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The fifth-seeded Hutchinson Tigers won twice on Thursday in St. Cloud, beating Fergus Falls 1-0 and 12-5 to claim the Section 8AAA baseball championship. The Tigers had lost to the Otters, 8-1, in the first game of the post season tournament, but came through the elimination bracket with five straight wins to punch thier ticket to the Class AAA State Tournament in Jordan next week. It's the third state appearance in school history and the first since 2006.
In game one, Hudson Lien took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. After retiring the first two batters he faced, Levi King laced a single through the hole into left field on a 1-2 pitch to break up the no-no, however, the Otters fell by the score of 1-0. A first inning error led to an unearned run, the only run of the ballgame. Isaiah Holmes gave up just 3 hits and threw only 90 pitches in going the distance and taking the loss.
In the second game, each team scored 3 runs in the first inning and the Otters took their only lead of the night with a run on a Hunter Powers single in the fourth. Hutchinson then scored 6 runs on 4 hits, 4 walks and 2 errors in the fourth inning, building a 9-4 lead on the way to a 12-5 victory. Catcher Max Martin of the Tigers contributed a pair of 2-run singles to the win. Levi King tripled in two runs for the Otters, who managed only 6 hits in the game.
Fergus Falls finishes the season 12-12, while Hutchinson takes a 17-9 record and a five game winning streak into the state tournament.