The Starbuck Stars fell to Regal in the final game of the 2024 County Line Baseball League regular-season, 3-0.  The win by Regal gave it the league title with an 8-2 record, while the Stars dropped to 7-3 but still earned a first-round playoff bye.

The County Line League playoffs are set to begin this week with third-seeded Atwater hosting Norway Lake-Sunburg and fourth-seeded Paynesville hosting NLS, Saturday.

The winners of those games will play at Regal and Starbuck, Sunday.

The County Line League playoffs continue July 20-21 and July 27-28 with the finals, while the Region Tourney is set for Aug. 2-4 and Aug. 9-11. 

Regal 3, Starbuck 0

The Stars left 10 runners on base during a 3-0 loss at Regal, Sunday, giving Regal the County Line title with a 8-2 record.

The Stars, who finished the league schedule with a 7-3 record, still earned the second seed and earned a first-round bye for the league playoffs.

The Stars outhit Regal, 7-4, and also had the benefit of three walks and a hit-by-pitch, but Starbuck was unable to come up with the key hit against Regal, which also beat the Stars earlier this season, 3-2.

Austin Friese went 3-for-3 to lead the Stars’ offense, while Mitch Gruber was 2-for-4 and Jack Majerus and Jackson Hendrickson also had hits for Starbuck.

Nick Lavasseur started on the mound for Starbuck, but left after 2 1/3 innings with his team trailing 3-0.  Austin Ver Steeg and Darion Alexander combined for 6 2/3 innings of one-hit relief.

at Regal 3, Starbuck 0 

Starbuck (9-9) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 7 1

Regal 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 x — 3 4 0

HITTING:  STARS-Austin Friese 3-for-3; Mitch Gruber 2-for-4; Jack Majerus 1-for-4; Jackson Hendrickson 1-for-4  . . . REGAL-four with one hit each

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  STARS-Nick Lavasseur (L 2-2)  2 1/3-3-3-3-2-2; Austin Ver Steeg 4 2/3-1-0-0-0-6; Darion Alexander 2-0-0-0-0-0 ,  . . . REGAL-B. Wedel (W)  6-5-0-0-1-2; C. Rohloff 3-2-0-0-2-0