| Panthers advance past Mora, earn regional berth |
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By Luther Dorr The Princeton Panthers rode the right arm of Josh Ludwig to a 3-1 playoff win over Mora here Sunday night, a win that earned the team a berth in the Region 1C tournament that begins Aug. 7. Eastern Minny League playoffs continue here Saturday night with a 7:30 game against Isanti, a 10-0 winner over Milaca and a 16-0 winner over Hinckley last weekend. Princeton, by virtue of its regular season first-place finish, got a bye in the seven-team tournament that began Saturday with three games in Hinckley. That first-place finish came about last week with wins at home over Mora on Tuesday (4-3) and Milaca on Wednesday (3-2). Both Princeton and Isanti finished 16-2 in league play but Princeton, with a 2-1 season edge in games with Isanti, earned the No. 1 seed for the league tournament. The Panthers won their last 16 league games after beginning the season 0-2. Princeton has a 24-7 season record after the playoff win over Mora. Princeton will be seeded no lower in the region than No. 3 from the Eastern Minny after the Mora win Sunday. A win over Isanti Saturday would ensure no lower than a No. 2 seed. The title game is Monday night. If the Panthers lose Saturday they will play at home Sunday against Hinckley, Quamba, Mora or Chisago Lakes, the winner advancing to the title game and the loser getting the No. 3 seed. “We’re in the driver’s seat,” said manager Jules Zimmer. “We control our own destiny.
“We got a good draw by finishing first but now we have to pick up the offense a little.” Ludwig (5-0, 1.46 ERA) held the Blue Devils in check Sunday night and the offense scratched out three runs against Mora’s Justin Krie. Ludwig, who has given up only one earned run in his last 33 innings, lost his shutout on a throwing error with one out to go in the game. Princeton pitchers have given up only six earned runs in their last 72 innings against league opponents, an ERA of 0.82. The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Jesse Zimmer sacrifice single after Ben Johnson led off with a single. Mark Beattie led off with a single in the third and scored on an error and then Beattie singled in Erik Ostmoe with a run in the fourth for a 3-0 lead. Krie, who pitched two good games against Isanti when the Redbirds were leading the league, shut down the Panthers after that, twice leaving runners on second after they had reached with no outs.
Ludwig, who threw 126 pitches, allowed only one runner past first base until the final inning. The Blue Devils’ Asa Patterson was tough on the Panthers, giving up only seven hits and two earned runs in a rescheduled game on Tuesday of last week. Princeton took a 1-0 lead in the first and made it 2-0 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Ostmoe after singles by Zimmer and Jake Maros. Mora got a run off Joe Swanson (8-3) in the sixth but the Panthers answered with an RBI single by Beattie to lead 3-1. Mora scored in the seventh but the Panthers made it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on a throwing error.
Reliever Ben Johnson struck out the side in the ninth, although Mora scored an unearned run to get within one run. The Stingers, who finished last in the league with a 1-15 record, nearly pulled off an upset to keep Princeton from the No. 1 seed. But Jake Snyder, pitching for the first time since May 26, went the distance for the win as the Panthers pushed across a run in the ninth. Milaca led 1-0 in the third inning when Zimmer’s RBI single tied the game. The Stingers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth but Maros tied the game with a long homer to center field in the bottom of the inning. A walk to Beattie to lead off the Princeton ninth, a steal of second by pinch-runner Mike Daugs, Jordan Neubauer being hit by a pitch and an intentional walk to Ben Johnson loaded the bases with one out.
Ryan Carling then ended the game with a single to right to score Daugs. Comments (0)
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