the season, but losing Cole Zierden to injury last weekend and with other players unavailable this weekend, we just couldn’t find our stride.”

Dave Sagerhorn mentioned some highlights on the season, “We put up some really good numbers this summer.  Our team ERA was 1.901 and our team batting average was .320. We need to eliminate mistakes in the field and we will get closer to where we want to be.”

Shane Thielke talked about the Moorhead losses, “We never did get to put our best lineup out against Moorhead this year.  We know they are a talented baseball team and they can make you look silly if you don’t execute in the field and at the plate. That doesn’t take away from what we were able to achieve this summer.   It was an awesome season for these kids, I am so proud of their development and I look forward to watching them continue as high school players in our program. I have coached a lot of these kids since Dwarf League and I have been blessed to have been able to enjoy so many great memories with them. They are a special group of young men.”