Sartell Post 277 bows out of Legion baseball tourney in group play

DELANO – Sartell Post 277’s Legion baseball season ended in group play in the state tournament earlier this month. It was the last local team playing after others were eliminated in sub-state tournaments.

Making its third-straight state appearance out of Sub-State 11, Sartell went 1-2 in pool play at Delano Municipal Stadium. Pierz Post 341, which beat Sartell in the Sub-State 11 championship, went 0-3. Post 277's only win came Aug. 2 against Hastings Post 47 in between losses to Forest Lake Post 225 on Aug. 1 and Mankato Post 11 National on Aug. 2.

Mankato National went 3-0 in the pool and beat Forest Lake in the third-place game Aug. 4. Osseo Post 172, which beat Mankato National in the semifinal, lost to Farmington Post 189 in the championship.

Sartell had some impressive individual performances, especially in its 7-2 win over Hastings, but Post 277 was also shut out by Forest Lake 5-0 and by Mankato National 4-0. The team logged 22 strikeouts on the trip, including 14 against Post 11 National.

Will Thompson got the win against Hastings, dicing up 14 strikeouts before getting into trouble in the sixth inning. He gave up just one hit in 5 1/3 innings – a double to lead off the game. Thompson proceeded to get a fly out and five straight Ks, retiring 16  batters in a row before walking the second guy he faced in the sixth. He got one more strikeout but walked the bases loaded and got pulled in favor of Jakson Scheffler. One run scored on a single – Thompson was credited with it and an unearned run scored on a first-inning error.

Most of Thompson’s work was trailing Post 47 1-0, or tied after Sartell scored in the third. Post 277 hitters came alive in the fifth, hitting five singles in between two hit by-pitches and an error. Cayden Behrman and first baseman Carter Stutsman had RBI in the inning and two in the game. Second baseman Brady Thompson, designated hitter Gavin O’Connell and left fielder Levi Frieler also hit RBI singles in the sixth.

Sartell had nine total hits in the game, including three from Brady Thompson, two from Stutsman and one from Behrman, Stutsman, Frieler and third baseman Brayden Simones.

Neither hits or runs came easily in the games previous and prior.

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Behrman and second baseman Jameson Kremer were the only players to log hits against Mankato National in the last game of the year, singles in the first and sixth innings. Behrman also recorded two strikeouts as did Stutsman, Simones, catcher Austin Lahr and pitcher Wesley Johnson.

One of the runs scored by Mankato National came in the top of the fourth when Johnson made an error after giving up a double to start the inning. Johnson gave up a double to the next batter to make the score 3-0 before locking in and getting two groundouts and a strikeout to dispatch the next hitters.

Usually a leader for Sartell, Johnson actually went hitless in eight at-bats at state. His only time on base were two walks against Forest Lake.

But for the loss, his pitching performance against Mankato National wasn’t atrocious. Johnson went the complete game, giving up two earned runs on six hits and zero walks. He had four strikeouts in the 4-0 loss.

Isaac Schroers pitched all six innings against Post 225. He also didn’t have any offensive support – a single from Stutsman in the second inning and seven unproductive walks. Schroers gave up six hits and three earned runs during the loss to Forest Lake, striking out three and walking two.

Aside from the single and Johnson’s two walks, Sartell did draw five more base-on-balls, but Behrman struck out three times and five of his teammates struck out once.

Thanks to walks by Lahr, Frieler, Johnson, O’Connell and right fielder Brenden Boesen, Sartell had a runner in scoring position via walk in the third and fourth innings, but the team failed to bring the runners closer than second.

Over the whole tournament, Brady Thompson got the most hits for Sartell – going 3-10. Stutsman was 2-9 with two RBI.

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Sartell Post 277 bows out of Legion baseball tourney in group play