Title bout set

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It was better late than never for Tolna Thursday night.

Shut out through five innings, Tolna got a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and it was enough for a 2-1 win over LaMoure in semifinal action of the Class A state tournament at Jack Brown Stadium.

Tolna will play the Jamestown Hounds in Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game. Jamestown defeated the Hazen-Beulah Blackjaws 7-1 in the second semifinal game.

Tolna 2, LaMoure 1

Tolna needed a break to dent Mark Hoge and they got it in the sixth.

Tolna loaded the bases with nobody out. Christian Berry lined a single off the ivy-covered right-field fence. Ryan Avdem, the next batter, walked before Alex Berry bunted up the third base line to load the bases.

Tanner Johnson was up next and rolled softly towards LaMoure third baseman Cam Albertson, who had to hurry his throw home, but it was off the mark and allowed Christian Berry to score from third and Avdem all the way from second.

Alex Berry was caught off third by Hoge on the play and proceeded to work out of trouble to keept it at 2-1.

But that was enough for big Tolna right-hander Logan Lund, who set down LaMoure in order in the seventh to end it.

Lund allowed only four hits. Chad Limesand singled in Justin Rott with the game's first run in the top of the fifth to break a scoreless tie and put LaMoure up 1-0. They had another good chance to score in the sixth when Albertson sac-bunted Gaige Dunn and Hoge into second and third base with one out. But Lund got the next two batters on a strikeout and groundout to escape trouble.

Hoge, one of the top returning players for the Jamestown College basketball team, had two of LaMoure's four hits. He was solid on the mound as well with six strikeouts in the tough-luck, complete-game loss.

Braydon Gourneau continued his torrid hitting for Tolna. He was a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles, giving him six hits in seven at bats in Tolna's two games.

Jamestown 7, Beulah-Hazen 1

The Hounds will play for a second straight Class A title.

The team comprised primarily of former or current Blue Jays, got a strong pitching performance from Shane Schoeneberg and won their fifth straight tournament game dating back to last season.

Schoenberg, who coaches the Jamestown Legion team, sailed through seven innings, allowing just one run in the top of the seventh as the Blackjaws avoided being shut out.

Jamestown got an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as hot-hitting Levi Gaunska laced a single into center field to score Riley Schafer and Tanner Lunzman to make it 3-0. One batter earlier Danny Fischer plated Kasey Gengler with a single.

Those three runs were plenty for Schoeneberg. He fanned seven batters and walked three. All six Blackjaw hits were singles.

The Hounds banged out 11 hits. Three of them were ropes sent into centerfield by Gaunska, who went 3-for-4 with a double. Schoeneberg added a pair of hits, including a double in the sixth.

Tolna 2, LaMoure 1

LaMoure 000 010 0 — 1 4 2

Tolna 000 002 x — 2 8 2

Mark Hoge and Aaron Stemen. Logan Lund and Alex Herman. W-Lund. L-Hoge. 2B-Tolna, Braydon Gourneau.

Jamestown Hounds 7, Beulah-Hazen Blackjaws 4

Beulah-Hazen 000 000 0 — 0 3 2

Jamestown 0 30 112 x — 7 11 0

Matt Chuppe, Alec Grothe (5) and Ben Schafer. Shane Schoeneberg and Justin Connell, Brady Anderson (5). W—Schoeneberg. L—Chuppe. 2B—Jamestown, Shane Schoeneberg, Levi Gaunska.

Tags: sports, amateur, baseball