Spoilers, Miners for title: Grafton powers past WWCS
Held to four hits on Thursday, Grafton’s offense was a ticking time-bomb. The Spoilers made Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton the victim, pounding out 17 hits in an 11-4 semifinal win at the Class B state baseball tournament Friday at Jack Brown Stadium.By: By Chris Aarhus, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
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Held to four hits on Thursday, Grafton’s offense was a ticking time-bomb.
The Spoilers made Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton the victim, pounding out 17 hits in an 11-4 semifinal win at the Class B state baseball tournament Friday at Jack Brown Stadium.
“We wanted to come in and be aggressive. Any time we’re aggressive, we put a lot of runs on the board,” Grafton senior Joe Demers said. “Seventeen hits, that’s pretty impressive.”
The win marks the second straight year Grafton (18-5) has advanced to the championship game, which is scheduled for around 7 p.m. today. Kindred-Richland topped the Spoilers in last year’s final.
“It was a heartbreaking game last year,” Demers said. “With seven starters back, we knew what we had to do. The goal was to get back and this time, finish our business.”
Demers was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs. He had a two-run homer in the sixth inning that easily cleared the right-field fence.
“I kind of needed that one,” he said. “It was right on the sweet spot.”
Grafton got on the board early with five runs on five hits in the first inning, punctuated by a two-run double from Garek Droog. The Spoilers scored one in the third and one in the fourth before a four-run sixth put the game away. Jaime Villarreal also had three hits and Droog added three RBIs.
Demers improved to 6-1 on the year from the mound, where he gave up one earned run on six hits in seven innings. He struck out four, walked three and plunked one.
Grafton coach Chad Kliniske said he was a little leery of his team’s pre-game attitude.
“The mood was so business-like,” he said. “There was no laughing or joking when we got here. It was all business.”
After one run in the first, the Cardinals added three in the fifth on a bases-clearing double from cleanup hitter Kirk Sailer, who finished with a team-high three hits.
Evan Eberle (5-1) suffered the loss on the hill, going all six innings and giving up seven earned for the Cardinals (21-5), who lost to Grafton for the seventh straight time in two seasons. WWCS plays in the third-place game, set for 4:30 p.m.
Class B State Tournament
At Jack Brown Stadium
Semifinals
Grafton 11, Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton 4
WWCS 100 030 0 — 4 6 4
Grafton 501 104 x — 11 17 1
Evan Eberle and Danny Henke. Joe Demers and Alex Martinson. W—Demers (6-1). L—Eberle (5-1). HR—G, Demers.
Highlights: WWCS, Kirk Sailer 3-4, 2B, 4 RBIs. G, Demers 3-4, 3 runs scored, 3 RBIs, Jaime Villarreal 3-3, 2 runs scored, RBI, Garek Droog 2-4, 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs.
Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com
Tags: class b, sports, baseball
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