12U Otters Capture Breckenridge Tournament Championship
The Fergus Falls 12u Otters captured the Breck Tourney on Sunday and punched their ticket to the MSF State Tournament on July 28-30 in Sartell. The Otters started the tourney in pool play by beating Upsala-Swanville Area 14-6 and losing a heartbreaker to their familiar foes, PRBA 3-4. Because there were 12 teams in the tourney, a tie breaker was used to determine which of the second seeds in the pools advanced to the championship bracket. The Otters won the tie-breaker which set up a showdown with Park Rapids in the semifinals. The Otters beat the Panthers 13-5. With the win, the Otters moved on to the championship to face the host Breckenridge Cowboys. In a back and forth game, the Otters came out on top 12-10.
Against Upsala-Swanville Area, the Otters scored 3 in the first with Isaac Jenc, Dexter Felstul (1b), and Chase Johnston (1b and RBI) all scoring in the inning. In the second, the Otters tacked on one in the second when Gus Proudfoot singled and scored on Jenc’s single. Beau Schlosser also singled in the inning. The Otters added 4 more in the 3rd with Landon Noon coming up with a huge 2 RBI double that scored Jace Kremeier (single) and Hayden Heruth. Proudfoot singled in Noon in the inning. Schlosser (2b), Felstul (1b), and Chase Johnston (1b) all had hits in the inning. The Patriots battled back to cut the Otter lead to 8-6 in the 4th but the Otters scored 6 to put the game out of reach. In the 4th, Weston Youngberg doubled and came around to score on Jenc’s double. The big blow in the bottom of the 4th came off the bat of Hayden Heruth who launched a mammoth home run over the left-center fence for a 3-run home run that scored himself, Kremeier, and Chase Johnston. Felstul and Hayden Heruth combined to keep the Patriots in check and secure the win for the Otters.
Against PRBA, the Otters spotted PRBA 1 run in the top of the first. The Otters quickly struck back when Jenc walked and Felstul belted a home run over the right-center field fence. PRBA responded with 2 in the top of the second and the Otters tied it up with Proudfoot singling and coming around to score on Cade Johnson’s sacrifice fly. PRBA scored one more in the top of the 3rd to make it 3-4. The Otters mounted a rally in the bottom of the fifth with two outs with Felstul singling and moving to third on Kremeier’s single but were unable to score. Jenc was great on the mound for the Otters going 4 and 2/3rds innings while not giving up an earned run. The Otters patiently waited for the tiebreakers to come through to determine their fate. Because of their run differential, they were put into the championship bracket to face Park Rapids on Sunday morning.
The Otters came out with a purpose against Park Rapids by scoring 4 in the top of the first. In that inning: Jenc and Kremeier both singled and scored, Heruth and Noon both walked and scored, Kai Ebert got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Proudfoot singled and scored 2. Park Rapids scored one in the second but Chase Johnston quickly responded by smacking a solo home run over the center field fence. Park Rapids scored another in the 3rd but the Otters put the game away in the top of the 4th by scoring 6 runs when Cade Johnson singled and scored, Youngberg walked and scored, Jenc walked and scored, Felstul got hit by a pitch and scored, Kremeier and Chase Johnston both singled and scored. Noon had a 2-rbi single in the inning. The Otters tacked on two more in the 5th with Kremeier singling in Youngberg and Jenc. With the win, the Otters advanced to the championship to face Breckenridge.
The Otters were held off the scoreboard in the first while the Cowboys scored 2 in the first to take a 0-2 lead. The Otters showed their mettle by scoring two in the 2nd with Noon doubling and scoring Johnston and Schlosser singling in Heruth. The Cowboys scored 2 more in the bottom of the second to take a 2-4 lead. The Otters took the lead for good in the top of the 3rd by scoring 4 runs. In the inning, the Otters loaded the bases in the 3rd with Jenc and Kremeier walking and Felstul singling. Chase Johnston walked to score Jenc and Felstul scored on a passed ball. Noon again came up big for the Otters with a 2 run single scoring Kremeier and Chase Johnston. Not to be outdone, Proudfoot singled in Noon. The Cowboys added 3 in the bottom of the 3rd to cut the Otters’ lead to 7-6. Neither team scored in the 4th or 5th with the pitching and defense tightening up. The Otters scored 5 in the top of the sixth, all with 2 outs. With 2 outs, Schlosser singled, Cade Johnson walked, Youngberg reached on an error which scored Schlosser, and Jenc walked. With Jenc’s walk, the bases were loaded and the table was set for Felstul. Felstul took the first pitch he saw and mashed it over the right-center fence for a grand slam, pushing the Otters lead to 12-6. Proudfoot pitched a gritty and hard fought 5 innings for the Otters. The Otters held on for a 12-10 lead when Youngberg came in to say goodnight to the Cowboys by pitching a solid 6th inning.
The Otters received contributions from each and every player on the team. The tournament win was a true team effort. The young Otters next travel to Swanville for a tournament on Sunday.
Hitting leaders for the Otters in the tournament were Felstul with 7 hits (2 HR’s), Chase Johnston with 6 hits (HR and 2b), Kremeier, Noon (2 2b’s), and Proudfoot with 5 hits, Jenc (2b) and Schlosser (2b) with 4 hits, Ebert and Cade Johnson with 2 hits and Heruth (HR) and Youngberg (2b).
