Young Titans sweep Turtle Lake tourney
Submitted by
GARY ERICKSON
The Titans Little League team came into the Turtle Lake tournament with a 2-2 record in their last four games. Not bad, but likely not good enough to win a tournament.
In the first game against Washburn, the Titans started slowly, scratching out single runs in the first three innings but looking anything but sharp. As it has for most of the season, pitching kept them in the game, holding the Cardinals scoreless through three innings.
The Titans exploded in the 4th, putting up a dozen runs and the game was called on the mercy rule. Zach Seidler swung a big stick for the Titans, pounding a triple, single, and a solo home run while driving in 4 runs. Jack Bright tossed a 1-hitter, striking out eight and was effectively wild, walking four.
The second game featured a match-up with Velva and this was a pitcher’s duel as Bennet Kamp and the Aggie pitcher exchanged zeroes for three innings. The Titans got a couple breaks in the 4th inning, scoring three unearned runs made possible by a couple crucial errors.
Zach Seidler led off the inning with a stand-up triple and after a walk sandwiched inside two strikeouts, Clay Bendickson hit a roller to third that went right through the third baseman’s wickets, scoring two. After a couple more walks, another slow roller eluded the first baseman allowing Bendickson to score and the Titans had what appeared to be a big 3-run lead.
But Velva wasn’t done, putting together a lead off triple, single, and an RBI ground-out to cut the lead to 3-2. Kamp settled down and got the next hitter on a ground-out to third and retired the side on a punch- out, hanging onto the 3-2 win.
