Morris Area / Chokio-Alberta erupted for 17 unanswered runs en route to a season opening shutout over Benson in prep baseball action on Monday, April 11, at Braves Field in Benson.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard right away in the first on a Ross Marty steal of home and a sacrifice fly by Sam Kleinwolterink. In the second, Trevor Buss led off the inning with a double to center field, took third on a passed ball and then scored on a wild pitch to give MACA a 3-0 lead.
The third inning was the only inning in the game that MACA didn’t put up a crooked number. In the fourth, the Tigers made up for it with four runs. Brendan Hardy and Marty both scored on the same fielding error, Riley Asmus connected on a RBI single to score Owen Anderson, and Asmus was plated on a double by Durgin Decker, giving the Tigers a 7-0 cushion.
If that wasn’t enough insurance, MACA erupted for 10 runs in the fifth to put into play the 10-run rule after holding Benson without a hit in the bottom half of the frame.
The 10-run fifth started with three straight walks to load the bases. Brandon Jergenson connected for a fly ball to right field for a double, which scored two. Kaleb Breuer walked to again load the bases, and Sam Kleinwolterink took a pitch to the upper back to waltz in Marty, who scored four times in the game. Another walk by Riley Asmus scored Jergenson and led to a pitching change by Benson. Three RBI hits and a sacrifice fly resulted in the final runs of the game.
Durgin Decker had three hits with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Ross Marty, Brandon Jergenson, Riley Asmus, and Trevor Buss all added two hits each. Marty had a triple while Asmus, Buss and Jergenson had doubles in the game.
Jergenson took the win on the mound. He went four innings in the shut out and gave up two hits, walked four and struck out five. Drew Stork pitched the final inning of relief and struck out two.
Morris/C-A is scheduled to play at Minnewaska Tuesday, April 19 and then close out the week at its annual MACA Invite on Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, at Chizek Field in Morris. The four-team tournament opens Friday at 4 p.m. with Ashby and Silver Bay. Pelican Rapids will play Morris/C-A in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, Morris/C-A will play Ashby at 10 a.m. and Silver Bay at 12:30 p.m.
Ashby was last year’s champion. With COVID canceling the tournament in 2020, Morris/C-A was the champion in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
