Photo by Jake McNeillMarshall pitcher Cody Wichmann throws from the mound during the Region 4C semifinals against the Raymond Rockets in Willmar on Sunday. The Rockets came from behind to defeat the A’s, dropping Marshall down to the elimination bracket and leaving them just shy of clinching a state tournament berth.
WILLMAR — Marshall nearly clinched a state tournament berth on the first weekend of the Region 4C tournament but instead fell into the elimination bracket. After the Corn Belt’s fourth-seeded A’s upset County Line’s No. 1 Atwater 13-8 on Saturday, Marshall claimed an early lead before falling 8-5 to the Corn Belt’s second-seeded Raymond Rockets on Sunday.
A win would have sent Marshall to the region championship game and solidified their spot in the state tournament. Instead, they will now need to face the Milroy Yankees on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and, with a win, face the winner of Paynesville and Atwater.
The winner of the second elimination game will go on to play a state seeding game against the loser of Raymond and Bird Island.
“We’ve just got to try to get healthy,” Marshall manager Ryan Schwagel said of the focus ahead of this upcoming weekend. “We got a little nicked up yesterday and today, so trying to get our guys healthy and get our arms rested to try to win two on Saturday.”
Marshall 13, Atwater 8
Marshall never trailed in its 13-8 tournament-opener win against Atwater.
Peyton Grant and Connor Neubeck scored Marshall’s first runs in the second inning on a Logan Tomasek RBI double and a Talan Plante sacrifice fly, and they carried that lead for the remainder of the game.
Mitch Bouwman tossed seven quality innings for the A’s, limiting Atwater to four runs on nine hits and five walks. Perhaps most impressively, he struck out 13 batters in his 131-pitch outing.
“We know when we’ve got Mitch on the mound, we’ve got a chance to beat everybody,” Schwagel said.
In relief, Liam Kruse held the lead for Marshall by allowing two earned runs and two unearned over two innings. He surrendered four hits and four walks.
Atwater responded to Marshall’s second-inning rally with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame, but Chase Douglas and Ryan VanMoer each scored on a Ryan Schwagel single followed by an Atwater error to make the score 4-1.
After Atwater got back another run in the fifth, Marshall pulled away in the seventh. Grant and Neubeck led off the inning with a double and a single and a Plante walk loaded the bases with one out.
Coby Brownlee was hit by a pitch to force in one run and, after Neubeck was called out at the plate on a Douglas fielder’s choice, Van Moer clubbed a two-run single. The rally continued with Douglas scoring on a passed ball and Cody Wichmann singling in Van Moer to cap off the five-run inning.
“That’s where you want to be, hitting hte ball like that before the playoffs,” Schwagel said. “Even [in Sunday’s game against Raymond], we stranded 14 or 15 baserunners. We were one hit away from winning that ball game, but that’s the way it goes. Playoffs are always tight and you’ve got to make big plays in crunch time.”
Atwater didn’t take the Marshall rally lying down. They scored two runs in the bottom of the frame and another in the eighth.
In the ninth, Marshall added four more insurance runs — two of which came on a two-run triple from Grant — to make the score 13-5. Atwater fought back valiantly in the bottom of the frame but their three-run ninth wasn’t enough to force extras and Marshall moved on with the victory.
Jack Peterson recorded the loss for Atwater, allowing nine runs on 13 hits over 6 2/3 innings. Kobe Holtz allowed another four runs over 1 2/3 frames while Conner Barker tossed a scoreless two outs while allowing three hits.
VanMoer finished the game with four hits and three RBis for Marshall while Grant, Neubeck and Tomasek each added another three hits. David Kingery and Jaxon Behm led the Chuckers with three hits each.
Raymond 8, Marshall 5
Defense was a major factor in Marshall’s loss to Raymond in the semifinals on Sunday. The A’s committed five errors, leading to four unearned runs in the 8-5 defeat at the hands of the second-seeded Raymond Rockets.
“We’ve just got to focus on every single pitch,” Schwagel said. “We didn’t play good enough defense there. We had the lead and didn’t play good enough defense to hold it, so hats off to Raymond, they earned it.”
Marshall led 5-4 heading into the seventh inning of its semifinal matchup against Raymond when the tide turned. Ian Koosman hit a leadoff double and, after Tyler Steen reached by getting hit by a pitch, Marshall made a pitching change.
Isaac Call then hit a chopper down the first baseline drew in both Terfehr and first baseman Logan Tomasek, leaving the bag unattended. Second baseman Chase Douglas moved over to cover the base but an errant throw sent the ball into foul territory and knotted the game up at 5-5. An RBI single and a sacrifice fly then gave the Rockets a 7-5 lead that they never relinquished.
Facing a 2-0 deficit heading into the top of the fifth inning, the A’s rattled off a four-run rally to seize the lead. Chase Douglas led off the inning with a single before Raymond retired each of the next two batters. Yet, Cody Wichmann singled to put runners on the corners.
Peyton Grant reached base on an error to drive in the inning’s first run and a Connor Neubeck walk loaded up the bases. Logan Tomasek then hit a shallow pop fly that looked like it would end the inning, but it glanced off a Raymond glove, allowing two more runs to score for a 3-2 Marshall lead.
After Plante walked to load up the bases, AJ Toulouse followed with another walk to make the score 4-2 in favor of the A’s.
Koosman hit a solo homer for the Rockets in the fifth to make it a one-run game again, but with two outs in the bottom of the frame, Wichmann singled and scored on a Neubeck single to get the run right back before Raymond rallied ahead in the seventh.
Wichmann started the game on the mound for Marshall, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and three walks over six innings. He started the seventh but was relieved by Logan Terfehr with two runners on and no outs and both of the runners he left on base scored.
Grant reached base for Marshall four times, with two walks, a single and an error. Wichmann also singled three times, Toulouse had two walks and a single and Douglas added two singles and reached on an error.
Terfehr allowed two runs, one of which was unearned, over two innings of relief. He surrendered two hits while striking out three batters.
Tanner Bauman got the win for Raymond after tossing 4 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one run on five hits and a pair of walks. Esau Nelson allowed four unearned runs on four hits and six walks in the 4 2/3-inning start for Raymond.
Marshall nearly had made it a one-run game in the ninth when Zach Olson hit a fly ball deep toward the right-field wall, but a Raymond outfielder made a slight hop to grab the ball at the fence to prevent what could have been a long double against the top of the wall.
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