Things did not get any easier for Hadley as they matched up against the No. 1 seed Milroy Irish in the Region 13C semifinals as Hadley fell in a thrilling 3-game series. Here is the series recap: Game 1 Wednesday at Milroy MILROY 1 HADLEY 0 Game 1 of the Region 13C semi-final round had Hadley traveling to Milroy at the Irish Yard to take on the Number 1 seed, Irish. It was the battle of the dueling Pirates starting pitchers as both teams had their play-off draftees start the series off. Milroy threw Windom ace, Collin Lovell whereas, Hadley threw Windom starter, Luke Gilbertson. Both starting pitchers would have almost identical stats for the game and they both went the distance. Both teams went blow by blow with Milroy coming out in top.
Hadley would outhit the Irish in the game. Joe Larson, Nick Bruning, Max Zwart, Alex Petersen, Lincoln Graven and Abe Paulzine would collect hits for Hadley. Luke Gilbertson would collect 8 K’s and walk 2 while allowing the Irish only 5 hits in picking up the loss.
Final Box Score RH E Hadley 0 6 2 Milroy 1 5 1 Game 2 Monday at Milroy HADLEY 5 MILROY 4 (10 innings) Fans from both teams packed Irish Yard for the semi-final action against Hadley and Milroy. The series finally ended on Monday night, following the weekend rainout; in a true twilight doubleheader only to find the Buttermakers coming up short in earning the automatic bid to the State Baseball Tournament.
Max Zwart and Kyler Deacon would get 2 hits each. Nick Bruning, Danny Blankenship, and Abe Paulzine would each pick up 1 hit. Jacob Van Dam earned the victory.
Final Box Score RH E Hadley 5 7 2 Milroy 4 10 2 Game 3 Milroy 10 Hadley 1 The 3rd and deciding game started at 9:35 with an automatic bid to the State Tournament on the line. Nick Bruning, still nursing a pulled hamstring would get the nod on the mound for Hadley. Things looked like it would be Hadley’s night as they loaded the bases in the 1st inning on 3 straight singles, but Hadley would be unable to get a run in, leaving the bases loaded. Milroy would not make that mistake. Milroy would score 3 times on just 1 hit. Two straight walks and a double would score Milroy’s 1st run. A Buttermaker fielding error would score two for a 3-0 lead. Milroy add 2 more runs in the 2nd. Bruning would allow 2 singles to start the inning off. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runner up a base. Following a walk to load the bases, Max Zwart was brought into pitch. Milroy would greet Zwart with a single to go up 5-0.
Milroy would stretch the lead to 7-0 in the 4th as they collected 3 hits off Zwart. Another Buttermaker fielding error attributed to one of the runs.
Hadley would threaten to score in the 5th. Hadley would get lead off singles to start off the inning, but a double play would end the scoring threat. Milroy would build the lead to 10-0 in the 5th, causing another Buttermaker pitching change. Draftee, Luke Gilbertson would come into finish the inning.
Hadley would finally put a run on the board in the 6th. Max Zwart would double and come into score on a Justin Benda sacrifice fly. Avery Weber would come into pitch. Avery would walk the first batters he faced but kept the game at 10-1.
The 8th inning started out looking favorable for Hadley. Nick Bruning would single, and Max Zwart would get his 2bd double for the game. Danny Blankenship would walk to load the bases. Nick Bruning would get thrown out a home trying to score on a wild pitch. A strike out and fly ball would end the scoring opportunity. Hadley would go down in the 9th ending with 10-1 Milroy victory clinching automatic state tournament bid. Game 3 ended at 12:23pm Kyler Deacon and Max Zwart lead Hadley with 3 hits. Nick Bruning would add 2 hits with Danny Blankenship and Lincoln Graven getting 1 hit. Nick Bruning was charged with the loss.
Final Box Score RH E Hadley 1 10 4 Milroy 10 13 0 Hadley will now face the Fairmont Martins for Region 13c’s 3rd state tournament berth. Game 1 will be in Fairmont on Wednesday at 7:30pm and then Game 2 and 3, if necessary, will return to Hadley on Saturday and Sunday with a 2:00pm start.
