The Starbuck Jr. Legion improved to 13-7 with a 9-5 victory over Benson in the opening round of the American Legion Jr. Division II North Central Sub-State Tournament.

Starbuck earned the third seed in the 9-team tourney, which continues this week including the championship game Sunday, July 28 at Morris.

In the results that follow is a recap of a home 8-team Jr. Legion Tournament from July 13-14 along with a look at the team’s last regular-season game against Morris, a 9-7 loss at home last Tuesday night.

A recap of the opening tournament game against Benson will be highlighted next week.

Starbuck is now set to play at Morris at 6 p.m., Tuesday (tomorrow) with the winner moving on to the upper-bracket finals set for 11 a.m., Saturday, July 27 at Morris and the loser playing at home Friday night at 6 p.m.

•  Members of the Starbuck 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.

Jr. Legion Tourney title

The Starbuck Jr. Legion earned the championship during a home Jr. Legion Tournament, Saturday and Sunday, July 13-14.

Starbuck beat Sauk Centre (5-2) and Atwater (5-4) in the first two rounds before edging Paynesville in the finals, 5-2.

In the first game, Starbuck used a three-run fifth inning to take command of the game and Ethan Jacobs and Callum Disrud-Bailey combined for the victory on the mound.

Tyson Metz led a five-hit offensive attack, going 2-for-2 with a run, walk and two stolen bases, while Marc Gruber, Luke Danielson and Oliver Vanderhagen also had hits for the Jr. Legion.

•  In the second game, Starbuck went up 5-0 after two innings, but Atwater scored two in the fifth and two more in the seventh to close the gap to one run before Riley Dell shut the door to preserve the win.

The Stars had just three hits and did not have any walks, but Atwater committed three errors leading to four unearned runs and that was just enough to give Starbuck the victory.

The Stars committed four errors of their own, leading to three more unearned runs as only two runs were earned by the pitchers during the game.

Callum Disrud-Bailey pitched the first two innings, leaving with the score 5-0 and AJ Svec pitched the next 2 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and two runs with four strikeouts.

Dell pitched the final 2 2/3 innings.  He gave up two more runs in the seventh, but eventually earned the save for Disrud-Bailey by getting the final out with runners on base in the seventh inning.

Luke Danielson had a big two-run double for Starbuck, while Connor Erickson had an RBI-triple, AJ Svec had a hit and scored a run, and Marc Gruber and Miles Wildman also scored for Starbuck.

•  The Starbuck Jr. Legion earned the championship by beating Paynesville in the title game, Sunday, July 14.

Starbuck broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the fourth and went up 6-0 through six innings.

Paynesville, which outhit the Stars 6-5, scored two runs in the seventh before Connor Erickson came in to get the final out to preserve the victory for starting pitcher Marc Gruber.

Gruber went 6 2/3 innings, giving up just six hits, two unearned runs and one walk with 10 strikeouts.

Riley Dell had two of Starbuck’s five hits, going 2-for-2 with a double, triple, run scored, two walks and a stolen base.  That’s a full day’s work right there.

Marc Gruber added a single, run, walk and two stolen bases, while Luke Danielson also had a single, scored a run and stole a base, Tyson Metz had an RBI-single and also scored, and Ben Toohey and Tate Anderson also scored runs for Starbuck, which has won eight of its last nine games.

Morris 9, Starbuck 7

Morris scored all nine of its runs in the middle innings to earn a 9-7 victory over Starbuck last Tuesday night at Marthaler Field at MAHS.

Connor Disrud-Bailey, the last of three Starbuck pitchers, took the loss on the mound while Connor Erickson and Tyson Metz led the offense with two hits each.

Erickson was 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and two walks, while Metz was 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and walk.

Adding one hit each were Tate Anderson and Marc Gruber while Ben Toohey and Riley Dell both walked twice and had an RBI and AJ Svec walked twice and scored.

at Starbuck 5, Sauk Cen 2

Sauk Centre 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 2 3 0

Starbuck 1 1 0 0 3 0 x — 5 5 4

HITTING:  STAR-Tyson Metz 2-for-2, run, 2 sb; Marc Gruber 1-for-2, 2 runs, bb, double, sb; Luke Danielson 1-for-3, run, RBI, 2 sb; Oliver Vanderhagen 1-for-2, bb; Tate Anderson RBI; Miles Wildman run, sb . . . SC-three with one each

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  STARS-Ethan Jacobs (W)  5-2-2-1-4-3; Callum Disrud-Bailey 2-1-0-0-1-2 . . . SC-Evan A. (L)  4 1/3-5-5-4-2-4; Joseph J. 1 2/3-0-0-0-1-1

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at Starbuck 5, Atwater 4

Atwater 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 — 4 5 3

Starbuck 3 2 0 0 0 0 x — 5 3 4

HITTING:  STAR-Luke Danielson 1-for-3, run, 2 RBI, double; Connor Erickson 1-for-2, run, RBI, triple, sb, hbp; AJ Svec 1-for-2, run; Marc Gruber run; Tyson Metz RBI; Miles Wildman run. . . ATWATER-#22-2-for-4, 2 RBI, sb

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  STARS-Callum Disrud-Bailey (W)  2-0-0-0-2-2; AJ Svec 2 1/3-3-2-1-2-4; Riley Dell 2 2/3-2-2-0-1-3 . . . ATWATER-UA (L) 6-3-5-1-0-8

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at Starbuck 6, Paynes 2

Paynesville 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 — 2 6 3

Starbuck 0 0 0 3 1 2 x — 6 5 3

HITTING:  STAR-Riley Dell 2-for-2, run, 2 bb, double, triple, sb; Marc Gruber 1-for-3, run, bb, 2 sb; Luke Danielson 1-for-4, run, sb; Tyson Metz 1-for-4, run, RBI; Ben Toohey run, bb; Tate Anderson run. . . PAY-Derk M. 2-for-3, run, sb; Roman R. 2-for-4

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  STARS-Marc Gruber (W)  6 2/3-6-2-0-1-10; Connor Erickson 1/3-0-0-0-0-1 . . . PAY-D. Sanders (L)  2 1/3-5-9-8-4-3; Z. Sather 1 2/3-3-2-2-3-2

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Morris 9, at Starbuck 7

Morris 0 3 4 0 2 0 0 — 9 9 4

Starbuck (12-7) 2 1 0 0 0 4 0 — 7 6 3

HITTING:  STAR-Connor Erickson 2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI, 2 bb; Tyson Metz 2-for-4, run, RBI, bb; Tate Anderson 1-for-2; Marc Gruber 1-for-4, 2 runs, bb;  Ben Toohey 0-for-2, RBI, 2 bb; Riley Dell 0-for-3, run, RBI, 2 bb; AJ Svec 0-for-1, run, 2 bb. . . MORRIS-NA

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  STARS-Harley Johnson 2-2-0-0-*-0; Connor Erickson 2-2-3-3-*-5; Connor Disrud-Bailey (L)  3-5-6-2-*-4 . . . MORRIS-NA

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