By Jean Doran Matua, Editor
The Watertown Red Devils had just defeated the Milroy Yankees, 10-0, at game time Sunday afternoon, Sept. 5, for the semifinal match-up. The Red Devils had three other wins under their belts in the tournament: 4-3 over Eagle Lake Expos, 8-1 over Avon Lakers, and 7-3 over Midway Snurdbirds.
Earlier in the day Sunday, the Watkins Clippers had defeated the St. Patrick Irish, 2-0.
The Red Devils jumped right in, scoring early in the first inning. Three more runs in the third would have been enough to win the game, but another 2 runs in the sixth sealed the deal.
The Clippers lagged behind the whole game. They scored 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and another in the bottom of the eighth, but it was not enough to catch up to the Red Devils who won, 6-3, to advance to the championship game on Monday.
The Sobieski Skis defeated Watertown Monday afternoon, 3-0 in 11 innings, to become 2021 State Champion.
All 8 of the Clippers’ hits were singles; Brendan Ashton and Nolan Geislinger each hit a pair.
Isaac Benesch (draftee from the St. Joseph Joes) is tagged with the loss. In his 2.1 innings on the mound, he struck out 2 and walked 1. Matt Geislinger finished the game, striking out 7.
Holt Hunziker earned the win for the Red Devils. He pitched 6.1 innings, striking out 3 and walking 1. Jonah Lewis pitched 2.2 innings, striking out 3.
Jake Anderly hit a triple and a single for the Red Devils. Ben Smith hit a double and two singles.
The Watkins Clippers had a first-game bye, entering the state tournament as Region 11C champions. They shut out the Princeton Panthers, 5-0. They shut out the St. Martin Martins in a no–hitter game, 3-0. They shut out the St. Patrick Irish, 2-0 in the Sweet Sixteen, earning them a spot in the Final Four.
Team manager Matt Geislinger took the mound for most of the Clippers’ time in the state tournament. He threw a total of 365 pitches in their four games of the 2021 tournament, and he earned Player of the Game against St. Patrick, and Co-Player of the Game (with Nolan Geislinger) against Princeton.
WATERTOWN AB R H BI
TOTALS 38 6 13 5
WATKINS AB R H BI
Nolan Geislinger 5 1 2 0
Lincoln Haugen 4 2 1 0
Kevin Kramer 3 0 1 1
Dan Berg 3 0 1 1
Brendan Ashton 4 0 2 0
Justin Tompson 4 0 1 0
Carter Block 3 0 0 0
Heath Kramer 1 0 0 0
Carson Geislinger 3 0 0 0
Matt Geislinger 4 0 0 0
Isaac Benesch – – – –
TOTALS 34 3 8 2
Red Devils 1 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 13 2
Clippers 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 8 1
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