By Mark Zinnel- Buttermaker Reporter Hadley came into the 3rd place series for the Region 13C’s final state tournament spot as a heavy underdog even though they had the 4th seed against the 6th seed, Fairmont Martins Fairmont has had all their players back after midseason and have been playing quality baseball down the stretch. Hadley would have to play mistake-free baseball to beat the Martins to advance to the State Tournament. For the 2nd year in a row, the Buttermakers gave a valiant effort came up short as the Fairmont Martins took down Hadley in 2 games. Here is the series recap: Wednesday in Fairmont FAIRMONT 16 HADLEY 2 The region 13C 3rd ticket for the upcoming State Tournament was on the line for the winner of the series. Even tough Hadley is the higher seed, the Fairmont martins are just 1-year away from winning the State title and they fully loaded with talent despite their regular season record. Hadley was going to have to play their A game to take down the Martins. Wednesday night would not go the way Buttermaker Nation expected as Fairmont easily disposed of the Buttermakers in 7-innings 16-2.
Hadley has had problems with their opponents getting off to a hot start and Wednesday’s game would not be any different. Sam Erickson started for Hadley.
Hadley found themselves playing from behind from the get-go, as Fairmont would treat Sam with 4 runs on 3 hits to take the lead. Sam would give up a 2-run scoring double and a 2-run homerun before Hadley recorder an out. Fairmont would score 5 more runs in the 3rd to go up 9-0. In the 3rd inning Sam Erickson was ejected from the game forcing Nick Bruning to take the mound.
Fairmont pitching kept the Buttermaker bats cold as the Fairmont pitchers held Hadley to just 2 hits in the game. Hadley was fortunate to score 2 runs on no hits against Fairmont in the 5th inning. Abe Paulzine would lead-off reaching base after getting hit by a pitch After moving to 2nd on a fielder’s choice and to 3rd on a passed ball. Derek Platt would walk and steal 2nd base. Fairmont would fake the throw to 2nd and catch Abe too far away from 3rd base. The catcher’s throw to 3rd would go into left field as Abe scored and Derek Platt would move up to 3rd. Derek Platt would score later on another passed ball for Hadley’s final score.
Fairmont would put the game out of reach in the 6th. After recoding the first out, Fairmont would get 6 straight singles off Bruning resulting in a Hadley pitching change. Abe Paulzine would take over. Fairmont would treat Paulzine with a double. A Buttermaker fielding error would follow resulting in 7 runs for Fairmont for a 16-2 final score.
Sam Erickson was charged with the loss. Joe Larson, and Danny Blankenship picked up the hits for Hadley.
Final Box Score RH E Hadley 2 2 3 Fairmont 16 17 1 Saturday Game 2 FAIRMONT 4 HADLEY 1 With their backs against the wall, Hadley was hoping for a better outcome then what occurred on Wednesday evening. Hadley was short players in Saturday’s critical game, but the Buttermakers showed the tough Martins squad they had the grit and would not go down easy. The game turned out to be a quick, fast paced game as both starting pitchers were stingy with the hits and runs. Draftee, Luke Gilbertson started on the mound with the hopes of forcing a Game 3.
The game moved along quickly. Hadley would pick up a hit in each of the first 4 innings while Luke Gilbertson would hold the Martins at bay with only 1 hit through 6 innings. Hadley would strike first in scoring in the 5th inning. With 2 outs, Derek Platt would single and moved to 2nd on a successful stolen base. Kyler Deacon would step up, execute a successful hit, and run as he singled to right with Derek Platt racing home. Hadley would load the bases in the 6th with 1out on singles by Nick Bruning and Alex Petersen and a hit batter. Things looked like Hadley was prepared to add a little breathing room to their leas. However, Fairmont would get out of the jam by getting a strikeout and a harmless ground ball out.
Fairmont would tie the game in the 7th on a lead-off solo home run. The game would move to the 9th all tied at 1-1. Fairmont would touch Luke Gilbertson up with a single to start the inning off. After getting a fly ball out, Luke would then hit the next batter with a pitch on a count of 1-2. Luke would get a strike out for the 2nd out as the Hadley fans breathed a little easier. A good defensive game for Hadley would get ruined by a Buttermaker fielding error allowing the Martins to load the bases. Luke would walk the next batter on a 3-2 count to force in the go ahead run. The next batter would single up the middle to score 2 more runs. Gilbertson would get the 3rd out on a strikeout but with Hadley down 4-1.
Would there be magic in Hadley’s at bat? Unfortunately for Hadley, the Martin pitcher would strikeout the side for the victory and receive Region 13C’s 3rd State Tournament bid.
Nick Bruning, Alex Petersen, and Derek Platt led Hadley in the hitting department with 2 hits each. Joe Larson and Kyler Deacon would each pick up a hit. Kyler Deacon would pick up Hadley’s lone rbi. Luke Gilbertson was charged with the loss. Final Box Score RH E Hadley 1 8 1 Fairmont 4 5 0 For the season, Hadley ended up with a record of 20-11. The season is not completely over for a couple of Buttermaker players. Max Zwart and Jacob Van Dan were both drafted by the Fairmont Martins for their tournament squad. They will begin play on Saturday, August 20 in Dundas against the Avon Lakers. Good Luck to Max and Jacob. Thanks to the Buttermakers for another fun, exciting, successful season. Already waiting for 2023 to get here.
