VFW baseball: Alexandria reaches District 5 title game, falls to Morris

Alexandria advanced through the losers’ bracket to reach the finals of the District 5 VFW tournament over the weekend and faced Morris Monday for the championship, falling 9-8. Complete details of the Monday game will be in Friday's edition of the Echo Press.

Rallies have been the name of the game in this tournament for Alexandria, as they came back from a 4-0 deficit in their first game of the tourney Tuesday to win 6-5, then dropped Friday night’s game after having a 3-0 lead in the seventh. They came back from a 7-1 deficit to Willmar for a 9-8 win, rallied from being down 6-2 to Madison for a 9-6 win and edged out New London-Spicer 2-1 in eight innings to reach the finals.

Complete details of all games will be in the Friday edition of the Alexandria Echo Press.

NEW LONDON 4,

ALEXANDRIA 3

Going into the seventh inning Friday night, Alexandria had a 3-0 lead over New London-Spicer.

“New London scored four runs with two outs and held us in the bottom of the seventh for the win,” said head coach Jacob Munsch. “In order to go to state, we will have to win five games in a row.”

ALEXANDRIA 9, WILLMAR 8

Willmar used six hits to accumulate a 7-1 lead over Alexandria by the third inning, and it looked as if Alex would be going home from the double-elimination tournament.

But Alexandria’s defense stiffened and allowed just one run in the sixth and the offense found its rhythm, knocking out 11 hits and rallying for a 9-8 victory.

Jeff Swedberg and Patrick Leary spearheaded the resurgence as each had three hits to bring in runs. Leary drove in three, with two coming on his home run.

ALEXANDRIA 9, MADISON 6

Once again, a rally was needed to move on as Alexandria trailed Madison 6-2 in the fifth inning, but scored seven runs in the bottom half of that frame to go on to a 9-6 victory.

ALEXANDRIA 2, NEW LONDON 1

8 INNINGS

Grant Becker’s walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth scored Jake Booth for the winning run. Booth was pinch-running for Blake Stockert as Alexandria defeated New London-Spicer 2-1.

Toby Helgeson’s stellar performance on the mound paved the way for Alexandria’s win, which put his team in the championship.

Helgeson’s pitch count didn’t reach 90 during the eight innings of play.

OPENING GAME

ALEXANDRIA 6, MADISON 5

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

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

FRIDAY, JULY 29

WINNER’S BRACKET

MONTEVIDEO

Morris 7, Benson 2

New London-Spicer 4, Alexandria 3

SATURDAY, JULY 30

LOSER’S BRACKET

MONTEVIDEO

Alexandria 9, Willmar 8

Madison 15, Benson 10

Willmar 18, Dawson 2

Madison 9, Starbuck 4

SUNDAY, JULY 31

MONTEVIDEO

Morris 10, New London-Spicer 0 (5 innings)

Alexandria 9, Madison 6

Alexandria 2, New London-Spicer 1

MONDAY, AUGUST 1

MONTEVIDEO

6 p.m. – Alexandria vs. Morris

8 p.m. – Second game, if necessary

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