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BRANDON, S.D. — The Hartington Pony baseball squads are still rolling through their respective summer schedules, but the tournament team suffered its first setback of the season, losing 12-11 in heartbreaking fashion in the finals of a tournament in Brandon, S.D., to the Marshall Black team from Marshall, Minn.
In fact, the Hartington tournament team was cruising along in the final, leading 9-5 heading into the fifth inning when the proverbial wheels fell off the cart.
Marshall scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-9 lead. A double, four singles, a dropped third strike and three walks spelled the end of an unbeaten season, but an unbeaten season is really rare no matter what level of baseball is being played.
Hartington had a big inning of its own early in the game after Marshall grabbed a 4-1 lead in the opening frame.
Hartington came out in the second and scored seven runs to go up 8-4 heading into the home-half of the inning.
Tate Fischer, Justin Heimes, Gavin Klug, Cash Lenzen, Cooper Hochstein, Easton Hochstein and Grady Haberer all scored in the second.
The Hartington 14U added a run in the forth and started a rally in the final inning after the big Marshall inning in the fifth.
Lane Heimes opened the final frame with a double, but consecutive ground-outs left the team hanging, despite Heimes making it around the bases on the plays to make it 11-10.
Haberer drew a walk with two outs, but a ground-out left him stranded at first and the final score was set.
Before the loss to Marshall, Hartington reeled off three straight wins in the prestigious tournament involving teams from Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.
Hartington took on Border Valley from North Dakota in the game prior to the Marshall game and used solid pitching from Easton Hochstein, Cooper Hochstein and Klug to limit Border Valley to a single run in a 4-1 win.
The trio of hurlers allowed only four hits in the contest and struck out eight.
Fischer scored twice and Lane Heimes and Micah Cattau each crossed the plate once.
In the second round of the tournament, Hartington bettered Huron, S.D., 5-3.
Hartington led 1-0 early after scoring in the second inning.
Huron tied the game in the bottom of the third and took a one-run lead in the fourth.
The Hartington 14U team scored three big runs in the fifth and added an insurance run in the sixth to post the 5-3 win.
Fischer earned the win on the mound in four innings of work. Cattau came on in the sixth to earn a save.
Lane Heimes, Haberer, Justin Heimes, Cooper Hochstein and Klug all scored in the game and Haberer pounded out three hits.
In the tournament opener, Hartington outlasted Brandon Valley, S.D., 6-3.
Hartington led early, 2-0 after two, but Brandon Valley scored three runs in the third. Hartington answered in the bottom of the frame with a couple of runs to retake the lead.
Single runs in the third and fourth sealed the win and Easton Hochstein kept the BV bats silent, limiting them to no runs and only three hits down the stretch.
The Hartington Navy 14U team had little trouble this past week disposing of Newman Grove 18-1 in a game played in Hartington on June 15 and Neligh 19-7 on the road on June 19.
A nine-run sixth inning blew a relatively close contest wide open in the top of the frame after the teams entered the sixth with Hartington in the lead, 10-6.
Klug had a four-RBI performance in the contest and scored three times.
Fischer was 3-for-3 at the plate, had three RBIs and scored three times.
Will Feilmeier went 4-for-4. Another big inning paced the Hartington Navy team, but this one was the second frame against Newman Grove.
The Navy team plated 13 runs in the inning after leading 4-0 after the first.
Neligh scored its lone run in the fourth inning when the final outcome had been decided.
Dawson Dresden smacked a double and Feilmeier hit a threebagger as Hartington erupted for 22 hits in the four-inning game.
The Hartington Royal team split its games over this past week, sneaking past Plainview 2-1 on June 15 and dropping a game, 5-3, on the road in O’Neill on June 19.
O’Neill broke open a 1-1 pitcher’s duel in the bottom of the fourth with four runs.
The Royal team responded with a couple of runs in the top of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough as O’Neill posted the 5-3 win.
Hunter Benson had a couple of hits, including a sixth-inning home run that scored Justin Heimes, who had singled just before Benson’s blast.
Pitching carried the win over Plainview as the game went extra innings after both teams were tied at 1-1 after the scheduled six-inning contest.
Heimes and Easton Hochstein combined to allow only five hits in the contest, with Heimes doing the bulk of the work over six innings, allowing four hits and the one run, and Hochstein coming on in relief in the seventh and keeping Plainview from crossing the plate.
Bodie and Easton Hochstein each had a double in the game and Heimes had a triple.
The Hartington 14U tournament team will return to action June 23 and 24 in the Mid-Summer Classic in Wakefield, taking on Wayne on June 23 and the UBA Gladiators on June 23 in pool play. The tournament team will take a 14-1 record into this tournament.
The Hartington Navy team will take on Plainview June 22 in Hartington and host Creighton June 29. The Navy team started the week with a perfect 10-0 record.
The Hartington Royal team will take on Neligh June 22 in Hartington in the first game of the evening and travel to Creighton on June 26. The Royal team started the week with a 7-3 mark.
