PIRATES BUSHWHACK THE BUTTERMAKERS IN SEMI-FINALS

By Mark Zinnel- Buttermaker-Reporter The #4 seed Hadley Buttermakers took on the #1 seed Windom Pirates in the best-ofthree semi-final round of the Region 10C playoffs. A victory would mean an automatic spot in the State Amateur Baseball Tournament. A loss meant the season was over. The Windom Pirates proved their #1 seed was legit as they had no trouble with dispersing the Buttermakers.

Here is the series recap:

Game 1: Wednesday in Windom

WINDOM 8 HADLEY 0 Hadley entered this series knowing they had a Herculean task ahead of them to take down the Pirates with their pitching prowess and team speed which they did not hesitate to show the Buttermakers. Tucker Sorenson took the mound for Game 1 to slow the Pirate attack. Both teams went down in order in the 1st. Hadley would get a single in the 2nd but that is as far as the runner advanced. In the bottom of the inning, Windom showed the Buttermakers what speed they would have to deal with in this series. After a leadoff walk, the runner advanced on a successful stolen base. The runner advanced to 3rd on an infield groundout and scored after Tucker unleashed a wild pitch for a quick 1-0 lead. Hadley would load the bases in the 3rd but could not get a big hit to score a run. An error by Hadley in the bottom of the 3rd led to a Pirate 2-0 advantage. Another Buttermaker error in the 5th would account for another Windom run and a 3-0 lead. The Pirate starter had no problem with the Buttermakers for the rest of the game.

Jacob Van Dam took over for Tucker in the 6th inning. Jacob would give up 2 hits and walk 3 Pirate batters as Windom increased their lead to 5-0. Hadley’s only other opportunity to score occurred in the 6th . Max Zwart doubled and a single by Alex Petersen put runners on the corners, but a strikeout ended Hadley’s scoring threat. Windom’s final runs came in the 8th . After recording the first two outs, Windom got four straight hits off Van Dam, forcing a pitching change. Bryce Ahrendt came in to pitch. When the inning ended, Windom had scored three times to go up 8-0. For Hadley, Derek Kluis and Alex Petersen led Hadley with 2 hits. Joe Larson, Max Zwart, Abe Paulzine, and Dylan Kluis all had 1 hit. Tucker Sorenson took the loss.

Final Box Score RHE Windom 8 11 0 Hadley 0 8 2

Game 2: Saturday in Hadley

WINDOM 9 HADLEY 2 On a cool Saturday afternoon, the Buttermakers were hoping to put a hold on the Pirates advancement, but they knew they would have to play a flawless defensive game and get timely hitting when opportunities arose to force a Game 3. But the Pirates remained aggressive at the bat and on the bases to easily manage the Buttermakers. Lincoln Swanjord faced the Pirates. Lincoln got out of the 1st inning with no problem. After a leadoff single, the Pirate runner was thrown out trying to steal 2nd base. Lincoln would get the next 2 outs without any problem. Hadley looked like they would start out scoring. Tucker Sorenson led off and reached base on a Pirate error. Derek Kluis singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd. A fly ball out and a line-out double play would end the Buttermaker chance to score.

In the 2nd , Windom looked ready to pounce on the Buttermakers. Lincoln gave up a lead-off double followed by a bunt single and another infield hit to load the bases as the Pirate fans roared. Lincoln would get a comebacker to him to get the 1st out at home. The return throw to 1st from Brent Hokeness was just late to get a double- play. Lincoln got the next Pirate batter to hit it back to him and this time the 1-2-3 doubleplay was successful as Hadley escaped without Windom scoring and the Buttermaker fans piped up. After a first out flyout, Austin Irlbeck would walk, and Alex Petersen would single. A wild pitch moved the runners in scoring position as the Buttermaker fans got loud with a viable opportunity to score. Unfortunately, a strike out and a routine ground out would damper the Buttermakers scoring hopes.Windom got busy in the 3rd when they picked up 3 hits off Lincoln to take a 1-0 lead. The Windom starter made it tough for Hadley to do anything, as he kept the Buttermakers hitless through his 6 innings on the mound. Windom would take advantage of two Hadley defensive errors to score 3 runs on only one hit to go up 4-0 after 4 innings. After walking the Pirate first batter in the 5th, Bryce Ahrendt replaced Lincoln on the mound and kept the Pirates from scoring.

In the 6th, Windom would score two runs on 4 hits off Ahrendt to increase their lead to 6-0. The game stayed that way until the 9th. Dylan Kluis would come in and pitch the 9th. Dylan struck out the first two Pirate batters he faced.

Windom would then get backto- back singles. The next batter would then take Dylan deep to right field for a 9-0 lead. Could Hadley back a big comeback? Brent Hokeness would reach after getting hit to start things off. Max Zwart then pumped up the Buttermaker fans when he homered over the green monster. The comeback faltered as the Windom relief pitcher gave up another hit but recorded 3 strikeouts to end the Buttermakers season with a 9-2 Pirate win. On the hitting side, Alex Petersen picked up 2 of Hadley’s 4 hits with Dylan Kluis and Max Zwart getting the other 2 hits. Max Zwart recorded Hadley’s rbis. Lincoln Swanjord took the loss.

Final Box Score

RHE Windom 9 15 1 Pipestone 2 4 3 Hadley ends the season with a record of 16-11. Looking forward to seeing you again in

2026.