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12U MN Crop Dusters Compete in Fall Club Championships

By Chad Felstul, 09/19/22, 10:15PM CDT

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The 12u MN Crop Dusters competed in the Fall Club Baseball Championships in Inver Grove Heights this past weekend and went 2-1, losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion 12u Icemen Gominsky, 10-1.

In pool play, the Crop Dusters matched up against 12u MASH Maroon on Friday night and came out victorious 7-3. The Crop Dusters scored one in the first with Adam Keifer singling and coming around to score on a wild pitch. Owen Schmitz set the Mash Maroon down in order in the bottom of the 1st. In the top of the 2nd, the Crop Dusters added two more runs with Grady Shebeck and Tyson Runk walking and coming around to score on Nolan Schroeder’s single. The MASH came out swinging in the 3rd to tie the game 3-3 after 2 innings. The Crop Dusters took the lead in the top of the 4th when Schmitz walked and came around to score on Schroeder’s second single of the game. Derek Erasmus came in to pitch for the Crop Dusters in the 3rd and went 4 strong innings, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 6. The Crop Dusters put the game away in the top of the 6th with Keifer singling and advancing to third on Dexter Felstul’s line drive single to right. This set the table for the cleanup hitter, Luke Novak who crushed a triple to left, scoring Keifer and Felstul. Erasmus set the Mash down in order in the bottom of the 6th to preserve the victory for the Crop Dusters.

 

The Crop Dusters took on the Muskies 12u on Saturday morning, knowing a win sent them to the championship bracket. Felstul got the nod on the mound to start the game and set the Muskies down in order in the bottom of the first. The first inning was the only inning that was scoreless for both teams in this high scoring affair. In the second, the Crop Dusters loaded the bases with Novak walking, Keifer reaching on an error, and Schroeder getting a bunt single. That set the table for Easton Misegades who laced a single to right, scoring Novak and Keifer. Felstul went back to the mound with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second but ran into some control issues and gave up 4 runs in the inning. The Crop Dusters showed their resilience in the 3rd by scoring 6 runs and taking the lead 8-4. In the 3rd, Logan Olson walked, advanced to second on Owen Hanson’s single, and Novak singled to load the bases. Keifer singled to score Olson and Hanson. Novak and Keifer scored on an Erasmus single. Schroeder scored on Matthew Scott’s groundout and Misegades singled in Erasmus to wrap up the scoring in the 3rd. The Muskies came back to take the lead in the bottom of the 3rd by scoring 5 runs. As they did in the 3rd, the Crop Dusters responded by setting the hook on the Muskies with 5 runs in the 4th. In the 4th, Olson walked to lead off the inning and Hanson laid down a perfect bunt single. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Felstul flew out to right-center, advancing Olson and Hanson to 3rd and 2nd, respectively. Novak then singled in Olson. Keifer walked to load the bases and Schroeder singled in Hanson. Erasmus singled in Novak. Keifer scored on a wild pitch and Scott walked to load the basis. Misegades grounded out to score Schroeder and Erasmus to wrap up the scoring in the game.

The two wins sent the Crop Dusters to the Championship Bracket on Sunday. They took on the MN Icemen Gominsky and lost to the eventual champs, 10-1. The Dusters’ bats were silent most of the game as they were only able to garner 4 hits (Felstul and Erasmus with 1 hit each and Shebeck with 2 hits). Schmitz scored the lone run on Novak’s groundout in the bottom of the 1st.