District 5 baseball: Alexandria VFW rallies for 6-5 win over Madison

• Leary

Lori Mork, Echo Press Alexandria's Patrick Leary dove back to first base on a pickoff attempt Tuesday night as the VFW baseball team opened District 5 tournament action at Firemen's Field in Carlos against Madison. Alexandria trailed 4-1 early in the game, but rallied back for a 6-5 victory.

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By Lori Mork

lmork@echopress.com

Cody McLaughlin’s two-out single in the 10th gave Alexandria a walk-off victory over Madison in the opening round of the District 5 VFW baseball tournament Tuesday night.

Alexandria, which trailed 4-0 after the first inning, rallied back in the marathon contest at Firemen’s Field in Carlos for a 6-5 victory to advance in the winner’s bracket as the tournament now heads to Montevideo for the remaining games.

McLaughlin’s hit came as Alexandria was down to its last out in the 10th. Toby Helgeson led off the inning with a bunt single, followed by a fly ball out off the bat of Mitchell Thompson.

Jeff Swedberg’s fielder’s choice shot took out Helgeson, leaving McLaughlin in the spotlight for his walk-off single.

“It was a long game,” said head coach Jacob Munsch. “We had several missed opportunities earlier. In both the seventh and the eighth innings, we had runners on second and third with one out and couldn’t score.

“Defensively in those innings, we played very well, and also made some plays you don’t see very often, like the 3-6-1 double play in the eighth.

“Parker Bowden pitched the seventh through the 10th innings, and pitched very well,” he added.

“This was a good game for us and a learning experience for these players. They found out that they can be down and still come back and win.”

Alexandria will play the winner of the Starbuck/New London-Spicer game. That contest will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Montevideo.

Action continues through the weekend.

GAME STATISTICS

MADISON 400 100 000 0 5-7

ALEXANDRIA 010 103 100 1 6-7

PITCHING – Mitch Thompson 6 innings, Parker Bowden (W) 4 innings.

HITTING – Mitch Thompson 1 run, 1 bb; Jeff Swedberg 2 runs, 1 hit, 2 bb; Patrick Leary 1 run, 1 hit, 2 bb; Cody McLaughlin 1 hit; Blake Stockert 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 bb; Christian Anderson 2 hits, 1 bb; Grant Becker 1 bb; Elliot Jacobson 1 hit; Toby Helgeson 1 hit, 1 bb.

DISTRICT 5 VFW TOURNAMENT

JULY 26-AUGUST 1 IN MONTEVIDEO

SEEDINGS – 1. Morris, 2. Alexandria, 3. New London-Spicer, 4. Willmar, 5. Benson, 6. Starbuck, 7. Madison, 8. Montevideo, 9. Dawson.

TUESDAY, JULY 26

OPENING ROUND AT HIGH SEED

Montevideo or Dawson at Morris

Benson 6, Willmar 4

Starbuck at New London-Spicer

Alexandria 6, Madison 5 (10 innings)

FRIDAY, JULY 29

WINNER’S BRACKET

MONTEVIDEO

5 p.m. – Morris/Monte or Dawson winner vs. Benson (Game 1)

7:30 p.m. – NLS/Starbuck winner vs. Alexandria (Game 2)

SATURDAY, JULY 30

LOSER’S BRACKET

MONTEVIDEO

11 a.m. – Morris/Monte or Dawson loser vs. Willmar (Game 3)

1:30 p.m. – NLS/Starbuck loser vs. Madison (Game 4)

4 p.m. – Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 winner (Game 5)

6:30 p.m. – Game 1 loser vs. Game 4 winner (Game 6)

SUNDAY, JULY 31

MONTEVIDEO

12:30 p.m. – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner (Game 7)

3 p.m. – Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner (Game 8)

5:30 p.m. – Game 8 winner vs. Game 7 loser

MONDAY, AUGUST 1

MONTEVIDEO

6 p.m. – Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner

8 p.m. – Second game, if necessary

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, vfw, baseball, district, 5, tournament