Windom 001 030 2 = 6-8-2
Fairmont 000 001 0 = 1-7-3
For the second straight season, the Windom Eagle baseball team put its best performance of the year together in the second round of the playoffs, picking up a 6-1 victory at top-seeded Fairmont in the Section 3AA playoffs.
Thursday saw the Eagles put together a complete performance, with solid hitting and execution at the plate, aggressiveness on the bases, outstanding defense and a gutsy pitching performance from junior Jackson Joyce.
Joyce worked out of several jams in the game, as Fairmont put runners in scoring position in five of the seven innings. But Joyce kept the Cardinals off-balance despite not recording a strikeout, coaxing 16 fly-ball outs in the game.
Fairmont had the first good chance to score in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt, a sharp grounder deflected off Eagle third baseman Matthew Voehl for a single. However, Voehl recovered the ball and threw out the Cardinal runner attempting to score, ending the inning.
The Eagles got on the board in the top of the third. Quintin Tietz led off with a single. Soren Nielsen laid down a sacrifice bunt. Tietz then avoided a tag-out on a fielder’s choice grounder to third, putting runners at the corners. Joyce then put down a perfect safety squeeze bunt, plating Tietz with the game’s first run.
The Eagles followed the same recipe in the fifth. Quintin Tietz singled and stole second. Nielsen beat out a sacrifice bunt, with the wide throw allowing Tietz to score for a 2-0 lead. Hayden Tietz followed with a single. Joyce put down a sacrifice bunt, but the throw was mishandled, allowing Joyce to reach. The ball was thrown to the plate after Nielsen took a wide turn around third, but the attempt to throw Nielsen out at third skipped into the outfield, allowing both Nielsen and Hayden Tietz to score for a 4-0 Eagle lead.
The Cardinals finally broke through against Joyce in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on a single. But with the bases loaded and two outs, a lazy fly ball to left field was hauled in by outfielder Nick Walinga, ending the threat.
The Eagles put the game away in the top of the sixth. Hayden Tietz led off with a single and Joyce launched a double to the left field wall. Both eventually scored on wild pitches.
In the bottom of the seventh, a single and a walk put two runners on base and forced Joyce to exit the game due to pitch count, but reliever Charles Erickson coaxed a fly ball to right to end the game.
Quintin Tietz and Hayden Tietz each had two hits in the win.
Joyce held the Cardinals at bay for 6-⅔ innings, scattering seven hits. He walked three and did not strike out a batter.
Next games: Check for updates after each game.
Windom: vs. Montevideo (at Marshall), May 31
