The Otters faced the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Lakers to open the tournament and needed some late inning heroics to win this game. The Otters started very slow, and the Lakers put up single runs in the first and third inning for a 2-0 lead. They added two more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.

The way the Otter bats looked early, that lead looked like it may be enough for the Lakers, but the Otters have battled back from being down late in games all season and this game it was no different. Carston Fronning hit possibly the hardest hit ball of the season for the Otters, a long triple to left center to start the bottom of the fourth. The Otters were able to score Fronning without a hit, but the run did get them on the board and made the score 4-1 Lakers.

Fronning pitched four solid innings before giving way to Logan Larson in relief. Solid pitching kept the game within reach for the Otters and they still trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth. The pool play games are six innings, so the Otters had to go to work now.

Levi King led off the inning and reached as his fly ball was misplayed by the Lakers. Henry Bethel singled and Jack Ratz walked to load the bases. With two outs, Alex Ellison singled to right to score King and Bethel to make the score 4-3 Lakers. With Ellison on first and Ratz on third, two outs and the game on the line, Logan Larson stroked a hard single to right that the Laker right fielder misplayed. Ratz scored and Alex Ellison showed his speed rounding the bases to score all the way from first for a walk-off 5-4 win.

Larson gets the win in relief. Andrew Klinnert had two hits in the game and Ellison led the way with two runs batted in. Larson also had an RBI.

Game two in pool play put the Otters against Albert Lea. The Otters started fast and never looked back as the scored five in the first on their way to a 20-2 win. Bethel led the way offensively with two hits, two RBI and four runs scored. Klinnert had another nice game at the plate with three runs batted in. Ratz also had three runs batted in and Alex Ellison had three hits and three RBI’s.

Bethel started the game and was relieved by King, who picks up the win with two solid innings of relief. Isaac Iverson pitched a solid final two innings as the Otters won by the 10-run rule in five innings.

The win moved the Otters to bracket play. They drew the Morris Tigers for game one. The Otters played the Tigers early in the season in tournament play and were on top of their game, winning 5-2. This game would be all Tigers as the Otters failed to make plays in the field and a good Morris team took advantage. Isaac Ellison started on the mound for the Otters, but poor fielding led to three unearned runs in his three innings of work.

The score was still only 3-0 going into the top of the fifth. Bethel had replaced Ellison on the mound in the fourth and set the Tigers down in order. The Tigers loaded the bases against Bethel in the top of the fifth, but a two out error led to four unearned runs and the Otters trailed 7-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

Ratz did score a run on a Larson single in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-1 but the Tigers do what good teams do, and that is add to a lead. They put three runs on the board in the sixth for a 10-1 lead. The Otters tried to answer in the bottom of the sixth. King led off with a single, Bethel singled and Brock Scheuerman and Ratz had RBI singles to make the score 10-3 but that was all the rally the Otters had in them. The Tigers would add a couple in the top of the seventh to make the final score 12-3.

“It's unfortunate that we didn’t play our best game against Morris. They are a good team and well coached and proved that by winning the state championship,” commented Steve King, coach of the 14U Otters. “This team did extremely well competing in a 15U Babe Ruth district, taking 2nd place in the district tournament, and had some great comeback wins. It was fun to see their baseball skills improve as the summer went on, but it was even better to see their attitudes, hustle and enjoyment of the game improve also. Thanks to Kevin Pearson and Quincy Undseth for their commitment as coaches to this team also!”