PROCTOR—The Post 239 American Legion baseball team kept their season alive for just a bit longer Wednesday evening as they defeated Barnum-Moose Lake-Willow River 7-6 in a substate tournament elimination game in Proctor.
The come-from-behind win came just hours after Post 239 fell in their opener to top-seeded Duluth. Post 239 head coach Jamie Lindseth said after the game that it was one of the most exciting games he had seen from his squad all season.
“These kids played unbelievable,” Lindseth said. “We had guys playing at different spots in the field that they hadn’t played in a long time. They were just having fun but we put the ball in play, ran the bases well and were able to score the runs when we needed to. It was a great game to be a part of with a lot of energy.”
Tyler Reid was the winning pitcher for Post 239. Reid pitched the final inning of the team’s opening round loss to the Tropics and then went six full innings against BMW, finishing with 105 pitches on the day. Against BMW, Reid gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits and four walks.
Joey Aho pitched the final inning for Post 239, giving up just a lone hit.
“I don’t know the last time Tyler threw that many pitches in a day,” Lindseth said. “And then Joey came in and got the save. They were both just very efficient and our defense was able to make the plays behind them.”
With things tied at one after the first inning, BMW scored three in the third to take a 4-1 lead over Post 239. The visitors on the scoreboard responded with a four-run top of the fifth inning to retake the lead and Barnum stole the lead back with two more in the home half of the inning.
Post 239 tied the game and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth and held BMW scoreless over the final two innings to get the win.
At the plate, leadoff Hitter Owen Hallin was 3-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Harley Mott reached base three times off of walks and scored a run. Reid was 2-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Jaxson Lamppa was 1-3 with two runs scored.
“It was a fun game to be a part of after how the first game went and now we get to play another day. We were short-handed coming into today but we’re looking to get some reinforcements from some of the VFW guys that couldn’t make it.”
Next up for Post 239 was an elimination game with Hibbing at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Cloquet. Lindseth hopes the one win is enough of a spark for his team to possibly sneak in another win against their familiar foe.
“I think we’re keeping everything in perspective. Yeah, we lost the first game but we weren’t giving up. We needed a second game to get going. Guys were chirping like crazy. Everyone contributed and played their part and had fun. They made the best of it and we stayed alive because of it so hopefully we can keep that attitude up Thursday.”
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