The Britton grade 7-9 Lumberjacks baseball team came up with a dominant effort on the way to the state VFW Charlie Division state championship in Webster last weekend.
The local nine outscored four foes by a combined total of 36-11 with no team able to come closer than five runs. Britton stopped Salem 6-1 in the title game, bested Webster 12-7 in bracket play, and downed Letcher 8-3 and Mount Vernon-Plankinton 10-0 in pool play.
Britton has now qualified for the Tournament of Champions scheduled for Aug. 8. Details of the tournament will be published next week.
“Congratulations to all the Lumberjack players, fans, parents and coaches,” said Britton coach BJ Richter. “That was a well-deserved tournament victory. They played a perfectly executed championship game and deserve to celebrate.
“Preston Kilker, Brandon Peters, Jacob Heitmann, Adam Suther, DuWayne Bosse - those are the men who have coached these kids from the start. They have helped these guys navigate through some heartbreaks and a lot of joys.
“Our parents, grandparents and fans are incredible,” added Richter. “They travel all around the state to these tournaments and make them such great events. They’ve been there every year to give the hugs, wipe away the tears and keep us all well hydrated! It’s fun to be able to celebrate with you all.
“Kelsi Heer continuously and reliably sets all of this up every year. She manages the difficult conversations, keeps her coaches on track, schedules all the games, organizes all the concessions, tickets, announcers, music, etc. The list is quite endless. Thank you for making it all work.
“At the end of the day we are all hoping for a great experience,” concluded Richter. “Winning and losing has its ways of working out but we Lumberjacks try to go together, move together and stay together. In the last 10 days we’ve experienced just about all this game has to offer; the entire range of emotions. There’s not a better group to do it with.”
Britton 6
Salem 1
Britton took an early 1-0 lead in the second and boosted that to 5-0 to take charge with two-run rallies in the third and fifth frames. Drew Heitmann went the distance on the mound, allowing just five hits and not walking a batter in seven innings, and his teammates backed him up with errorless play in the field.
Levi Mills had a big game at the plate with three singles, Heitmann helped his own cause with a single and two RBI’s, and Liam Peters, Luke Bosse, and Isaac Richter laced safeties.
Britton 012 021 0 – 6 7 0
Salem 000 010 0 – 1 5 4
Drew Heitmann and Luke Bosse; E. Meyer, B. Graff (3) and Graff
Britton 12
Webster 7
Webster jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead but the Jacks answered with back-to-back four-run outburst in the first and second innings and bumped the lead to a comfortable 12-2 after four innings.
Britton came up with 12 hits, led by Joseph O’Brien with three base hits, Blayden Downs with a double, single, and three RBI’s, Max Suther with a double and single, and Heitmann with a pair of singles and two RBI’s. Henry Kilker added a single and knocked in two runs, and Mills and Bosse both singled.
Bosse picked up the pitching win and had relief help from Benjamin O’Brien and Mills.
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