Waterville wins against Morris in state matchup, move on to face Red Wing

The Waterville Indians travelled Green Isle on Saturday to take on the Morris Eagles in the first round of the Minnesota Class C State Tournament.

The Indians won against the Minnesota Royals last weekend to clinch a spot in the state tournament and then defeated the St. Peter Saints to clinch the third seed for Region 6C. After a close battle in the first half of the ballgame, Waterville had a four-run six-inning which propelled them to an 8-1 win over Morris to have them advance to the next round.

The Indians started the game with a leadoff single by Bladyn Bartelt in the top of the first. Bartelt scored off of an double by Luke Sellner to give Waterville an early 1-0 lead over Morris.

The Eagles also had a leadoff single in the first inning followed by a walk right afterwards to have runners on first and second with no outs. But after two quick strikeouts and a fly out, Waterville’s starting pitcher Dallas McBroom got out of the inning.

McBroom had a fantastic outing, going over six innings and giving up only three hits and one run. The run came in the bottom of the fifth, but Waterville still had a 2-1 lead afterwards since Dalton Grose hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth.

The Indians opened the game up in the top of the sixth as they scored four runs in the inning. They tacked on another two runs in the eighth inning with Josh Cook and Luke Sellner both having RBI singles at the top of the order. The RBIs were Cook and Sellner’s second of the day.

After having two runners on with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, McBroom was relieved by Evan Furst. Furst was picked by the Indians in the free agent draft last week, as he was on the St. Clair Wood Ducks previously.

Furst had the bases loaded with two outs in the inning, but he got out of the inning as a fly out to right field ended the inning.

Furst pitched the next two innings, closing it out for the Indians as the Eagles were unable to score. The Indians won 8-1, outhitting the Ealges 10-4, with both teams committing one error.

Luke Sellner and Josh Cook both had two hits and two RBIs on the day, with both of Sellner’s hits being doubles. Grose was also a factor at the plate by hitting a home run and reaching base on a hit-by-pitch two times.

The Indians are set to travel to Belle Plaine on Saturday, Aug. 24 to take on the Red Wing Aces in the next round of the state tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.