Legion Post 77 falls to Albert Lea in first game of postseason

Playoff baseball started this weekend for Owatonna as the American Legion Post 77 club faced off against Albert Lea on Sunday night.

Out of the 10teams in Owatonna’s section, eight were eligible for the playoffs. Owatonna was the fourth-ranked team in the regular season so they got to host the Sunday game versus Albert Lea at home, but ended up falling to Albert Lea 11-5.

Both teams scored in the first inning, as Albert Lea plated two runs in the top half while Owatonna scored one in the bottom half. Albert Lea added on to their lead in the second inning, scoring three runs to go ahead 5-1.

Owatonna’s offense had a scoreless second inning and both teams were unable to score in the third. Owatonna had a chance to put some points on the board in the third with two singles with no outs to start the inning, but Albert Lea struck out the next three batters. Owatonna once again had two runners on with no outs in the fourth, but were unable to score in the inning.

Albert Lea scored three runs to take a commanding 8-1 lead in the fifth, but Owatonna scored three to cut Albert Lea’s lead down to five.

After a scoreless top of the sixth, Owatonna had a two-out rally in the bottom half of the inning. A triple by Mitch Seykora scored a run and Seykora was able to score in Tayte Berg’s at-bat due to a wild pitch. Owatonna entered the seventh-inning trailing by three to Albert Lea.

Walks and errors allowed for Albert Lea to put runners on the bases and score a run in the seventh. A single with two outs by Albert Lea scored two runners to have them take a 11-5 lead over Owatonna.

Blake Davison, Isaiah Farwell, and Hunter Theis all got on base for Owatonna int he bottom of the seventh to load the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended Owatonna’s hopes of a comeback as they lost to Albert Lea 11-5.

Connor Wiese got the start for Owatonna, going four innings while Tayte Berg relieved him and pitched the rest of the game. Errors were a huge factor for Owatonna, as they committed six of them while Albert Lea only had two of their own.

Owatonna is set to play Austin at home on Monday night at 5:00 p.m. in an elimination game against Byron.