Jace Liebl stands in the batter’s box in Waldorf’s 1st game of the Region 12C playoffs against Belle Plaine on Sunday. The Wood Ducks beat the Tigers on Sunday and Tuesday night to advance to the next round. They will face the St. Peter Saints for a chance to clinch a state bid.
Lucas Dittmer/southernminn.com
The Waldorf Wood Ducks did not find themselves trailing the Belle Plaine Tigers in the later innings in both of the regular season match-ups between the River Valley West League and Region 12C foes. But in the two playoff games between them, it was a different story.
The Region playoffs started on Sunday afternoon, and the Ducks and the Tigers were two of six teams that played in the opening round of the region tournament. No. 1 New Prague was the only team out of the seven in Region to receive a bye in the first round. There are two rounds in the tournament, with each being best-of-three series.
The No. 6 seeded Tigers were one of three teams the No. 3 Ducks faced twice in the regular season, as Waldorf also played the Lake Crystal 9 and the St. Peter Saints twice due to the four teams being in the River Valley West League. Waldorf went 5-1 in league play in the regular season, losing to St. Peter once.
In game one of the playoff series between Waldorf and Belle Plaine on Sunday in Janesville, the Wood Ducks fell behind 4-0 but made their way back to win 7-4 thanks to a five-run seventh inning. That had them take a 1-0 advantage going into game two Tuesday night in Belle Plaine.
The Tigers were looking to extend the series to Thursday night, with game three taking place at ISG Field in Mankato if the Ducks lost game two. The first three innings in game two were scoreless from both sides before the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Waldorf finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. Ben Hopper reached base on an error and Brent Fowler was hit by a pitch. Both plays took place with one out. The Ducks then struck out twice in the inning, but Jace Liebl recorded an RBI single to score Hopper in between the Ks.
Dylan Blount was the starting pitcher for the Ducks, pitching 7.2 innings. The only inning that the Ducks gave up runs was in the fourth. Kaylor Chamberlain and Hunter Pearce pitched in relief, both giving up no runs.
The Wood Ducks gave Blount and their defense more run support in the top of the eighth, tying the game at three. Kayden Rux singled and Danny McCabe walked to start the inning and both runners went onto score later on. Rux scored on an RBI single by Hopper while McCabe scored on a wild pitch.
The Ducks once again saw success at the plate in the top of the ninth. They threatened to take the lead for the first time in the contest, as Jaidan Rollings walked and Taylor Schumacher hit a double to put runners on second and third base with just one out. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the half-inning though to keep the game tied.
The Tigers went down one-two-three in their half of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Waldorf loaded the bases with one out in the top of the tenth and were able to capitalize on the scoring opportunity. Chase Gerdts doubled, Hopper walked, and Fowler singled before Rollings hit a sacrifice fly that scored Gerdts. Liebl then hit an single and Hopper was then able to score on an error by the Tigers.
Now down 5-3, the Tigers had one last chance to respond to Waldorf’s late offensive resurgence in the game. They got two runners on via walks, but Pearce got the job done for the Ducks and had them advance to the next round of the playoffs. The Ducks won 5-3 despite being outhit 9-8 and swept the Tigers in the series 2-0. Both teams recorded two errors in game two.
Liebl led the way on offense for the Wood Ducks with two hits and was one of three Ducks (along with Hopper and Rollings) to record an RBI. Hopper led the team in runs scored with two.
The other two series in the opening round of the Region 12C playoffs only lasted two games, with No. 2 St. Peter beating No. 7 Lake Crystal and the No. 4 Veseli Warriors beating the No. 5 Gaylord Islanders. The Warriors will now face New Prague and the Wood Ducks will face St. Peter in the next round.
The four remaining teams will resume Region playoff action on Sunday, with game two taking place on Tuesday and game three taking place on Thursday if needed. The winners of each series will clinch a spot at state and then play in the Region championship game on Saturday, Aug. 15. Waldorf will travel to St. Peter on Sunday afternoon before playing in what might be their final game in Janesville on Tuesday night.
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