Fink and Larson Lead Springfield to Victory

8/3/13

The Tigers opened the Region 2C Tournament by hosting Leavenworth on Saturday night at Riverside Park. Manager Steve Helget handed the ball to one of the two draftees who were added to the Springfield roster for the Region Tournament. Dayton Larson has picked up many victories for the Hanska Lakers at Riverside Park. On this night, his mound performance, along with big hitting and pitching by Alex Fink, would give the Tigers a 3-2 win.

Zach Mickelson smashed a double to right field to start the ballgame. A wild pitch moved him over the third base. After a Tiger error, Andy Cook opened the game's scoring with a sacrifice fly to give Leavenworth an early 1-0 lead.

Springfield went to work in their first at-bat with Jacob Menage legging out an infield hit to start. Fink came through when he crushed a double off the Sturm Seeds sign in right-center field near the scoreboard, scoring Menage to even things at one.

Christian Loomis battled off a number of pitches to win the battle with Leavenworth hurler Derek Skovbroten and draw a base on balls to begin the bottom of the second. A sac bunt by Cooper Scheffler, followed by a ground out moved him to third with two down. Jacob Vanderwerf put the Tigers in the lead with a single to score Loomis, making the tally 2-1.

The Tigers continued the trend of getting the leadoff batter on base in the home half of the third. This time it was Brandon Wilhelmi who started things with a solid base hit. Fink then proceeded to smoke his second double of the game. This one went to left-center and moved Wilhelmi around to third. A wild pitch from Skovbroten allowed Wilhelmi to score and give Springfield a two run lead.

After allowing the run in the top of the first, Larson settled in and retired ten straight Oriole batters. The string was broken by a leadoff walk in the fifth. He worked around walks in the sixth and seventh, as well. Through seven strong innings Larson had allowed just two Leavenworth hits.

With the three Springfield runs already on the board, Skovbroten found a groove, scattering three hits during his final five innings of work. Most importantly, keeping the Tigers from adding to their lead.

Larson ran into trouble in the top of the eighth. The Orioles put together three hits to load the bases with two outs. He got a ground ball, but unfortunately a Tiger miscue allowed Leavenworth to plate their second run. Larson coaxed another grounder to get out of the jam without any further damage.

Fink came on in the save situation in the ninth. He worked a scoreless inning to seal the 3-2 Springfield victory.

Alex Fink and Ryan Sturm led the Springfield offense, each going two-for-four on the night. Jacob Menage, Brandon Wilhelmi, Christian Loomis, and Jacob Vanderwerf all added one hit each to the Tiger attack. Andy Cook led the way for Leavenworth, stroking two of their five hits. Dayton Larson picked up the win for Springfield, going eight solid innings, allowing two unearned runs on five hits, while striking out six. Derek Skovbroten took the loss for Leavenworth, going the distance, allowing three earned runs on eight hits, while collecting four strikeouts. Fink picked up his third save of the season, working a scoreless and hitless ninth, while striking out two.

With the win, Springfield is 1-0 in the Region Tournament and 19-12 overall on the year. The next game of the tournament will take place on Sunday afternoon as the Tigers will travel to Stark to tangle with the Longhorns starting at 2pm. Swing over to Stark Ballpark for what should be some great baseball! Go Tigers!

NOTES: August 2, 2011 marked the last ballgame Springfield had played in August. It was also against Leavenworth at Riverside Park. That contest didn't turn out so well for the home team as the Orioles ended Springfield's season with a 9-2 win...Ryan Sturm ended an 0-for-15 slump in a big way when he ripped two hits in his final two at-bats of the ballgame...The Tiger dugout wasn't as full as it has usually been this season. Four players were absent due to attending WE Fest. They should be back for Sunday's game at Stark.

Scorecard

• Saturday, August 3, 2013 - Leavenworth at Springfield (PDF)

Linescore

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
Leavenworth	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	5	2	11
Springfield	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	x	3	8	3	8

Springfield Box

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Menage, RF	4	1	1	0	0	0
Wilhelmi, C	4	1	1	0	0	0
Fink, SS/P	4	0	2	1	0	0	2B(2)
Sturm, 1B	4	0	2	0	0	0	2B
Ma. Salazar, DH	4	0	0	0	0	2
Larson, P	-	-	-	-	-	-
C. Milbrath, LF	-	-	-	-	-	-
Loomis, 2B	3	1	1	0	1	0
Scheffler, LF/SS	2	0	0	0	0	1	SAC(2)
Anderson, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0
Vanderwerf, CF	3	0	1	1	0	1
	32	3	8	2	1	4
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Larson (W, 1-0)	8	5	2	0	3	6
Fink (SV, 3)	1	0	0	0	0	2

Pictures