By Colton Hall
Staff Writer
The odds might have been against them, but that didn’t matter. The Winner/Colome Royals are going to state.
Winner/Colome Royals Legion baseball team overcame constant adversity including fighting through the “losers bracket”, injuries, and a shortage of pitching to ultimately take home a 17-3 win over Gregory in the Region 7B Championship at Leahy Bowl Saturday.
“It wasn’t easy,” Foss said after his team’s win. “Having to come back all the way around to win was tough. We played a good Spearfish team the last couple days as well as having to beat Gregory twice. It was a tough battle all three days, but I’m proud of our boys.”
WINNER/COLOME 6 SPEARFISH 3
The Royals started it’s road to state off with a 6-3 victory over Spearfish on Thursday. Spearfish would jump out to a 2-1 lead after two innings, but the Royals scored two more runs to take the lead in the third inning.
Spearfish would tie the game at three in the fourth inning, but that’s when Winner/Colome took control of the game and wouldn’t let it go. The Royals scored three runs in the fifth inning, counted on Jackson Kinzer to last his allotted 105 pitches to close out the game.
Kinzer also showed up at the plate, and 2-for-3 in game one with two RBI. Oscar Pravecek led Winner/Colome with three RBI.
Kinzer went seven innings, and allowed only three runs while striking out six batters.
GREGORY 9 WINNER/COLOME 7
In an 11 inning heartbreak ending, the Winner/Colome Royals suffered a 9-7 loss to Gregory in it’s first game on Friday at Leahy Bowl.
The loss would make the road to state difficult for the Royals as they would have to win through the losers bracket to be able to take on Gregory once again to advance to state.
Although Winner/Colome jumped out to a 1-0 lead through two innings, Gregory answered with a run in the third and fifth innings to take a 2-1 lead. Needing a run in the seventh, the Royals got it and pushed the game to extra innings.
After surrendering two more runs in the ninth, the Winner/Colome Royals once again found itself answering the bell. This time, Carter Brickman singled which sent in two runs.
In the 11th inning, Winner/Colome scored three runs but it wasn’t enough.
Brickman finished with three RBIs while Kinzer added a couple RBI of his own. Brickman pitched six innings, and allowed five hits, two runs, with three strikeouts. Layton Thieman went four and 2/3 innings while aligns six hits, seven runs and striking out four batters.
Nolan Sachtjen closed out the game for Winner/Colome.
Winner/Colome 6 Spearfish 3
With the only option to win out to get to state, Winner/Colome started by beating Spearfish once again, 6-3.
The Royals jumped out to a 4-1 lead through four innings, but Spearfish wasn’t done yet.
Spearfish answered with two runs in the fifth, but Winner/Colome put the game out of reach by scoring two runs in the sixth inning.
Joren Bruun and Kinzer registered three hits for the Royals with both finishing with an RBI.
Jacob Beckers and Bruun pitched for Winner/Colome. Beckers lasted 4 1/3 innings while allowing eight hits, three runs, and struck out two batters. Bruun pitched 2 2/3 innings, and allowed two hits while striking out four more batters.
WINNER/COLOME 17 GREGORY 8
Winner/Colome wanted a rematch against Gregory after a heart-breaking loss in day two. They got it.
The Royals pulled out the first of two victories over Gregory with a 17-8 win at Leahy Bowl on Saturday.
Gregory found itself ahead 4-2 going into the third when Winner/Colome had seen enough.
The Royals went on to score 11 unanswered runs before Gregory scored four runs in the fifth. Still, the Royals went on to score five more runs that Greogry couldn’t match to close out the game.
At the plate, Pravecek proved to be vital to Winner/Colome’s success by hitting in four runners. Bruun also finished his day with two RBI.
Although Winner/Colome was running short on pitchers, they didn’t pannick. Calvin Ringing Shield, Aaron Gilchrist, and Nolan Sachtjen showed up for the Royals. Ringing Shield went 1 2/3 innings while allowing three hits and four runs while striking out one batter.
Gilchrist then came in and worked his magic for 4 1/3 innings while allowing five hits, four runs while striking out three batters. Sachtjen closed out the game once again, and didn’t allow a hit or run and struck out one more Gregory batter.
WINNER/COLOME 17 GREGORY 3
Redemption wasn’t good enough in game one for the Royals. They wanted to go to state.
The Winner/Colome Legion closed out it’s weekend with a 17-3 win over Gregory to advance to state on Saturday.
The game looked as though it would be a dogfight once again when Gregory took a 2-1 lead early in the game. Winner/Colome wasn’t going to let this game get away, and summoned it’s offense for the rest of the game.
Winner/Colome exploded for sixteen runs while Gregory could only muster one. At the plate Pravevek, Thieman, and Dalton Baker each finished with three RBI for Winner/Colome. The Royals also enjoyed timely hitting from Phillip Jorgensen, who sustained an injury in day two, but who went 2-for-three from the plate.
“Phillip’s a gamer,” Foss said. “He came back after being a little banged up, and he looked great. We didn’t know if he was going to play, and we played the situation by ear. I made him hit, and tried to get him loosened up before the game. It meant a lot to our team for him to play like he did, and he showed up when we needed him.”
Shea Connot also finished with two timely hits for the Royals.
Pitchers were thin, but players like Baker stepped up throughout the game to help Winner/Colome hold on. Baker went five innings, and allowed five hits, three runs, and struck out four batters.
Throughout the tournament, players like Ringing Shield and Baker proved to be vital to Winner/Colome’s success.
“Those two played great,” Foss said of Ringing Shield and Baker. “Calvin really showed up for us as well as Baker did. Both stepped up on the offensive and defensive ends when we need them the most.”
As far as state is concerned, the Royals will need to bring that same fire and resilience that took them through the losers bracket to go to state.
“There’s a total of eight teams that are the best in the state,” Foss said. “We’re going to face the best teams in South Dakota. Our thing is that we have to swing the bats, we have to throw strikes, and we have to play solid defense. If we’re healthy, and all of us swing the bat, we can be competitive.”
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