With eyes from all over the State of Minnesota setting their sights on the city of Le Sueur, the local communities gathered to put on a show Wednesday night for the Fox 9 Town Ball Tour. With the Le Sueur-Henderson Senior Legion team leading off the on-field action and the Braves closing out the night, the action on the field matched the atmosphere of the event, with both squads earning exciting 2-1 victories.
While the legion team was playing, several members involved with the baseball community were interviewed by members of the Fox 9 Team including public address announcer Dylan Feeney as well as 2024 Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Lon Berberich.
LS-H built itself an early 2-0 lead which it took into the seventh and final inning where Luke Miller entered the game seeking the save. Despite allowing one run in the seventh, Miller closed out the game, securing the 2-1 victory for LS-H as the summer season continued to wind to a close.
Once the legion game was concluded, dozens of people involved with the baseball team and community descended on Bruce Frank field to make preparations for the town ball game between the Braves and the Gaylord Islanders. After a ceremony celebrating the 2024 LS-H State Tournament team as well as Berberich’s HOF induction, both the Braves and Islanders lined up along the baselines while Lauren Krause performed the National Anthem with members of the American Legion and VFW providing the colors.
Once the Anthem was completed, action got underway on the diamond as the sun began to descend to the trees in left centerfield. The Braves got an immediate boost when Tristin O’Brien crushed a leadoff double that one hopped to the fence for what would prove to be the only extra-base hit of the night in what would become a pitchers’ duel.
After being pushed to third on a fielders’ choice, O’Brien crossed home plate when Cole Pengilly looped an RBI single into shallow left field. With Nathan Gregersen starting on the mound, things never came easy for Gaylord but in the top of the fourth inning, they managed to tie the game with a similarly placed looping RBI single to left with one out that scored a runner from second.
Gregersen would pitch through the sixth inning without giving up any additional runs, and Jordan Sinell took over in the seventh for the Braves. Sinell put down the Islander batters in order to keep the game tied 1-1 going into the eighth where Cayden Luna took over the pitching duties. After allowing two baserunners to reach with two outs, Luna got the next hitter to strike out, sending the game to the bottom of the eighth.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Ethan Hathaway pinch hit for the Braves and he reached on a bloop single, marking the first hit for the team since the first inning. Hathaway ended up stranded at first though and Cole Pengilly then took to the mound for the Braves aiming to keep the game tied in the ninth.
Pengilly saw a single baserunner reach safely on an infield single, but otherwise no damage was done and Le Sueur found themselves with the chance to walk off the game to close out the long day of activities. Looking to another one of the recent state tournament team players, the Braves pinch hit Logan Feeney in the leadoff spot and he rewarded the choice with a single straight up the middle past a diving second baseman.
A wild pitch during the next at-bat allowed Feeney to advance to second uncontested and with a 1-1 count, Brandon Culbert put down a gorgeous bunt along the third base line. The Gaylord pitcher ran to the ball and attempted to get the out at first, but the ball, which was late to the bag anyway, sailed high and allowed Feeney to round third and cruise to home, securing the walk off 2-1 victory in front of the home crowd.
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