The Fergus Falls Post 30 Junior American Legion Baseball team fell behind 6-0 in the top of the first inning and trailed 8-1 after three innings, however, Post 30 scored 6 times in the fourth to cut the lead to 8-7 and added a pair of runs in the fifth to take a 9-8 lead over Bloomington. Behind great relief pitching from Caleb Fronning (4IP, 1H, 1BB, 3K, 0R), Post 30 held on for the win. They will now face New Ulm at 2:00pm on Friday. A win in that game will advance them to Saturday play and a loss will put them in a 4:30pm elimination game on Friday.
After giving up six runs, two unearned, in the top of the first inning, Fergus Falls responded with an infield single and a stolen base by Caleb Fronning, who eventually came around to score the first run of the tournament for Post 30 on a ground out off the bat of Brody Krein.
The 6-run 4th inning for Fergus Falls was highlighted by a bases loaded triple from Micah Johnson and a 2-run single by Nolan Felstul. Cam Wiederich also added a RBI single in the inning.
The game winner came on a 3-2 count with 2 outs in the fifth inning when Holden Stenstrom ripped a double, scoring courtesy runner Isaiah Holmes, who had stolen a pair of bases after being inserted in the lineup, and Micah Johnson.
With the 9-8 victory, Post 30 improves their season record to 20-5.
2024 Junior American Legion State Tournament
Red Haddox Field in Bloomington
First Round Scores from Thursday, August 1
Becker 4, Stillwater 3
Farmington 15, Excelsior Blue 7
New Ulm 8, Chanhassen 4
Fergus Falls 9, Bloomington 8
Elimination Game
Stillwater 8, Excelsior Blue 4