Legion Post 77 wins postseason matchup against Byron

It took just a day for the Owatonna American Legion Post 77 baseball team to rebound after their loss against Albert Lea on Sunday night as it took on Byron in an elimination game Monday night.

After being down 3-2 in the third inning, Owatonna scored four runs in the inning to take a 6-3 lead and kept the lead throughout the game as they beat Byron 8-4.

Owatonna took the lead right away in the first inning as they scored one run in the first. Byron quickly tied the game up in the top of the second, but Owatonna’s Will Radel, who singled to start the bottom of the second, scored on a wild pitch to give Owatonna a 2-1 lead.

Byron went on a two-out rally to put runs on the board in the top of the third after Owatonna’s pitcher Mitch Seykora secured two quick outs on fly balls. A single with the bases loaded scored two runs, giving Byron a 3-2 lead.

The lead turned out to be Byron’s only one of the game as Owatonna answered back quickly. Seykora hit a leadoff double and after a wild pitch in Tayte Berg’s at-bat that advanced him to third, he scored off of a single by Berg to tie the game. Connor Wiese singled which put runners on first and second. A wild pitch in Will Radel’s at-bat allowed the runners to advance to second and third with one out.

A groundout to the pitcher got Berg out at home plate for a fielder’s choice, but Zac Haarstad hit a triple to score the two runs on base to give Owatonna a 5-2 lead. Haarstad then scored off of a single by Hunter Theis to give Owatonna a four-run advantage over Byron.

In the top of the fourth, Byron hit a two-out double, but Seykora struck out the next batter to get out of the inning.

After a scoreless fourth and fifth inning for both teams, Byron cut Owatonna’s lead to two in the top of the sixth after scoring off of a single. Owatonna scored two runs in their half of the sixth off of a single by Will Radel, scoring Berg and Wiese.

Tanner Smith, who came in for relief for Seykora in the sixth inning, gave up a single to Byron’s leadoff batter in the top of the seventh, but a double play in the next at-bat quickly had Byron down to their last out. A flyout to center fielder Blake Davison ended the game as Owatonna won 8-4 and will stay alive in the playoffs.

Owatonna’s defense played a great game, having no errors while Byron had three. Owatonna is set to play Winona on the road on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.