Spring Grove remained alive in the Section 1A Baseball Tournament with late, back-to-back clutch hits to defeat Mabel-Canton, 7-5, in an elimination game, shortly after the Lions had dropped into the losers’ bracket with a nightmarish 21-8 loss to top-seed and No. 3 state-ranked Lyle/Pacelli. Spring Grove was the visiting team (batting first) in both games, which were two of six played on May 27 at Riverland Community College in Austin.
Photo by Lee Epps
The Lions were one out away from elimination in the nightcap when sophomore Zach Brumm singled in two runs to tie the score in the top of the final seventh inning. Moments later, Ty Cleven tripled in two go-ahead runs. After Cleven supplied what would be the game-winning hit, he went back the mound to become the winning pitcher, striking out two batters while retiring the Cougars in order.
No. 12 seed Mabel-Canton had lost 4-3 to No. 4 seed United South Central before elimination against the Lions. No. 10 seed Rushford-Peterson was also eliminated with two losses that day.
No. 8 seed Spring Grove (12-8) and No. 3 seed, state-ranked Fillmore Central/Lanesboro (14-7) remained alive in the losers’ bracket while four teams remained unbeaten in tournament play: No. 1 seed Lyle/Pacelli (19-1), No. 2 Southland (14-2), No. 4 United South Central (15-4) and No. 6 Hayfield (15-9).
L/P 21, SG 8 (5 innings)
The Lions scored the first five runs and the final three runs, but the Athletics tallied 21 times in between. It was a pitchers’ nightmare for Spring Grove and for L/P ace and starter Hunter VaDeer. Five Lion hurlers combined to hit 10 batters and walk another six. With three A’s reaching base on errors, that made 19 get-on-base-free passes during their 19th win of the season. Three different Lyle/Pacelli batters were hit by pitches three times each. The four Lion errors were costly as well; only seven of the Athletics’ 21 runs were earned runs. Add in nine base hits, including four doubles, resulted in 21 runs, the most for a Spring Grove opponent since 2007.
Pitching woes began with VaDeer walking three of the first four Lion batters. The first five Spring Grove batters scored, two coming home on wild pitches along with two runs batted in by freshman designated hitter Gabe Klug. The Lions left the bases loaded with a 5-0 lead. It was a shocking tournament debut for top section seed L/P, which had received a first-round bye into this second-round contest.
That Lion lead was obliterated quickly as L/P replied with nine runs in the bottom of that first frame. The Athletics needed only two hits to go with three walks, three batters hit by a pitch and two Lion errors in that half-inning alone.
Isaac Nelsen came in to earn his third pitching win of the season versus Spring Grove. He struck out five and walked one while tossing two and two-thirds scoreless innings before retiring with a 15-5 lead. That made 16 and two-thirds scoreless innings in a row pitched by Nelsen against Spring Grove. It was 21-5 before the Lions tacked on three unearned runs in their final at-bat before the run-rule ended it after five innings, Spring Grove’s first run-rule loss of the season.
Klug, whose double was the only Lion extra-base hit, batted 2 for 3. Ben Udstuen went 2 for2 with one hit each from Zach Brumm (1 for 3, RBI) and Jaxon Strinmoen (1 for 4).
It was the Athletics’ fourth straight win against Spring Grove, three this season. Since Spring Grove revived its stand-alone baseball program in 2016, the Lions have a 6-8 record versus Lyle/Pacelli.
SG 7, Mabel-Canton 5
The Lions scored the first two runs and the last five but in between, Mabel-Canton had a big five-run frame. Two of the Cougars’ three total hits came in that rally, which was aided by four walks and two batters hit by a pitch. Ty Cleven came in to the mound for Spring Grove and ended the rally with a bases-loaded strikeout. Mabel-Canton led 5-2 after four innings.
The Lions got one run back in the fifth inning after back-to-back hits from Caleb Griffin and Strinmoen. It was 5-3. Against Cleven, the Cougars went without a hit during the final three innings, but they did threaten in the sixth after a Lion error and walk. The big play was Spring Grove catcher Ezra Griffin throwing out a Cougar at third base. (He had thrown out a runner attempting to steal second base in the first inning.) M-C catcher Tyler Larson then returned the favor by throwing out a Lion runner attempting to swipe second base.
That set the stage for the dramatic Lion rally in the seventh. Braedon Solie walked and Strinmoen singled, but two ground outs had the Cougars one out away from a win. Lion clean-up batter Ezra Griffin received an intentional walk to load the bases. Zach Brumm singled in the two tying tallies just before Cleven tripled home the two go-ahead runs.
Brumm and Strinmoen both contributed two hits to the eight-hit Spring Grove attack. The Cougars had only three hits, all at the bottom of the batting order – two from freshman Kale Tollefsrud and one from freshman Milton Hutchinson.
After a 7-6 walk-off win and subsequent 12-5 decision, it was the Lions’ third win of the season versus the Cougars. Since Spring Grove revived its stand-alone baseball program in 2016, the Lions have won 14 of the 15 games versus Mabel-Canton. But two of the last three went right down to the wire.
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SG 8, L/P 21
SG 500 03 = 8–6–4
L/P 951 6x =21–9–2
LOB: SG 6, L/P 8
Stolen bases: SG 0, L/P 3
SG 6 hits (double, 5 singles): Ben Udstuen 2-2, run; Gabe Klug 2-3, dbl, 2 RBI; Zach Brumm 1-3, RBI, 2 runs; Jaxon Strinmoen 1-4, run
L/P 9 hits (4 doubles, 5 singles):
Pitching SG: Caleb Griffin 0.2 IP, 1 H, 9 R, 1 ER, 3 HB, 3 W, 1K, loss;
Brandon Jahnke 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 HB, 1 W, 0 K;
Ben Udstuen 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 HB, 1 W, 0 K;
Braedon Solie 0.2 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 3 HB, 1 W, 1 K;
Jaxon Strinmoen 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 HB, 1 W 0 K
Pitching L/P: team total 6 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 1 HB, 6 W, 8 K
Records: SG 11-8, L/P 19-1
SG LINEUP: p Cale Griffin, c Ezra Griffin, 1b Jaxon Strinmoen, 2b Brandon Jahnke, ss Ben Udstuen, 3b Ty Cleven, lf Bryce Berns, cf Zach Brumm, rf Braedon Solie, dh Gabe Klug, ph Nathan Solberg, cr Logan Brumm, pr Kolton Nerstad
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SG 7, M-C 5
SG 020 010 4 = 7–8–3
M-C 000 500 0 = 5–3–2
LOB: SG 6, M-C 8
Stolen bases: SG 2, M-C 1
SG 8 hits (triple, 7 singles): Zach Brumm 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 runs, steal; Jaxon Strinmoen 2-4, run; Ty Cleven 1-4, trpl, 2 RBI, run; Ben Udstuen 1-3, RBI, steal; Caleb Griffin 1-4, run; Gabe Klug 1-4
M-C 3 hits (3 singles): Kale Tollefsrud 2-3, 2 RBI, run; Milton Hutchison 1-3, run
Pitching SG: Brandon Jahnke 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 W, 2 K
Caleb Griffin 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 HB, 2 W, 1 K
Ty Cleven 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0R, 1 W, 5 K, win
Pitching M-C: Cayden Tollefsrud 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 HB, 1 W, 2 K; Isaac Underbakke 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 W, 5 K, loss
Records: SG 12-8, M-C 7-15
SG LINEUP: p Brandon Jahnke, c Ezra Griffin, 1b Jaxon Strinmoen, 2b Caleb Griffin, ss Ben Udstuen, 3b Ty Cleven, lf Bryce Berns, cf Zach Brumm, rf Braedon Solie, dh Gabe Klug, cs Logan Brumm, pr Kolton Nerstad & Jacob Solum
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Spring Grove Baseball 2023 (SEC games in bold)
>>12-8 (8-4 SEC, 3rd place)
W at GMLOK 15-4
W vs. Houston 10-2
L at Southland 4-5
W vs. Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 14-4
W vs. GMLOK 6-2
L at Lyle/Pacelli 1-3
W vs. Mabel-Canton 7-6
W at Mabel-Canton 12-5
L vs. Lyle/Pacelli 0-7
W vs. Wabasha-Kellogg 7-3
W at Houston 4-1
L vs. Goodhue (R-P Tourney) 2-3
L vs. Rushford-Peterson (R-P Tourney) 5-6
L vs. Kenyon-Wanamingo 1-2
L vs. Southland 0-5
W vs. Fillmore Central/Lanesboro 6-4
W at Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 12-2
SECTION 1A TOURNAMENT
W vs. #9 Wabasha-Kellogg 7-6
L vs. #1 Lyle/Pacelli 8-21
W vs. #12 Mabel-Canton 7-5
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