In postseason play, the Woonsocket 12U Majors baseball team entered the I-90 tournament as the third seed. For the first-round game, Woonsocket was matched up to host the sixth-seeded Wessington Springs team on Thursday, June 27, but rainfall during the morning of the contest made the field at Woonsocket unplayable, so the game was moved to Wessington Springs. A strong showing on both offense and defense helped Woonsocket earn the win with a score of 9-2 and secure a spot in the winner’s bracket of the tournament.

On Monday, July 1, the Majors team traveled to White Lake to meet second-seeded Plankinton. Woonsocket had lost to Plankinton earlier in the season but were determined to not let it happen again, even playing through a steady rain to see that goal come true. The game was close until the fourth inning when Woonsocket scored five runs on three hits, and that was all the Majors needed to open the game up in their favor and win with a final score of 11-5, Woonsocket.

With the win, the Woonsocket Majors moved into the championship game against a tough number-one-seeded Corsica-Stickney team that was the only other team to defeat Woonsocket in the regular season. The game remained close early on, but Corsica-Stickney put together a devastating inning that proved difficult to come back from, even though Woonsocket tried when Mathias Lindgren hit an exciting two-run homerun over the fence at White Lake. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to rally, and Woonsocket lost to Corsica-Stickney, 4-17. But their performance was nothing to hang their heads about, as they claimed second place in the tournament and finished the season with a strong 8-3 record.

The Woonsocket 10U Minors baseball team was seeded fifth as they entered the I-90 tournament. For their first-round game, Woonsocket traveled to Corsica on Friday, June 28, to play fourth-seeded Plankinton, a team that had beaten them in a close game earlier in the season. The Woonsocket Minors arrived with their bats swinging and defeated the Plankinton team, 10-3, to earn their spot in the winner’s bracket of the tournament.

On Tuesday, July 2, the Woonsocket Minors team traveled to Chamberlain, where they were met with the number-one-seeded Corsica-Stickney. The Minors had high hopes, but Corsica-Stickney hit hard early, and with no five-run rule to end the inning, Woonsocket found themselves in a deep run deficit quickly. The game ended early with Corsica-Stickney winning with a final score of 0-13. It was a rough game that ended their tournament run, but as a five seed, the Woonsocket Minors also finished well as one of the top four teams in the tournament with a final record of 5-5.

The Woonsocket Majors team loses eight players as they age out, but six players from the Minors team will age into next year’s Majors, so more seasons full of exciting baseball are on the horizon.

…See team pictures in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!

The little league Artesian-Letcher baseball teams dodged the rainy weather and got two nights of baseball in last week. Their first opponent was Emery on Tuesday, June 25 in Emery. In the U10 game, the Emery boys were hitters, and the Rebels couldn’t answer back, so they took a loss with a score of 0-15. 

Hunter Morris stepped on the bump first for the Artesian-Letcher U10 Rebels. The starting pitcher allowed six hits and 10 runs over two-thirds of an inning, striking out one and walking seven. 

The Artesian-Letcher U12 boys couldn’t keep up with Emery in their game either and fell 7-14 on Tuesday. Cooper Hemminger led things off on the hill for the U12 Rebels. He surrendered four hits and five runs over two-thirds of an inning, striking out one and walking one. The older Rebels were surehanded in the field as they didn’t commit a single error, and they turned a double play. 

On Thursday, the Artesian-Letcher Rebels hosted the Montrose Irish for another doubleheader. The U10 boys struggled to score and fell to the Irish 0-13. For the U10 Rebels’ defense, Wilson stepped on the bump first. The right hander gave up one hit and seven runs over one and one-third innings, striking out three and walking 10. The Rebels were stealthy in the field again committing no errors. Morris had the most chances with five.

The Artesian-Letcher’s U12 team suffered a 1-13 loss against a tough Montrose team last Thursday. Hemminger began the game for the U12 Rebels. He surrendered five hits and six runs over three and one-third innings, striking out six and walking four. The Rebels were solid on defense, committing no errors with McGuire having the most chances with seven.

The Artesian-Letcher U10 and U12 teams are in a different league than the Woonsocket teams, so their season will continue a little into July. They played Alexandria at home in Letcher on Tuesday, July 2, and their last regular-season game is scheduled for Tuesday, July 9 in Freeman.

…Read more details about the games and see a picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!