The atmosphere at Belle Plaine’s Tiger Park was nothing short of electric Sunday evening when the Le Sueur Braves took the field in the MBA State tournament for the first time in two decades as they faced off against the Madison Mallards.
In a game with many twists and turns, it was the consistency of shortstop Cole Pengilly, who went a perfect 4-4 at the plate while drawing a walk in his fifth at-bat, that powered the Braves to their first state tournament victory since the 1998 season.
In 1998, the Braves defeated the Pierz Bulldogs 5-4 in the first round of the tournament before eventually falling to Montgomery in the second round.
Logan Feeney got the start on the mound for Le Sueur and came out of the gate throwing heat as he struck out four of the first six batters while getting the other two outs on grounders to shortstop. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Bryce Novak got things rolling with a single down the left field line before being pushed to second on a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Pengilly.
Cole Pengilly then got his first hit of the night with a single to left field before he stole second and forced an overthrow on the pickoff attempt, allowing Novak to score the first run of the night. In the bottom of the second inning, the Braves offense kept up the pressure with a leadoff single from Burke Nesbit and a sac bunt from Feeney that moved him to scoring position.
In a bizarre play, Charlie Weick ripped a hit back to the pitcher that bounced off their lower leg and caused the Mallards to lose track of the ball. When the pitcher did gather themselves to make the throw, it was off the mark to first which allowed Nesbit to score and Weick to move to second base.
Novak returned to the plate and hit a single to left field and the Braves challenged the arm of the outfielder by sending Weick home, but the throw was on the mark and Le Sueur had to settle for the 2-0 lead. The Mallards got their first hit in the top of the third with a single up the middle followed by a walk, but the Braves defense was on point with a pop out to first followed by a shallow fly ball to centerfield that forced the runners at first and second to delay their runs, resulting in a 6-4-5 double play to end the inning.
Le Sueur added a third run in the bottom of the third when C. Pengilly blasted a ball to right field that was slightly mishandled, allowing him to break all the way to third ahead of any throw. He was then brought home on an RBI single to right from DH Peyton Tellijohn.
It would be the top of the fourth inning where Madison would finally put a dent in the Braves game, sending a leadoff single to right before a hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases. Another walk brought the first run of the game across home plate for the Mallards before a single to right field brought two more runs across the plate, tying the game at 3-3.
Le Sueur failed to score any runs of their own for the first time in the bottom of the fourth inning and a leadoff single in the top of the fifth inning saw the Braves make a pitching change as Ethan Hoffman relieved Feeney who moved to right field. Hoffman got out of the inning with a pair of infield groundouts and a strikeout, leaving a runner stranded.
With the game tied 3-3 and the momentum clearly in favor of Madison after they erased the Braves lead, it would be C. Pengilly who would put the team on his shoulders when he blasted a sole homerun over the tall right field fence. Tellijohn would follow the homer with a single to right field and Cayden Luna entered the game to pinch run for him.
After Mitch Casperson drew a walk, Nesbit hit a ground ball to shortstop and the Mallards made the throw to second for a force-out, but threw the ball over the head of the first baseman as they attempted the double play, allowing Luna to score and putting the Braves up 5-3.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Le Sueur would face a new Madison pitcher in the bottom of the seventh and C. Pengilly drew a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball. He was eventually brought home on a sac fly RBI from Tellijohn which gave the Braves a 6-3 lead.
In the top of the eighth inning, Hoffman ran into trouble with a hit by pitch and walk, which caused Le Sueur to go to the bullpen, calling on the draftee out of Belle Plaine, Derek Dahlke. There were some initial growing pains for Dahlke with battery mate Weick behind the plate as a pair of pitches got away and allowed a run to score, but the Braves limited the damage to just the one run with a groundout to third and a pop out to centerfield.
Any hope for the Mallards of a late rally came to a crashing halt in the bottom of the eighth inning when the Braves added four runs with Feeney driving in one on a single to left, Novak bringing home another with an RBI double to right field, and two more scoring on a wild pitch and a throwing error.
In the top of the ninth, a leadoff walk resulted in a double-play opportunity on a grounder to short, but the throw to first was not in time, however, the defense got another chance at one with a sharp grounder to shortstop being snagged quickly for the 6-4-3 game ending double play.
Hoffman earned the win as the pitcher of record while Dahlke earned the 1.2 inning save.
The Braves now prepare to face their toughest challenge yet when they travel to Green Isle’s Irish Yard Sunday, Aug. 25, to face off against the Bird Island Bullfrogs, the top seeded team out of section four as well as a seasoned state tournament squad that has made it to state the last six seasons. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. with the winning team returning to Belle Plaine Friday, Aug. 30.
BOX SCORE Team — innings | runs hits errors Madison Mallards — 000 300 010 | 4 5 6 Le Sueur Braves — 111 020 14X | 10 14 1 2ffffe3b-845a-4478-a92a-149ac958f557
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