Reds advance to state legion tournament

July 24, 2016 at 11:52 PM

Superior Telegram

With an 8-5 win over New Richmond in the American Legion AA District Tournament Friday in River Falls, the Superior Reds earned a berth in the American Legion AA State Baseball Tournament.

The Reds will take a 21-13 record into their state tournament opening game against Antigo at 1 p.m. Wednesday at First National Bank of River Falls Field.

The Reds went 2-2 in the district tournament, including 1-1 on Thursday with a 1-0 win over New Richmond and a 7-4 loss to River Falls.

Superior qualified for the state tournament on Friday with its win over New Richmond.

The win also gave the Reds a berth in the district title game, which they lost to River Falls 11-1 in five innings. River Falls had already qualified for state as the host team.

The winner of the Superior-Antigo game will play either Beaver Dam or River Falls at 7 p.m. Thursday. The losers will play at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The state championship game is scheduled for noon Sunday.

NOTES: Admission is $5 daily or $15 for a tournament pass. Fans 10-and-under are free. … All state tournament games will be carried live at thecube.com. For a link to each game go to riverfallswildcatsbaseball.org/live-broadcast-links.html.

River Falls 11 Reds 1

Superior had four hits in the title game, including an RBI single by Justin Reinkall, doubles by Caden Tchop and Josh Tomczak and a single by Sean O’Neill.

Jaxin Larson was the winning pitcher for River Falls.

Reds........................ 000 01 - 1 4 2

River Falls.................. 520 22 - 11 12 0

Reds 8, New Richmond 5

Trailing 5-1 after two innings, O’Neill hit a two-run home run in the third inning to cut New Richmond’s lead to 5-3.

The Reds continued to rally with one run in the fourth inning and two runs apiece in the fifth and sixth innings.

Matt Strum pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win. He allowed three hits with three strikeouts. Gunner Johnson was the starting pitcher, allowing five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in the first two innings.

Also for the Reds, Reinkall was 3-for-3 with a double and RBI; Johnson doubled, singled and knocked in a run; Tchop and Austin Sears both had a single and RBI; and Bryce Connolly doubled.

For New Richmond, Jack Bau was 3-for-3 with a double. He was also the losing pitcher in relief of Jakob Larson.

Reds........................ 102 122 0 - 8 9 2

New Richmond............ 410 000 0 - 5 9 3

Reds 1, New Richmond 0

The Reds scored their run in the top of the seventh inning Thursday when Strum hit a one-out double over the left fielder’s head and scored on Reinkall’s single to left.

Strum also added a single, Tomczak doubled and singled, O’Neill had two hits and Sears had one.

Reinkall was the complete-game winning pitcher, allowing two hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

Reds........................ 000 000 1 - 1 8 1

New Richmond............ 000 000 0 - 0 2 0

River Falls 7, Reds 4

The Reds outhit River Falls 8-5, but couldn’t recover from River Falls’ five-run second inning.

River Falls also added single runs in the third and fourth innings, while the Reds scored twice in the fourth and sixth innings.

Tomczak led Superior on offense, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Tchop added a double and two RBIs; Reinkall had two hits; and Strum and Sears had a hit apiece.

Hunter Hockenbrock was the losing pitcher, allowing five runs on three hits and two walks. Sears, who took over in the second inning, allowed one run and two hits while striking out one and walking three. Morgen Moen struck out one in a scoreless sixth inning.

Reds........................ 000 202 0 - 4 8 1

River Falls.................. 051 100 x - 7 5 1

American Legion AA State Baseball Tournament

at River Falls

Wednesday, July 27

Game 1 - Menasha vs. Wisconsin Dells, 10 a.m.

Game 2 - Superior Reds vs. Antigo, 1 p.m.

Game 3 - Seymour vs. Waterford, 4 p.m.

Game 4 - River Falls vs. Beaver Dam, 7 p.m.

Thursday, July 28

Game 5 - Loser Game vs. Loser Game 3, 10 a.m.

Game 6 - Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.