BASEBALL: Woodpeckers rally for dramatic, season-saving victory

The Bemidji Pioneer, Minn.
·2 min read

Aug. 1—BLOOMINGTON — The Bemidji Junior Legion baseball team kept its season alive on Friday, winning a pair of elimination games at the state tournament in Bloomington and surviving as one of four teams still in contention for the championship.

The Woodpeckers defeated the hosts from Bloomington by a 7-0 margin on Friday morning, then Edina 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night.

Down to their final out in the seventh inning of the second game, Bemidji's Ty Lundeen singled in the tying run for a 3-3 tie. Edina nearly walked it off in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out, but Lundeen struck out the next two batters and then induced a fly out to force extras.

In the 10th inning, Casey St. John hit a go-ahead single for the 4-3 lead. Lundeen then shut down Edina 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th to secure the win.

Lundeen ended up pitching five innings, allowing no runs and just one hit while striking out seven.

In the early game, Hunter Brodina tossed a complete-game shutout to lead the Woodpeckers (22-6) to victory. At the dish, Peyton Neadeau, Gavin Kapaun and Fisher Ganske all racked up multiple RBIs as Bemidji scored all seven runs from the fourth inning on.

Bemidji next plays Alexandria Black in a 2 p.m. showdown today, Saturday, July 31. The winner will play another elimination game against New Prague at 4:30 p.m. today for a spot in the championship series against Eden Prairie.

Bemidji 7, Bloomington 0

BEM 000 302 2 — 7-9-0

BLM 000 000 0 — 0-6-2

WP: Brodina (CG, 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K)

LP: Scott (4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

Bemidji 4, Edina 3 (10 innings)

BEM 000 200 100 1 — 4-11-3

EDI 100 200 000 0 — 3-6-2

WP: Lundeen (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K)

LP: Geyer (3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)