All season long the Isanti Redbirds have been winning Town Ball games with sound pitching and tight defense.
But both of those elements eluded them at the Class C state tournament, where they dropped an 8-1 decision to Courtland at Tiger Park in Belle Plaine on Sunday, August 25.
The Redbirds committed a whopping seven errors and surrendered 13 hits, which was more than an offense that collected just four hits could overcome.
“They didn’t really see our best performance,” Isanti manager Steve Allen. “We won all season with pitching and defense. …
“We kept saying, ‘If we just could get something to start the fire.’ But we just couldn’t find any kindling to get something going.”
Four Isanti errors dropped the Redbirds into a 2-0 hole after just two innings, and the Cubs collected three hits that pushed home two more runs in the fourth before Courtland’s Teddy Giefer slammed a two-run homer in the sixth.
Another error by the Redbirds led to two more runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Isanti did have baserunners, managing at least one baserunner in every inning but the fifth. But the Redbirds only managed to score in the seventh, when two walks and a single loaded the bases with one out and Jake Rantz hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Brent Tholen.
The Redbirds had not played since winning the Region 1 tournament at Hinckley on Friday, Aug. 9; meanwhile Courtland had played its opening tournament game the previous weekend, knocking off Richmond to advance to face Isanti.
“We practiced and worked out, and we had good workouts,” Allen said. “We had live batting practice.
“It seemed like we were waiting forever, and they had to play their way into this game. I wouldn’t use that as an excuse, though.”
He also refused to use the excuse that a number of his players were taking part in the state tournament for the first time.
“That’s probably the best thing we can take from this game — our guys now have played in the state tournament,” Allen said. “And they can also take away how hard they had to play just to get here.
“That was no easy task. It’s not easy getting to the dance, and when you get here, everyone is good.”
Instead he gave the Cubs credit for playing the well-pitched, well-defended game his club normally plays.
“We have to tip our caps to Courtland — they played really, really well,” Allen said. “They executed well, a couple of their big hitters got big hits.
“Once they jumped on us, they didn’t let up.”
Allen said he was happy to be able to use all three of the draftee pitchers — Isaiah Brennan and Ben Sickler of Hinckley, along with Derek Graves of Mora — his team brought to the game.
“They were great additions to our team,” Allen said. “That’s one of the great things about the state tournament: Getting to add players from other teams [to bolster pitching]. You get to learn about them as players and as people.
“But then I told them, ‘Your have to forget our signs 10 minutes after the game.’”
That was one of the few laughs the Redbirds managed on Sunday. But the loss also is nothing more than a disappointing ending to a fine 18-5 season.
“We all knew we didn’t play well,” Allen said. “But I also told the players they should not forget what they accomplished this year. And nobody can take that away from them.
“We were juggling lineups and moving guys around all season, trying to piece it together. The engine was running on all cylinders until this game — and then we threw a rod.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0