“Levi King pitched an absolute gem for us, as did Jordan Ellingson for Willmar,” reported Fergus Falls Head Coach Shane Thielke.  “Levi was the real deal once again on the mound and gave us every chance to win, unfortunately, Jordan Ellingson was just as good, holding the Otters bats in check all night long.”

The game was scoreless into the bottom of the sixth when King retired the first two batters he faced before Tyler Madsen was hit by a pitch.  Conlan Carlson singled Madsen to third base and a wild pitch plated Madsen for a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Kellen Stenstrom drew a one out walk and advanced to second on an errant throw by the catcher.  With Stenstrom on second, the Otters were down to their final out when Griffin Babolian laced a line drive down the left field line, scoring Stenstrom easily from second base to tie the game at 1-1.

A walk issued to Blake Keiman by Carston Fronning put the winning run on base to start the bottom of the seventh inning.  Fronning was able to retire the next two batters with a fielders’ choice and a fly ball out, but the outs were productive as they advanced Keiman to third base.  Mason Thole was the her on the softly hit ground ball that scored the winning run.

“We battled all night long,” said Coach Thielke.  “We had great at bats and Griffin’s clutch w-out RBI single was certainly a highlight.  Again, I can’t speak to how proud I am of our kids.  We competed, we threw strikes, we played solid defense, committing only one error, and we gave ourselves a chance in a CLC matchup on the road.  I like the direction we are going and I look forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead.  These guys are up to it!”

The Otters will travel to play Alexandria at Knute Nelson on Friday night.