Tigers Roar Out to Lead, Fall in Tourney Opener

6/1/13

Springfield made their annual trip to St. Stephen for the Omann Insurance Invitational Tournament on Saturday. They began play with a 10am match-up against the co-host Steves of St. Stephen. Due to the Springfield High School postseason baseball game being played in Granite Falls, the Tiger lineup had a different look with the only potential substitute being the manager Steve Helget. The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first half inning, but were only able to muster one more run in the remainder of the contest, falling 10-5.

Marty Brandl started the game with a double. An error and a walk loaded the bases. Christian Loomis knocked in the first two runs of the day with a single. A fielder's choice plated the third run of the inning. Two more walks forced across another run to put Springfield up 4-0.

Loomis took the hill for the Tigers and put up zeros in the first two frames. St. Stephen starter Blake Guggenberger matched the zeros posted by Loomis with his own in the second and third.

The Steves were helped by Springfield in the the bottom of the third. They loaded the bases via a walk, hit batter, and a Tiger error. Another hit batter made the score 4-1. Adam Tschumperlin put St. Stephen ahead when he unloaded the bases with a grand slam into the trees beyond the left center field fence.

After falling behind 5-4, Springfield's offense went back to work in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a Steve error to even things at five. The Tiger defense continued to be a liability in the bottom of the fourth. St. Stephen did get two hits, but also took advantage of two Springfield miscues to retake the lead 8-5.

St. Stephen padded their lead with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. The key hit came from Travis Phelps who ripped a two-out two-run double to chase Loomis. Mike Salazar came on in relief to get the final out of the inning. Guggenberger and Salazar did not allow any further damage, making the final 10-5.

No one recorded more than one hit for Springfield in the ballgame. The Tigers got one each from Marty Brandl, Max Salazar, Ryan Sturm, Christian Loomis, and Marc Salazar. Travis Phelps and Alex Omann led the way for St. Stephen with two hits each. Blake Guggenberger earned the complete game victory, working all seven innings, allowing 5 runs, two earned, on five hits, with six strikeouts, but eight free passes. Loomis was tagged with the loss, going four and two-thirds innings, surrendering tens runs, only two of which were earned, on seven hits, with four strikeouts.

The loss dropped Springfield into the loser's bracket with the next game at 3:00pm taking on the loser of the Isanti/Nisswa contest.

NOTES: Until St. Stephen scored in the bottom of the third inning, Christian Loomis had pitched eleven consecutive scoreless innings this season...Seven Tigers were absent due to the high school team's playoff game. Brandon Wilhelmi and Jason Nachreiner both serve as assistants on the team...The loss was Springfield's first of the season, ending a seven-game winning streak. The seven game stretch without a loss is the longest by the Tigers since 1998 when they won ten straight through the league playoffs and into the final weekend of the State Tournament.

Linescore

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E	LOB
Springfield	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	5	3	10
St. Stephen	0	0	5	3	2	0	x	10	7	3	8

Springfield Box

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Brandl, RF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2B
Mx. Salazar, CF	4	1	1	0	0	1
Fink, C	2	2	0	0	2	0
Sturm, 3B	3	0	1	0	1	0
Loomis, P/2B	4	1	1	3	0	0
Vogel, 2B/SS	3	0	0	1	1	1
Ma. Salazar, 1B	2	0	1	0	2	0
D. Krebs, LF	2	0	0	0	1	1	SAC
Mi. Salazar, DH/P	3	0	0	1	1	2
Haseleu, SS	-	-	-	-	-	-
	27	5	5	5	8	6
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Loomis (L, 2-1)	4 2/3	7	10	2	2	4
Mi. Salazar	1 1/3	0	0	0	2	2

Pictures