Poor inning costs Cardinals

By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

CONCORDIA – The Hoisington Cardinals led the Minneapolis Lions 3-0 and were six outs away from their first-ever regional baseball championship game.

After five solid innings of pitching and defense, Hoisington’s perfect plan fell to pieces.

MINNEAPOLIS 11, HOISINGTON 3 (G1) – Minneapolis scored 11 runs after trailing 3-0 for an 11-3 baseball victory in Thursday’s Concordia 3A regional semifinals. The Cardinals’ nightmare started with a one-out error and featured five walks as starter Myles Menges and reliever Hunter Hanzlick lost their command.

No. 1 seed Minneapolis (18-3) happily took advantage as 14 consecutive batters reached base in the sixth inning.

Spencer Davidson delivered an RBI double. Lukas Vogel ripped back-to-back RBI doubles. Nolan White, Kaden Griffin and Davidson continued the RBI parade with base hits. Menges contributed three walks and Hanzlick issued a pair of walks.

Hoisington (13-7) played rock-solid baseball for five innings. Menges singled home Braxton Donovan for a third-inning run.

The Cardinals scored a pair of fifth-inning runs, but lost two valuable baserunners in the frame. Jerred Bieberle reached on an error and scored on an error. Menges singled home Donovan for a 3-0 lead. But the rally was squandered when Menges and Jacob Specht were tagged out on the bases.

Menges (4-2) threw solidly for five innings. He stranded Gaton Heald after a leadoff third-inning double. He stranded two more runners in the fourth inning.

Hoisington 001 020 0 – 3 6 1

Minneapolis 000 00(11) x – 11 9 2

Menges, Hanzlick (6), Brewer (6) and Specht. Heald, White (6) and Thompson. W—White. L—Menges, 4-2. 2B—H—Donovan; C—Davidson, Heald, Vogel 2. 3B—C—Davidson.