Holdingford
Locked in a scoreless tie with the fourth-seeded Holdingford Huskers heading into the fifth inning, the 13th-seeded Kimball Area Cubs broke that tie in a big way with a five-run fifth. The Cubs held on to this lead for the eventual 6-2 road playoff win in the opening round of the Section 6AA Baseball Tournament on May 27.
The only lower-seeded team to win its opening game, the Cubs advanced to the double elimination portion of the tournament.
In that fifth-inning, the first two Cubs batters struck out before the next seven reached base. The team recorded four hits and reached on three walks, one intentional, in the inning. Brandon Henkemeyer hit a two-run single to break the scoreless deadlock, Gavin Mesenbrink followed with an RBI single and Andray Stang capped the scoring with a two-run single. The inning ended with an out on the bases, but the Cubs had a 5-0 lead.
A two-run, two-out Huskers double in the bottom of the inning cut the Cubs lead to three, at 5-2.
That’s the closest the Huskers got the rest of the way. The Cubs answered with a run in the sixth on a Gavin Mesenbrink RBI sacrifice fly to right, providing for the final margin.
The Huskers put runners at first and third with no outs in the seventh. After Cubs’ starting pitcher Henkemeyer forced a lineout to shortstop for the first out of the inning, Cubs relief pitcher Bryant Knaus forced a fly out to right and struck out the final batter looking to secure the upset victory.
Offensively, the Cubs posted eight hits. Henkemeyer finished two-for-four with two RBI and Tate Winter two-for-two to pace the Cubs.
Henkemeyer earned the pitching win, giving up two runs on eight hits and three walks, and striking out seven over six and one-third innings.
Albany
Advancing to the final eight, double-elimination portion of the section tournament, the Cubs were locked in a 2-2 tie with the fifth-seeded Albany Huskies. The Huskies broke that tie with a three-run fifth inning and added on two more in the sixth, sending the Cubs to a 7-2 loss from Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud on May 28.
Early on, the Cubs fell into a 2-0 deficit thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles in the first inning. The team rallied back with a Noah Merten RBI groundout in the second inning and an unearned run in the third, tying the game at 2-2.
In that three-run Huskies’ fifth inning, the first run came in on an RBI sacrifice fly to center. The Huskies followed with two straight two-out hits, one an RBI double and the next an RBI single, putting the Cubs in a 5-2 deficit.
The Huskies added on behind a pair of unearned runs in the sixth to provide for the final margin.
Offensively, the Cubs posted six hits. Mason Danelke led the Cubs, going two-for-four.
Merten earned the pitching loss for the Cubs, giving up seven runs, five earned, on five hits, five walks and one hit batter, and striking out four over five and two-thirds innings.