Glenwood-Lowry finishes fourth at State Tourney
Sports | Published on July 31, 2023 at 3:43pm CDT
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• Legion team goes 1-2, losing two heartbreakers in pair of walk-off losses
The Glenwood-Lowry Legion baseball team went 1-2 to place fourth at the State Division II Legion Baseball Tourney at Roseau, July 28-30.
The Lakers won their first game over DGF, 8-1, before losing a pair of heartbreakers. In the semifinals, EV-Watkins scored a run in the seventh and another in the 11th to edge the Lakers, 2-1, and in the third-place game, LaCrescent hit a walk-off three-run homer with two outs to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 victory.
The Glenwood-Lowry Legion, coached by Joe Alexander, Jeff Panitzke and Paul Johnson, close out the season with a 21-8 overall record.
Sleepy Eye went on to win the state title with a 10-5 victory over EV-Watkins. Nolan Geislinger, of EVW, was selected for the Tony Sipe Outstanding Player Award, while the Glenwood-Lowry team earned the Rocky Wedin Sportsmanship Trophy.
This was the second state trip in the last three years for the Legion team, which also earned a state berth in 2021 when it lost two close games.
“It was a great season and the guys played good at the state tourney, but we just ran into a pair of hot teams that came through with some key hits,” coach Joe Alexander said. “All the teams at the state tourney were good and I’m proud of the guys for the great season they had.”
The Lakers earned the state berth after winning the WC Sub-State, which included Ashby, Benson-Hancock, Brooten, Cottonwood, Granite Falls, Kerkhoven, Sacred Heart, Madison, Glenwood-Lowry, Montevideo, Morris, Parkers Prairie, Sauk Centre, Wheaton, Breckenridge, Prinsburg and Bird Island.
Glen-Lowry 8, DGF 1
Three homers from three separate players and a great pitching performance from PJ Johnson keyed an 8-1 victory over DGF in the first game of the State Legion Tourney, Friday.
Dylan Alexander, Connor Erickson and Ryland Martin all had homeruns for the Lakers, while Johnson spun a two-hitter over 6 2/3 innings for his eighth win this season.
DGF scored the first run of the game in the bottom-half of the first, but the Lakers tied it up with a run in the second and went ahead for good with a two-run third inning.
Alexander, who was 3-for-3 with two runs, an RBI, walk, double, stolen base and homerun, had a solo homer with one out in the seventh, while Erickson, who was 2-for-4 with a run, had a three-run blast with two outs in the fifth, and Martin, who was 1-for-3, had a solo homer to lead off the third.
Also having a big offensive game was Levi Johnson, who was 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and stolen base.
Austin Ballhagen also had a hit for the Lakers, while Nick Ankeny and Jack Majerus, who came in to pitch the final out of the game, both scored runs.
EVW 2, Glen-Lowry 1, 11 inn
The Lakers fell into the third-place game after losing in extra innings to EV-Watkins in one of the semifinals games, 2-1.
Glenwood-Lowry, which left 13 runners on base compared to 12 for the winners, scored its only run in the second inning when Levi Johnson walked with one out and came home on a double by Riley Dell.
However, Dell was out attempting to advance to third on the throw home and, after Austin Ballhagen and Ryland Martin coaxed walks, EVW got out of the inning without further damage with a strikeout on a 3-2 count.
That meant despite three walks and a double, the Lakers only scored one run. That would come back to haunt Glenwood-Lowry.
The Lakers did get the leadoff batter on base in the 10th and 11th innings and sacrificed the runner to second base in each case. However, a groundout, walk and strikeout ended the 10th with two runners on base and the 11th ended with two strikeouts.
Overall, Glenwood-Lowry struck out 13 times during the game which helped offset eight walks.
The difference in the game was an unearned run in the 11th as EVW started off the inning with a single and sacrificed the runner to second. The next batter walked and EVW then loaded the bases with one out on an error before getting a final one-out single to plate the winning run.
Alex Panitzke and Ryland Martin did a great job on the mound. Panitzke pitched the first six innings, giving up just five hits and two walks, while Martin pitched the final 4 1/3 innings and was credited with the loss despite giving up just four hits, two runs (one earned) and five walks with three strikeouts.
Offensively, Dylan Alexander was 2-for-3 with two walks, Riley Dell was 2-for-4 with an RBI-double, and Panitzke, Connor Erickson and Austin Ballhagen also had hits for the Lakers.
LaCrescent 6, Glen-Low 4
LaCrescent rallied from a 4-2 deficit to beat the Lakers in the third-place game, Sunday, 6-4. Glenwood-Lowry, which was outhit 11-5, scored a run in the first and three more in the fourth, but LaCrescent scored single runs in the second, third and fifth innings before Kyle Baker hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom-half of the seventh to give his team the 6-4 win.
Dylan Alexander went 2-for-3 with an RBI and walk to lead the Lakers, while Jack Majerus, Connor Erickson and Riley Dell also had hits.
Alexander also started on the mound for Glenwood-Lowry, giving up nine hits, three runs and two walks over six innings with three strikeouts.
He gave way to Majerus in the seventh and he was credited with the loss after giving up the three-run homer, which came on a 2-1 count with two outs.
Baker, who was 3-for-4 with four RBI, also earned the pitching win after coming in to get the final two outs in the top-half of the inning.
Glen-Low 8, Kerk 1
Glen-Lowry (21-6) 0 1 2 0 3 0 2 — 8 10 1
DGF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 2 2
HITTING: G-L-Dylan Alexander 3-for-3, 2 runs, RBI, bb, double, HR, sb; Levi Johnson 3-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, sb; Connor Erickson 2-for-4, 1 run, HR, 3 RBI; Ryland Martin 1-for-3, 1 run, RBI, HR; Austin Ballhagen 1-for-2, RBI, sac; Jack Majerus 0-for-3, 1 run, bb, sb; Nick Ankeny 0-for-0, 1 run . . . DGF-two players with one hit each
PITCHING: (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): G-L-PJ Johnson (W, 8-1) 6 2/3-2-1-1-5-4; Jack Majerus 1/3-0-0-0-1-0 . . . DGF-A. Anderson (L) 4 2/3-7-6-6-2-4; B. O’Keefe 1 2/3-2-2-2-0-2; I. Nelson 2/3-1-0-0-0-0
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EV-Watkins 2, Glenwood-Lowry 1, 11 inn
Glen-L (21-7) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 7 3
EVW 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 — 2 9 0
HITTING: G-L-Dylan Alexander 2-for-3, 2 bb; Riley Dell 2-for-4, RBI, bb, double; Alex Panitzke 1-for-6; Connor Erickson 1-for-5; Austin Ballhagen 1-for-4, bb; Ryland Martin 0-for-2, 2 bb, sac; Levi Johnson 0-for-3, 1 run, 2 bb . . . EVW-M. Dziengel 3-for-5; N. Gieslinger 2-for-4, RBI, bb, double, hbp
PITCHING: (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): G-L-Alex Panitzke 6-5-0-0-2-2; Ryland Martin (L, 3-3) 4 1/3-4-2-1-5-3 . . EVW-N. Gieslinger 6-4-1-1-6-7; C. Harff (W) 5-3-0-0-2-6
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LaCrescent 6, Glen-Low 4
Glen-Lowry (21-8) 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 — 4 5 0
LaCrescent 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 — 6 11 4
HITTING: G-L-Dylan Alexander 2-for-3, RBI; Jack Majerus 1-for-3, bb, double, sb; Connor Erickson 1-for-2, 1 run, bb, double; Riley Dell 1-for-2, 1 run; Alex Panitzke 0-for-3, 1 run, bb; Levi Johnson 0-for-3, 1 run . . . LAC-K. Baker 3-for-4, 1 run, 4 RBI HR; N. Masterson 2-for-3, 1 run, double, hbp
PITCHING: (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): G-L-Dylan Alexander 6-9-3-3-2-3; Jack Majerus (L, 1-2) 2/3-2-3-3-1-1 . . LAC-M. Boyer 6 1/3-5-4-0-5-2; K. Baker (W) 2/3-0-0-0-0-0
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