Dassel-Cokato Baseball

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is far better news than anything I might wish to share with you.

The Dassel-Cokato Chargers Baseball Machine is headed to the State Tournament!

I'm stuck in Ukraine. So, I'll be cheering vicariously through blog-posts.

If you're able, cheer them on in person.

Casey.

(for those of you not in the know, Luke is my brother.)

==This is taken from the Dassel-Cokato Enterprise-Dispatch==

Dassel, MN -- The Chargers pleased the packed house of DC fans on Thursday night with a 9-4 win over the Willmar Cardinals, giving DC the Section 2AAA title and sending them on to their second state tournament ever (1983 was the only other one). The Chargers scored first in the 2nd inning to jump to a 3-0 lead. Dan Raisanen led off with a single, moved to 2nd on a balk, and moved to third on a Jimmy Janckila drag bunt. Willie Bayuk then doubled home Raisanen for the first run. After a Brendon Opsahl strikeout, DC tried to squeeze home Janckila from third. Batter Evan Abrahamson didn't get the bat on the ball, but the pitch got past the catcher and Janckila scored anyway. Abrahamson would strikeout, followed by Corey Bye walk. Kurt Salmen then hit a grounder that was thrown wildly to first by the third baseman and allowed Bayuk to score and make it 3-0. Willmar fought back in the top of the third. After 2 quick strikeouts, Jordan Smith hit a line drive homerun over the right-center wall to put Willmar on the board. Kyle Townswick would then be hit-by-a-pitch and Kurt Seehusen would single putting runners on 1st and 3rd. Mike Dunham then singled to score Townswick. After a Griffin Leitch walk to load the bases, Jason Scheffler singled to score Seehusen and Dunham and give Willmar a 4-3 lead. DC eventually tied it in the 5th. Luke Peterson reached on an error by the 2nd baseman, and moved to 2nd on another balk called on Lotthammer. After a passed ball put Peterson on third, Dan Raisanen hit a clutch 2-out single to tie it at 4. After a 1-2-3 top of the 6th by Zweibohmer, DC rallied for 5 runs in the bottom half. After a Willie Bayuk groundout, Brendon Opsahl was hit-by-a-pitch and Evan Abrahamson was walked. DC chose to pinch-hit Jake Hendrickson in Corey Bye's spot for the 2nd game in a row, and Jake delivered for the 2nd game in a row with a sharp single down the third base line that scored Opsahl, giving the Chargers a 5-4 lead. Kurt Salmen then walked to load the bases, and Luke Peterson drove the ball to deep right-center and cleared them for a 3-RBI double, giving DC an 8-4 lead. After a Bryce Benda strikeout, Dan Raisanen delivered another 2-out single to drive home Peterson to make it 9-4. Willie Bayuk pitched the 7th and the final out was a lazy pop up to Keaton Danielson to start the celebration. DC will now face Maple Grove in the first round of the state tournament on Thursday, 6/14 at 10:00am at Siebert Field on the U of M campus.

BOXSCORE

DC................................AB R H RBI

Kurt Salmen, LF............3-1-0-0 (walk)

Luke Peterson, DH..........4-2-1-3 (double)

Bryce Benda, C.............4-0-0-0

Dan Raisanen, 3B...........4-1-3-2

sub-Darrick Johnson, PR....0-0-0-0

Jimmy Janckila, SS.........3-1-1-0 (walk)

Willie Bayuk, 1B/P.........4-1-1-1 (double)

Brendon Opsahl, CF.........2-1-0-0 (HBP)

Evan Abrahamson, RF........2-1-0-0 (walk)

Corey Bye, 2B..............1-1-0-0 (walk)

sub-Jake Hendrickson, PH...1-0-1-1

Tyler Zweibohmer, P........0-0-0-0 (DHed for)

sub-Keaton Danielson, 1B...0-0-0-0

TOTALS....................28-9-7-7

PITCHING

Tyler Zweibohmer, W (7-2)....6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, 1 HR, 1 HBP

Willie Bayuk.................1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BBs, 0 Ks

WILLMAR..........AB R H RBI

Jordan Smith, 3B......4-1-3-1 (HR, SB)

Kyle Townswick, 2B....1-1-1-0 (2-walks, HBP)

Matt Seehusen, RF.....4-1-1-0 (SB)

Mike Dunham, SS.......4-1-2-1 (SB)

Griffin Leitch, LF....1-0-0-0 (walk, sac bunt)

Jason Scheffler, 1B...3-0-1-2

Justin Schwieger, C...3-0-0-0

Travis Hanson, DH.....3-0-0-0

Scott Boros, CF.......3-0-0-0

Alex Lotthammer, P....0-0-0-0 (DHed for)

TOTALS...............26-4-8-4

PITCHING

Alex Lotthammer, L...5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 4 BBs, 8 Ks, 2 BLKs, 2 WPs, 1 HBP

Alex Malmgren..........2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BBs, 2 Ks

NEXT GAME: DC vs. Maple Grove, 10:00am, @ Siebert Field on the U of M campus, Thursday, 6/14.