Tigers Pull Out Victory in the Bottom of the Ninth

7/2/08

The Tigers sent Bryant Krebs to the mound for the first start of his amateur career and he gave them all they could have hoped for and more, as Redwood Falls visited Riverside Park on Wednesday night. Trailing 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Springfield rallied to score two runs, pulling out a 4-3 win.

The Redbirds were the first to get on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning. They took advantage of back-to-back walks and a hit to plate a run, taking a 1-0 lead. Krebs helped himself out in the bottom of the inning leading off with a triple to right. He came in to score on an error, tying the game at one a piece.

Krebs got on base again in the bottom of the fourth, drawing a two-out walk. He stole second and came around to score on a single by Jake Miesen, giving Springfield the lead at 2-1.

Redwood Falls tied the game in the top of the fifth. After getting a base runner on third due to a Springfield error, a squeeze play brought in the second run for the Redbirds.

Krebs gave way to Jesse Berg in the top of the seventh. Berg walked to leadoff batter and he came around to score thanks to another Tiger error. This gave the Redbirds a one-run lead at 3-2. Berg settled in to strikeout four during the final two innings and keep the deficit at just one.

In the bottom of the eighth, Springfield got runners at first and third but were unable to plate any runs. The Tigers had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth. Kyle Kraska came off the bench for his first at-bat of the season, as he recovers from knee surgery, and drew a leadoff walk. Chris Moritz was hit by a pitch. Berg advanced the base runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Andy Moritz reached base when he laid down a squeeze bunt to bring in pinch runner Andy Neidt. The Redbirds threw the ball away allowing Chris Moritz to come around and score the winning run for the home team.

Bryant Krebs did a fantastic job, going the first six innings, leaving with the game tied at two. Jesse Berg pitched the final three innings and picked up the win, his second of the season. No Tiger batter had more than one hit as they were only able to get five total hits for the game.

The win is Springfield's eleventh overall of the season and their tenth league victory, moving their record to 11-10 and 10-7, respectively. Next the Tigers will be hosting the Tomahawk East League All-Star Game on Sunday. The Springfield representatives on the All-Star team are: Brandon Wilhelmi, Matt Baier, Bob Fink and Chris Sturm. The rest of the Tigers are off until Monday night when they travel to Redwood Falls for another match-up against the Redwood Falls Redbirds. We'll see you there!

Linescore
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB
Redwood Falls 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 6 2 9
Springfield 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 5 2 8

Springfield Box

AB R H RBI BB SO
A. Moritz, C 3 0 1 1 2 0
Brandl, DH 4 0 0 0 0 2
Haseleu, 2B - - - - - -
Wilhelmi, SS 4 0 1 0 0 1
Fink, RF 3 0 1 0 1 0 3B
Groebner, 1B 3 0 0 0 1 0
Krebs, P/CF 3 2 1 0 1 1 3B
Miesen, 3B 2 0 1 1 1 0
   Kraska, PH 0 0 0 0 1 0
   Neidt, PR 0 1 0 0 0 0
C. Moritz, LF 3 1 0 0 0 1 HP
Z. Sturm, CF 2 0 0 0 0 2
   Berg, P 0 0 0 0 1 0 SAC
27 4 5 2 8 7
IP H R ER BB SO
Krebs 6    4 2 1 2 3
Berg (W, 2-0) 3    2 1 0 1 4

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