The Express traveled south this past weekend to partake in the Miller Lite Invitational in Green Isle and Arlington. The tournament is one of the best in the state and has many of the top Class C teams participating. Kimball won game one against the Fairfax Cardinals Saturday morning and dropped game two Saturday afternoon against the St. Cloud Orthopedic Ice, eliminating them from play. In the first round in Arlington against Fairfax the Express trailed 1-0 after the third inning when the Cardinals put a run on the board. The score stayed that way until the sixth when the Express tied it up on a Joe Pennertz single scoring Brooks Marquardt who reached base via a walk. In the top of the seventh inning the fireworks began with the Express erupting for five runs. Highlighted by a Jim Brubaker single to score the go ahead run and Nate Turck driving in two runs on a single that eventually turned out to be the game winning hit. The Cardinals added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to make the final 6-2. Justin Hill (2-1) started on the mound and went all seven innings. All games in the tourney were seven inning games. Hill struck out three and allowed only four hits as he picked up his second win of the season and propelled the Express into round two to face the Orthopedic Ice from St. Cloud. All the runs in the second game of the day, in Green Isle, against the Ice were recorded in the third inning. Kimball jumped out in front first, in the top of the third as Brooks Marquardt scored on a wild pitch, and back to back hits as Mike Arnold doubled and Aaron Knaus singled scoring two runs and making it 3-0. That lead was short-lived however, as the Ice hit some frozen ropes in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead and did not look back. The Ice strung four consecutive hits together off Express starter Pat Arnold with the big blow coming off the bat of shortstop Andy Auger as he belted a three-run homer over the right centerfield fence to tie the game. The Ice kept it rolling scoring three more runs after that with another big hit coming from second baseman Jon Williams as he hit a two-run single to make the score 6-3. That is the way the score stayed the rest of the game as the Express left nine runners on base and were thrown out at the plate once. It ended the Express hopes of taking the prestigious tourney title. Pat Arnold started for the Express and went six innings, pitching the complete game. It was his first loss of the season dropping his overall record to 4-1 on the year. Rail Report Other area teams playing in the Miller Lite Invitational were Watkins and Litchfield. Watkins made it to the championship game before falling to the Green Isle Irish. It was a battle of former Class C state champs. Green Isle won it all in 2003 and the Clippers took the title in 2001. Litchfield made it as far as round two before they were ousted. The week for Express baseball is shaping up like this: Wednesday evening they will travel to Eden Valley to play New London. The game will start at 7:30. This will be an exhibition game and the first time the two teams have ever faced each other. Saturday afternoon the Express rumbles into Marty to take on the Peal Lake Lakers in Central Valley League action. Game time is 2:00 for this one. The Express overall record stands at 9-4 and they are 7-1 in CVL play.
