Morries survive rally from Cleveland and advance in 13/60 playoffs

Facing elimination in the 13/60 playoff bracket, the Morristown Morries and Cleveland Spiders traveled to Faribault’s Bell Field for the play-in round. After trailing by three runs for much of the night, Cleveland put-together a four-run rally in the seventh to take a lead, but the Morries bunkered down and retook the lead in bottom of the seventh, holding on to win 6-5.

With the victory, Morristown will advance to face top seeded Eagle Lake Saturday, July 20, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at Eagle Lake. Cleveland, meanwhile, sees its season come to a close for the summer.

Sparks flew early as the Spiders’ Carter Dylla hit a leadoff single to left before Charlie Haugen lifted a popup into shallow centerfield that ended up being hauled in by a diving Morristown outfielder. The Morries then shut down the inning with a 1-6-3 double play after Brent Vollbrecht scooped up a ground ball on the mound to get the action started.

In the bottom of the first, Ben Lamont hit an infield single towards third base and Bryan Lamont reached by drawing a walk. After a strikeout and pop out to left field left Morristown with just one out remaining, Dylan Tomlinson ripped an RBI single to left field. In the next at-bat, Landon Harmon crushed a two-run double into the right centerfield gap, giving the Morries a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the second inning, Cleveland’s Parker Baron reached on a fielding error, but a flyout and fielder’s choice left the Spiders with a runner at first and two outs. Max Brown blasted a double down the left field line though and in the next at-bat, Adam Fredrickson pushed an RBI single into left field to cut the deficit to two runs.

A leadoff walk for Doug Harmon in the bottom of the fourth inning ultimately resulted in the Morries adding a run on a wild pitch, pushing their lead back up to 4-1. In the bottom of the sixth, a one-out walk was erased by relief pitcher Kaeden Guida who made a quick move to first to pick off the Morristown runner before getting out of the inning with a fly ball out to centerfield.

The top of the seventh inning started without any fanfare for Cleveland with groundouts to third and second base, but Carter Dylla got his team rolling and pumped up with a double to the right field fence. The Spiders continued to put the pressure on when Haugen crushed an RBI double to left field and he was immediately brought home when Guida ripped a single down the left field line.

After a fielding error at the hot corner and a walk drawn by Jake Moelter to load the bases, Gabe Holland, who started the game pitching before shifting to second base, was re-entered into the game and paid the move off with a two-run single into right field that gave the Spiders a 5-4 lead, their first of the night.

Morristown, now facing its first deficit, saw Bryan Lamont draw a one-out walk followed by a Bradley Van Deinse single to right. A line out to left field left the Morries with just one out in the inning, but Dylan Tomlinson reached safely on a slow roller to shortstop. Landon Harmon , with bases loaded and two outs, came up huge with a two-run single that lofted into open space in right field, allowing the Morries to take a 6-5 lead.

In the top of the eighth, Arlen Nett of the Spiders hit a leadoff single to left followed by a single up the middle from Dylla that was mishandled, allowing Cleveland to put runners at second and third with just one out. Haugen hit a fly ball deep to centerfield that was hauled in, and Nett tagged up, but the Morries center fielder made a perfect throw to home for the putout to get out of the jam.

Tate Harmon took to the mound, seeking to earn the save, but a leadoff single from Guida as he beat out the throw to first put the game back on edge. With Matt Seamrow stepping to the plate for Cleveland, Guida attempted to steal second but a great throw from behind the plate caught him at second for the out. A groundout to second was followed by a Jake Moelter walk, but any hope of a Cleveland rally was shut down with a strikeout, securing the continuation of the season for the Morries.