13U Dawgs Advance to State Tournament with 2nd Place Finish in District Tourney
The Ottertail Central 13U baseball team took second place in the District 6 Tournament and will now advance to State Tournament play. The Dawgs had third place wrapped up and could only try to get a better place by winning games on Sunday.
Back Row: Assistant Coach Brent Finseth, William Schwartz, Kaleb Hammes, Collin Lukken, Drew Evavold, Bradyn Roisum, Kale Misegades, Head Coach Ryan Hendrickson Middle Row: Jr. Faaaliga, Mason Hoyt, Ryan Despard, Bradon Grabe, Rowan Finseth, Braxtyn Camer
Starting at 11:00am the Dawgs started a 3-game marathon by beating Breckenridge 22-4. OTC took the commanding win with 12 hits, 13 runs batted in and 14 walks, and only struck out 4 times. Ryan Despard and Ayden Olson both had two baggers with Olson collecting 5 total bases and 4 RBI. Along the way OTC swiped 10 bases. Kaleb Hammes (3IP, 1H, 0R, 4K, 1BB) and Quenton Beske (2IP, 5H, 1ER, 8K, 2BB) were a solid combo on the mound.
After beating Breckenridge, Ottertail Central went on to defeat Fergus Falls twice in order to place first in the District. The Dawgs started out with a one-run (5-4) win in their first game, scoring 5 runs on 5 hits and three walks, while stealing 12 bases. Drew Evavold, Ayden Olson, Kaleb Hammes, and Bradyn Roisum each drove in a run. Evavold (4IP, 4ER, 2K, 4BB) was the winning pitcher and Hammes (3IP, 2K, 2BB, 0H) recorded the save.
Fergus Falls won the final game of the day, 10-1. Ayden Olson had the only OTC hit in the game.
“Our defense got a little shaky in game 3 of the day,” said Coach Ryan Hendrickson. “Only one of the ten runs we allowed was earned as we had 7 errors.”
The Dawgs were able to put their pitching depth on display as Dawson Bushman (3.1IP, 3H, 7R, 0ER, 2K, 2BB), Rowan Finseth (2IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1K, 4BB) and Despard (1.2IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 2K, 2BB) all took a turn on the mound.
“This was a great tournament for us,” commented Coach Hendrickson. “We have a big roster and all of our boys showed up with a common goal of ‘do what I can do to help the team win.’ We had a great atmosphere, not only in Breck, which was awesome, but more importantly in our dugout. This is a great group of guys. I love being able to lead them through their goals in baseball and life.”
The Dawgs will host 4 games in the State Tournament. They will play in Henning on Thursday at 12:00noon against Staples-Motley and at 4:30pm against Detroit Lakes. They will then host Paynesville at noon on Friday, again in Henning. Fergus Falls will face Waite Park at 2:30pm Friday in Henning.
The Tournament games will shift to New York Mills on Saturday and Sunday.
