Amateur baseball roundup: Willmar Rails pitcher beats the Raymond Rockets

Jun. 20—WILLMAR — The heat was truly oppressive, 98 degrees by the ninth inning.

"I was dying after the fourth inning," said Willmar Rails right-hander Christian Lessman, who nonetheless survived for another five innings.

Lessman got the complete-game victory for the Rails in a 3-2 Corn Belt League win over the Raymond Rockets at Bill Taunton Stadium.

"I just know they're one of our rivals," said Lessman, who struck out 11 and walked two, allowing six hits and one earned run. "I was definitely feeling it the last two innings."Lessman, a 2020 New London-Spicer graduate, had a no-hitter through 6-2/3 innings when Isaac Call poked an opposite-field single to right in the seventh. John Sawatzky lined a solid line drive to left before Lessman got the final out.

He gave up an unearned run in the eighth off an RBI, bloop single to right by Eli Nelson, then gave up three solid hits in the ninth, a double by Mike Jeseritz, another single by Sawatzky and a single by Caleb Ditmarson.

He got Wylee Lottman on a swinging third strike for the final out.

"(Rails pitcher) Pat Courtney was talking about what we should do and I decided that I have that confidence in him (Lessman) in the ninth," Rails manager Dustin Overcash said.

Lessman said his last nine-inning performance came during college ball. On May 19 while pitching for St. Cloud Technical & Community College, Lessman tossed a four-hitter to beat Central Lakes College 2-0 in the Super Regional in St. Cloud. In that game, he struck out nine and walked two.

"I've thrown 120-125 pitches before," he said.

Lessman and the St. Cloud Tech Cyclones qualified for the NCJAA Division III World Series for the second straight year in Greeneville, Tennessee. Because he had a season wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, he is returning to the Cyclones for a third season.

"I'd like to keep going after that," the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder said.

Overcash is confident he will. Lessman admitted he turned down an offer to play in the Northwoods League this summer with the Waterloo Bucks.

"I'm kind of a homebody," Lessman said. "I didn't want to go that far away. If St. Cloud or Willmar wanted me, I'd definitely do that."

He wound up with the Rails, he said, to play with his cousin, Drey Dirksen. Dirksen, who plays for Augustana University, is currently one of the top hitters in the Northwoods League playing for the Willmar Stingers. Dirksen is also under contract with the Rails and can play with the Corn Belt League team after the Northwoods League season is over.

That'd be fine for Overcash, who was just happy to beat Raymond, which led the Corn Belt with a 6-0 record heading into Sunday's game. The Rails are now 4-4 in the Corn Belt and 7-4 overall.

"Coming into the game, we haven't been playing that well and I didn't want to get our butts beat," said Overcash, whose team has now won four straight over the Rockets.

Lessman's first appearance with Willmar came in an exhibition game with St. Joseph. He pitched three innings, striking out nine. He'll now be a regular in the rotation, which includes Courtney and Jayden Dierenfeld. The Rails also have a contract with Andrew Baumgart, the 2021 Willmar grad and North Dakota State left-hander who is pitching for the Stingers.

"Our rotation should be strong from here on out," Overcash said.

Willmar took a 2-0 lead on an Ian Kossman two-run shot over the left-field fence. Koosman, the 2022 Willmar graduate and a fine shortstop, is headed to Scottsdale Community College in Arizona in the fall.

The Rails added a run in the third on a two-out, RBI single from Jayden Direnfeld that plated Jack Baumgart, who had singled with one out and gone to third on Zach Reierson's single.

The loss went to Alex Call, despite six solid innings. The left-hander, a 2022 Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg graduate headed to Bethel, struck out seven and walked two, allowing three hits. He also picked three runners off at first base.

Raymond is next scheduled to play the Starbuck Stars at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Marthaler Field in Glenwood. The Rockets are then host to the Marshall A's in a Corn Belt game at 7:30 p.m. Friday before playing at 3 p.m. Saturday at Brainerd.

Willmar plays Milroy at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Yankee Field, then faces the New London-Spicer Twins at noon Saturday at the Green Lake Diamonds before playing at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Tracy against the Engineers.

Raymond 000 000 011-2 6 0

Willmar 002 100 000-3 6 1

Hitting — Raymond: Eli Nelson 1-4 rbi sb, Mike Jeseritz 1-4 2b r, John Sawatzky 2-4 rbi, Caleb Ditmarson 1-4 r ... Willmar: Ian Koosman 2-3 hr r rbi-2 bb, Jordan Steffer 1-4, Jack Baumgart 1-4 r, Jayden Dierenfeld 1-4 rbi, Zach Reierson 1-3, Wade Fischer 0-2 r hbp

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Raymond: Alex Call (L) 6-5-3-3-2-7, Caleb Ditmarson 2-1-0-0-1-6 ... Willmar: Christian Lessman (W) 9-6-2-1-2-11

Nathan Meyer went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs and Adrian Belden was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs in Regal's victory over Norway Lake-Sunburg at Sunburg

A 12-run fourth inning opened up the County Line league victory for the Eagles, who got five strong innings from Brandon Wedel. He allowed three hits and no earned runs, striking out six and walking three.

Weston Gjerde, Luke Ruter, Regan Carlson and Aaron Zimmer had hits for the Lakers.

Regal 012 (12)21 0-18 15 2

NLS Lakers 010 000 1-2 4 6

Hitting — Regal: Jordan Beier 1-5 r-3 rbi sb hbp, Blake Karsch 1-3 r-3 rbi-2 sb hbp, Josh Beier 4-5 2b r rbi-6 bb, Nathan Meyer 3-5 2b hr r-2 rbi-2 bb, Adrian Belden 3-5 r-2 rbi-2, Jordan Wosmek 2-4 2b r-3 rbi bb, Tanner Heinsus 1-2 2b r, Derek Dengerud 0-3 r bb, Nathan Beier 0-3 r bb, Tyler Kemen 0-3 r hbp-2 ... NLS Lakers: Weston Gjerde 1-4, Luke Ruter 1-4 2b r, Regan Carlson 1-4 r, Aaron Zimmer 1-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Regal: Brandon Wedel (W) 5-3-1-0-3-6, Brandon Carlson 2-1-1-0-2-4 ... NLS Lakers: Gjerde (L) 3-5-9-6-2-3, Carlson 3-9-9-7-2-4, Ryan Torkelson 1-1-0-0-1-1

With a four-run seventh inning, the Litchfield Blues pulled away for good from the Howard Lake Orphans for a North Star League win at Howard Lake.

Litchfield had three players — Eric Hulterstrum, Avery Liestman and Eddie Estrada — hit home runs. Hulterstrum was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Andrew Loch was 3-for-5 with two runs.

Jack Ramthun was credited with the win after tossing three innings of relief for the Blues.

Litchfield 100 201 401-9 13 5

Howard Lake 001 005 000-6 9 0

Hitting — Litchfield: Cody Klabunde 1-5 r, Andrew Loch 3-5 r-2 sb, Eddie Estrada 1-5 hr r rbi-2, Jake Jones 2-4 2b-2 r-2 rbi bb, Avery Liestman 2-4 hr r-2 rbi-2 hbp, Eric Hulterstrum 2-4 hr r rbi-3 bb, Carson Deal 2-5 ... Howard Lake: Garret Zander 1-4 2b r rbi bb, Jake Gruenhagen 2-5 2b r rbi-2, Jared Koch 2-4 2b-2 r bb, Cole Macziewski 1-5 r, Bennett Anderson 2-4 r rbi, Moose Streich 1-4 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Litchfield: Ben Alsleben 6-8-6-6-1-3, Jack Ramthun (W) 3-1-0-0-1-2 ... Howard Lake: Jared Koch (L) 6.2-12-8-8-0-4, Brad Bickmann 2.1-1-1-1-2-6

Jackson Peter had a walk-off sacrifice fly to lift the Elrosa Saints to the championship title of the Elrosa Elite 8 Tournament.

The New London-Spicer Twins finished fifth at the Elrosa Elite 8 tournament after beating the Tri City Sharks from New Brighton.

Mike Danielson was 3-for-3 for NLS, driving in three runs. Hunter Magnuson scored a pair of runs, going 2-for-3. Jett Salonek got the win for the Twins after tossing 4-1/3 innings of relief.

Tri City 000 000 2-2 3 1

NLS Twins 201 001 x-4 9 3

Hitting — Tri City: Ethan Roe 2-2 bb-2, Casey Trapp 1-3, Bryan Pierson 0-4 r, Ben Palmer 0-3 r bb, Nathan Brandecker 0-3 rbi bb ... NLS Twins: Ben Kulset 1-4 sb, Jake Rambow 1-4 2b r, Hunter Magnuson 2-3 r-2 bb sb, Mike Danielson 3-3 rbi-3, Wyatt White 1-2 bb, Jett Salonek 1-3, Ethan Haugen 0-2 r bb sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Tri City: Zac Quammen (L) 6-9-4-2-3-2 ... NLS Twins: Schrader 2.2-1-0-0-5-0, Salonek (W) 4.1-2-2-0-3-2

The Raymond Rockets went off for 30 hits, including home runs by Caleb Ditmarson, Eli Nelson and Mike Jeseritz in a Corn Belt League win against the Tracy Express at Tracy

Raymond 430 3(13)4 8-34 30 1

Tracy 100 100 1-3 7 3

The Madison Mallards picked up a 'W' in Land O'Ducks League play after beating the Rosen Express in Rosen.

Grant Fuchs, Tanner Stanley, Griffin Bjerke, Drew Tangen and Sam Oehrlein all had two hits for the Paynesville Pirates in an exhibition win over the Lake Henry Lakers on Saturday at Paynesville.

Stanley was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. Bjerke finished 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs. Tangen scored twice, going 2-for-3.

Jevan Terres was 2-for-3 with a stolen base for Lake Henry. Carter Wessel scored a pair of runs, going 1-for-4.

Lake Henry 100 020 0-3 8 2

Paynesville 200 305 x-10 11 4

Hitting — Lake Henry: Isaac Lieser 1-4, Shane Kampsen 2-4 r, Carter Wessel 1-4 r-2 sb, Nick Dingman 1-4, Matthew Lieser 1-3 rbi-2 bb, Jevan Terres 2-3 sb ... Paynesville: Blake Vagle 1-3 2b r-2 rbi-2 bb, Grant Fuchs 2-4, Tanner Stanley 2-4 r rbi-2, Griffin Bjerke 2-3 2b r-2, Drew Tangen 2-3 r-2, Sam Oehrlein 2-3 r rbi, Abe Bullard 0-2 r-2 rbi bb sac, Garrett Leusink 0-3 rbi-2 hbp

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Lake Henry: Trent Wendlandt (L) 5.1-11-10-9-2-4, Spencer Lieser 0.2-0-0-0-0-0 ... Paynesville: Oehrlein (W) 5-6-3-2-1-5, Bennett Evans 2-2-0-0-0-1

Adrian Belden got the complete-game victory for the Regal Eagles in a victory against the Roscoe Rangers at Paynesville.

Belden struck out six, limiting Roscoe to five hits and no walks. Josh Beier was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Eagles. Tyler Kemen also was 2-for-3 with a run and two stolen bases.

Braden Vanderbeek finished 2-for-3 for Roscoe.

Roscoe 002 000 0-2 5 1

Regal 011 100 x-3 7 1

Hitting — Roscoe: Brandon Schleper 1-3 hr r rbi-2, Chris Vanderbeek 1-2 2b, Braden Vanderbeek 2-3 2b, Parker Brezinka 1-3, Mitch Athmann 0-1 r hbp ... Regal: Blake Karsch 1-3, Josh Beier 2-3 rbi, Derek Dengerud 1-2 2b bb, Tyler Kemen 2-3 r sb-2, Brandon Carlson 1-2 bb, Jordan Beier 0-2 r hbp, Adrian Belden 0-1 r bb, Tanner Heinsus 0-1 rbi bb-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Roscoe: Brezinka (L) 6-7-3-1-5-3 ... Regal: Belden (W) 7-5-2-2-0-6

The Elrosa Saints advanced to its home tournament championship game with a one-run victory over the Stillwater Loggers in Elrosa.

The New London-Spicer Twins tacked on four runs in the top of the third inning en route to a win over the Dawson Drakes in Elrosa.

Adam Schrader finished 3-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI for NLS. Mike Danielson went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and got the complete-game victory with five strikeouts.

Josh Staab was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Dawson.

NLS Twins 204 000 1-7 9 0

Dawson 010 001 0-2 5 0

Hitting — NLS Twins: Jake Rambow 1-1 r-2 bb hbp, Hunter Magnuson 2-4 2b r rbi, Adam Schrader 3-3 2b r rbi, Mike Danielson 2-4 2b rbi-2, Jett Salonek 1-2 rbi bb, Derek Dolezal 0-2 r hbp-2, Josh Soine 0-2 r hbp, Scott Rambow 0-3 rbi, Dalton Rambow 0-1 r ... Dawson: Braxton Thompson 1-3 r, Josh Staab 1-3 r rbi, Esten Weber 1-2 hbp, Codie Johnson 1-3, Blake Thompson 1-3 rbi

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — NLS Twins: Danielson (W) 7-5-2-2-0-5 ... Dawson: Brayden Thompson (L) 7-9-7-7-4-0