The Starbuck Jr. Legion advanced to the Jr. Division II North Central Sub-State Tournament upper-bracket finals with an 8-5 win over Morris last Tuesday night.

The Stars, who improved to 14-7, beat Benson to open up the tourney, 8-5, and were set to face Holdingford in the upper-bracket finals of the double-elimination tourney Saturday morning at Morris.

Two-straight wins would give Starbuck the title, but it could also take three-straight victories if Starbuck loses to Holdingford in the first game, Saturday.

The championship game was set for Sunday afternoon with a second game following if necessary.  No information was received about how the Stars did Saturday so results will be highlighted next week.

•  Members of the Jr. Legion, coached by Chris Lence and Andy Goracke, are AJ Svec, Aron Majerus, Ben Toohey, Braylen Scharmer, Cale Johnsrud, Callum Disrud-Bailey, Connor Erickson, Ethan Jacobs, Gavin Flaten, Harley Johnson, Luke Danielson, Marc Gruber, Miles Wildman, Oliver Vanderhagen, Riley Dell, Tate Anderson and Tyson Metz.

Starbuck 8, Benson 5

Connor Erickson, Marc Gruber and Luke Danielson all had extra-base hits to lead the Starbuck Jr. Legion to an 8-5 win over Benson in the opening round of the American Legion Jr. Division II North Central Sub-State Tournament.

The win advanced Starbuck to the next round where it was set to play second-seeded Morris.

Erickson went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs, two triples, three RBI and also reached when hit-by-a-pitch. 

Marc Gruber added an RBI double and also walked while Luke Danielson was 1-for-2 with three runs, an RBI, walk, solo homer, two stolen bases and was also hit-by-a-pitch.  Wow!

Gruber also earned the victory on the mound, giving up just three hits over four innings before leaving with the score 7-0 through four innings.

Also pitching for Starbuck were AJ Svec and Miles Wildman.

Benson scored one in the fifth, but Starbuck came right back with a run of its own to maintain its seven-run lead at 8-1.

However, Benson scored four more runs in the sixth to pull within three runs before going scoreless in the seventh.

Tyson Metz and Wildman also had hits for the Stars while Riley Dell was 0-for-1 with a run, RBI, two walks and sacrifice fly and Ben Toohey was 0-for-1 with a walk and hit-by-pitch.

Starbuck 5, Morris 2

The Starbuck Jr. Legion earned a berth in the upper-bracket finals with a 5-2 win at Morris last Tuesday night.  The win pushed Starbuck into the upper bracket finals set for Saturday morning in Morris.

Morris, which was the second seed, had 10 hits and three walks, scored only two runs as the home team left 12 runners on base.

The two teams were tied 1-1 after two innings before Starbuck scored two in the third and two in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.

Morris scored one more in the fifth, but that would be as close as it would get as Marc Gruber and Riley Dell combined for the pitching victory.

Gruber pitched the first six innings, scattering 10 hits and two walks while giving up two runs (one earned) and striking out three.  Dell pitched one inning of scoreless relief.

Offensively, Starbuck came with their bats ready as four players had multiple-hit games.

Connor Erickson, who has been playing both Legion and Jr. Legion this summer, continued his great summer of baseball by going 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, an RBI and stolen base.

Gruber was 2-for-5, while Dell was 2-for-4 with a run and RBI, and Miles Wildman was 2-for-3 with a run, walk and stolen base.

Also coming through with hits were Luke Danielson, Tyson Metz, Oliver Vanderhagen and Tate Anderson, while AJ Svec was 0-for-1 with two walks and a sacrifice.

at Starbuck 8, Benson 5

Benson 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 — 5 7 3

Starbuck 2 1 0 4 1 0 x — 8 7 1

HITTING:  STAR-Connor Erickson 3-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 2 triples, hbp; Marc Gruber 1-for-4, run, RBI, bb, double; Luke Danielson 1-for-2, 3 runs, RBI, bb, HR, hbp, 2 sb; Tyson Metz 1-for-4; Miles Wildman 1-for-4, run, sb; Ben Toohey 0-for-1, bb, hbp; Riley Dell 0-for-1, run, RBI, 2 bb, sac fly. . . BENSON-NA

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  STARS-Marc Gruber (W)  4-3-0-0-*-7; AJ Svec 1 1/3-2-0-0-*-1; Miles Wildman 1 2/3-2-5-4-*-4 . . . BEN-NA

——————————————

Starbuck 5, at Morris 2

Starbuck (14-7) 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 — 5 13 2

Morris 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 2 10 2

HITTING:  STAR-Connor Erickson 3-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, 2 doubles, sb; Marc Gruber 2-for-5; Riley Dell 2-for-4, run, RBI; Miles Wildman 2-for-3, run, bb, sb; Luke Danielson 1-for-4, run, RBI, double; Tyson Metz 1-for-4; Oliver Vanderhagen 1-for-4; Tate Anderson 1-for-3, bb; AJ Svec 0-for-1, 2 bb, sac. . . MORRIS-J. Huebner 2-for-4, run; H. Smith 2-for-4, run

PITCHING: STAR-Marc Gruber (W)  6-10-2-1-2-3; Riley Dell 1-0-0-0-1-2 . . . MORRIS-A. Asmus (L)  4-8-5-4-3-6; B. Carlson 3-5-0-0-1-1

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!