The Britton U17 baseball team opened postseason play with a dominant performance in the regional tournament over Elkton to advance to the state tournament July 25-27.
The local diamondmen, now 14-10 on the year, posted a pair of wins by the 10-run rule in the best-of-three series, rolling to a 15-3 win in game one and an 11-1 verdict in game two. Britton also ended regular season play with a sweep of Sisseton on Thursday 8-7 and 10-5 and split a twin bill with Milbank last week Wednesday, taking the opener 3-1 but dropping the nightcap 2-1.
Britton 15-11
Elkton 3-1
Britton used a four-run rally in the third inning of the opener to lead 5-0 and put the game away with a 10-run uprising in the fifth, taking advantage of four Elkton errors and seven walks. Ben Suther had a big game at the plate, ripping a double and two singles and collecting six RBI’s. Dylan Redler doubled and singled and knocked in a pair of runs, Mitchell Burger doubled, and Lofton Heer, Jace Rein, and Colton Chapin added base hits. Kaden Mills went the distance on the mound, allowing just three hits and fanning six.
Britton scored in every inning of the second contest and pushed across the final run in the bottom of the fifth for the walk-off win. Heer laced a pair of singles and had two RBI’s, and Bryce Hawkinson, Suther, Emmett Symens, Rein, Nathan Folkman, and Drew Heitmann each singled. Britton received another strong pitching performance with Suther going the distance, allowing just two hits, striking out eight, and not allowing a walk.
Britton 104 0(10) – 15 9 1
Elkton 002 0 1 – 3 3 4
Kaden Mills and Colton Chapin; Schuurman, Neill (5), Osland (5) and Erickson
Elkton 010 00 – 1 2 2
Britton 322 31 – 11 8 1
Erickson, Johnson (4) and Schuurman; Ben Suther and Colton Chapin
Britton 8-10
Sisseton 7-5
Britton grabbed first inning leads in both games of a twin bill with Sisseton and posted a sweep, exploding for six runs in the first inning of the opener and four in the nightcap.
Sisseton battled back in game one, trailing just 8-6 after three frames and saw its last inning rally fall short. Chapin rapped a double and single and Symens laced a pair of singles to lead Britton’s nine-hit attack. Suther, Heer, Burger, Redler, and Rein each added safeties. Rein picked up the pitching win.
In the second game Sisseton battled back to cut the deficit to 5-4 after three innings but Britton put together another four-run rally in the fourth for the win. Suther, Heitmann, and Burger each doubled, and Redler, Folkman, and Chapin singled. Redler was the winning pitcher.
Britton 611 00 – 8 9 2
Sisseton 213 01 – 7 6 3
Jace Rein, Colton Chapin (4), Emmett Symens (5) and Ben Suther; Hanson and Current
Britton 401 41 – 10 6 1
Sisseton 202 01 – 5 4 4
Dylan Redler, Emmett Symens (3), Lofton Heer (5) and Colton Chapin
Britton 3-1
Milbank 1-2
Britton split a tightly-contested doubleheader at Milbank, breaking a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fifth inning of the opener while Milbank pushed across a fourth inning tally to break a 1-1 deadlock in the nightcap.
Rein, Burger, Suther, Redler, Symens, Folkman, and Lincoln Kilker each singled to lead Britton’s seven-hit attack in game one. Suther went six and two-thirds innings, fanning nine, to pick up the pitching win. The local nine managed just two hits in game two – singles by Suther and Mills.
Britton 100 020 0 – 3 7 3
Milbank 001 000 0 – 1 4 1
Ben Suther, Kaden Mills (7) and Colton Chapin; Koplin, Kelly (5) and Heinje
Britton 000 10 – 1 2 1
Milbank 100 1x – 2 4 2
Kaden Mills, Bryce Hawkinson (4) and Colton Chapin; Heinje, Kelly (4) and Karges
