By Jean Doran Matua, Editor
Express edge the Muskies for #1 seed going into state tournament
Kimball scored first in the Sunday match-up with Sartell, Aug. 12, but the Muskies immediately answered with two runs including a home run by Jake Sweeter that also plated Tim Burns. After back-to-back home runs by Scott Marquardt and Jordan Joseph, Kimball was up 3-2 in the third. It was 3-3 in the fifth until the Muskies scored 2 in the seventh. Kimball scored 2 in the eighth with a 5-5 score going into the ninth. Ben Johnson’s single in the ninth bumped Adam Beyer home for the win.
Ben Johnson earned the win for Kimball, pitching the final two innings after Zak Wallner. Adam Wenker was tagged with the loss in the final inning after following John Schumer and Max Koprak and the mound.
KIMBALL AB R H BI
Austin Ruehle 5 1 1 0
Scott Marquardt 4 1 3 1
Jordan Joseph 4 1 1 1
Adam Beyer 5 1 1 0
Ben Johnson 5 1 2 1
Brian Marquardt 4 1 0 0
Joey Von Wahlde 3 0 1 1
Kyle Winter 4 0 0 1
Brooks Marquardt 4 0 0 0
TOTALS 38 6 9 5
SARTELL AB R H BI
TOTALS 35 5 9 5
R H E
Express 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 9 1
Muskies 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 9 4
Express blast the Brewers, 15-6
Friday night, Aug. 9, the Kimball Express and Luxemburg Brewers faced off in the continued Region 11C tournament in Watkins. When it was over, the Express had 15 runs on 16 hits and the Brewers only 6.
Zach Dingmann earned the win for the Express pitching five innings with Matt Dingmann and Zak Wallner in relief. Austin Klaverkamp took the loss.
For the Express, Ben Johnson hit 5 RBI, Adam Beyer 3 and Kyle Winter 2. Austin Ruehle and Scott Marquardt each crossed the plate three times; Jordan Joseph, Ben Johnson, and Brooks Marquardt twice.
For the Brewers, Reed Pfannenstein hit a homerun to start the second inning; that was his only hit. Derrik Orth hit a triple, and Austin Klaverkamp hit a double and two singles.
KIMBALL AB R H BI
Austin Ruehle 5 3 3 1
Scott Marquardt 5 3 2 1
Jordan Joseph 4 2 1 0
Adam Beyer 3 0 2 3
Matt Dingmann 2 1 0 0
Ben Johnson 4 2 3 5
Brian Marquardt 4 0 0 0
Joey Von Wahlde 4 1 1 0
Troy Filzen 1 0 0 0
Kyle Winter 3 0 1 2
Zach Sufka 1 0 1 1
Brooks Marquardt 4 2 2 1
Brady Faber 1 0 0 0
Ben Theisen 0 1 0 0
TOTALS 41 15 16 14
LUXEMBURG AB R H BI
Chase Aleshire 5 0 2 0
Sam Iten 5 0 0 0
Logan Aleshire 3 2 1 0
Austin Klaverkamp 4 2 3 0
Isaak Matchinsky 3 1 2 1
Derrik Orth 2 0 1 3
Reed Pfannenstein 5 1 1 1
Luke Haren 4 0 0 0
Ethyn Fruth 4 0 0 1
TOTALS 35 6 10 6
R H E
Express 2 0 1 0 1 4 1 2 4 15 16 0
Brewers 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 6 10 4
Advancing to the state tournament from the Central Valley League and Sauk Valley League are Kimball #1, Sartell #2, Foley in #3 and Luxemburg #4. The 2018 state tournament begins next weekend and will be played in New Prague and Shakopee. As #1 seed in Region 11C, Kimball gets a bye for the first round of games. They first play at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, against either Crookston or Belle Plaine, in New Prague. Luxemburg will face Bluffton at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 19, in New Prague. The state championship game will be Labor Day, Sept. 3, in New Prague. Kimball Express are the defending state champs.