Photoby Dawn Hauge
Rushford-Peterson baseball played three playoff games stretching over three days (due to a weather re-schedule). Jordan Aug’s squad posted a pair of wins to make the “second week” of the 1A section tournament. The Trojans (5-seed, 8-1) first hosted Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (12-seed, 4-12) in the Round of 16. After spotting JWP a 2-0 first inning lead, the Trojans scored the next five to lead 5-2. JWP scored two in the top of the seventh without a hit, but they left runners on first and second. A fly-out ended the game, as R-P snuck by via a 5-4 final. Justin Ruberg (7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K) picked up the win. Tommy Ekern (2-3, 2B, RBI, R), Alex Ronnenberg (1-2, 3B, RBI, 2 R), Andrew Wilkemeyer (1-2, 2 RBI), and Riley Tesch (2-3) did work on “O.” Ty Melchior (2-4, 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) took the loss, yielding just one earned run. Ryan Hanson (2-4, RBI) added two hits. R-P (5-seed, 9-10) then trekked to Austin to play Kenyon-Wanamingo (4-seed, 12-8) in a quarterfinal. The Trojans trailed 3-1 after three and 3-2 heading to the top of the seventh. Wilkemeyer then tied the game with an RBI-single, scoring Ekern from second. The game went to extra innings. R-P left the go-ahead run at third in the eighth. With the bases loaded in K-W’s eighth, Cal Luebke had a walk-off RBI single for the 4-3 win. The Knights had five extra-base hits, R-P just five hits total. The Trojans left 11 on base to K-W’s six. Ronnenberg (3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, No Decision) and Rylan Schneider (1-3, 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, Loss) split the pitching duties. Wilkemeyer (1-4, RBI), Ruberg (1-4, R), and Riley Tesch (1-5, RBI) did R-P’s best offensive work. Will Van Epps (5 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 13 K, No Decision, 2-4, 2B, R) and Gavin Sommer (2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, Win, 1-3, HR, RBI, R) did double-duty for K-W. Luebke (3-3, 2B, RBI, R) and Alex Vold (1-2, 2B, RBI) helped. R-P (5-seed, 9-11) then took on familiar foe Fillmore Central/Lanesboro (9-seed, 7-13) in a “loser-out” game. FC/L beat AC/G-E 7-2 but lost to Hayfield 20-4 (See “Baseball” for more). After the Falcons had a two-run top of one, R-P had a five-run bottom to lead 5-2. They then never trailed in posting a 7-3 victory. All 10 of the game’s runs were scored in the first three innings. The Falcons left 12 on base (multiple in each of the first five frames). It was R-P’s third win over the Falcons this season. Wilkemeyer (1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, R), Ruberg (1-2, 3B, RBI, R), and Ekern (1-3, 2B, RBI) did offensive work. Malachi Bunke (7 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, Win) gritted out the win. Dillon O’Connor (2-4, two 2B, R), Stephan Schultz (2-4, RBI, R), Gunner Benson (2-4, 2 RBI), and Jordan Peterson (2-4) hit the ball for FC/L. Ty Sexton (3 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, No Decision) pitched very well in relief of starter Cooper Ferrie (2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K). The Trojans (10-11) move into final six of 1A tourney. FCL finishes the year 3-7, 7-13.