Rolette County advances at Section 5 Tournament
Second seed Rolette made quick work of No. 7 seed Cando in a first round game, rolling to a 11-1 win in a five-inning contest shortened by the 10-run rule.
Cando took a brief lead on a Steve Hausmann RBI single to center in the top of the first inning, but Rolette Co. sent sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, scoring three runs. The key hit, a Nic Pfeifer double to the fence in right field that scored Jaden Pfeifer and Ian Keller. Nic Pfeifer would later score on a balk.
The Muskrats would add to their lead, scoring runs in the second and third inning and then erupt for six more in the bottom of the fifth inning. Josh Casavant scored from third on a wild pitch. Jaden Pfeifer then tripled home two more runs and that was followed up by back-to-back home runs by Ian Keller and Nic Pfeifer. That pushed the margin to 10 runs, ending the game.
Both Nic and Jaden Pfeifer had big games. Nic finished with three hits, including a walk-off home run, double and 3 RBI. Jaden had a double, triple, drove in 2 RBI and scored three runs. Seven RC hitters had at least one hit.
After giving up two hits and a run in the first, Rolette Co. pitcher Garrett Thompson got into a groove, allowing just two more hits, and only one batter to reach second base. He retired the last seven hitters and finished with eight strikeouts.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak at the section tournament, dating back to 2007.