Cannon Falls Clinches Region 5C Berth

The Cannon Falls Bears defeated the Randolph Railcats 9-1 today to complete a sweep in their best of 3 series.  The breeze in Randolph provided perfect conditions for the game.  The Bears had a 5 run second inning and never looked back.

Railcats starting pitcher Matt Weber went the first three innings and only allowed 1 earned run.  There were 3 Randolph errors and all were committed in innings where Cannon Falls scored.  The Bears did not commit an error in the game.

Quinton Lindow got the win on the hill for Cannon Falls going the first 7 innings with 3 hits allowed and no runs. Lindow struck out 6 batters, walked one while throwing 77 pitches, 56 for strikes.  Lindow faced 25 batters with 18 first pitch strikes.  After a two out single in the first inning Lindow reeled off five innings of 3 up and 3 down baseball.  16 consecutive batters were retired.  Jared Woodward threw the final 2 innings retiring the side with one strikeout in the ninth following a 23 pitch 8th inning. Woodward was greeted with a Weber single to start the 8th and then walked the next batter.  Following a fly out Grant Otte collected an RBI single to score Randolph's only run.

It looked like the game might end due to the 10 run rule with the Bears up 9-0 after 6 innings.  With Cannon Falls ahead 5-0 after 3 innings the Railcats brought Nick Drinken in to pitch.  Weber threw 71 pitches, 36 strikes in his three innings. 2 strikeouts, 4 walks, 4 hits allowed.  Drinken tallied 84 pitches, 50 strikes with 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, 3 earned runs in his 6 innings of work.

The Bears took advantage of back to back one out walks in the second inning when Hayden Strain smacked a RBI single.  There was an error that allowed Alex Tauer to score. Following the second out Brock Peterson reached on an error to load the bases.  Keith Meyers then connected for a 2 RBI single.  Nine men went to the plate for Cannon Falls in the second inning.

The Bears scored two runs in the 4th inning.  Braxton Lindow led the inning off with a hustle double and ended up at third base due to a throwing error.  Brock Peterson singled to score Lindow and went to second base on a wild pitch thrown during a Keith Meyers at bat.  Meyers singled placing runners at the corners.  Carlton Lindow then hit a sacrifice fly to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.

Cannon Falls scored their last two runs in the 6th inning when Peter Haggerty hit a 2-0 count pitch for a single to start the inning.  Lindow hit another double placing runners at second and third base.  Brock Peterson stroked a 2 RBI single and was in scoring position to get the 10th run following a Keith Meyers walk but ended the inning standing at third base after back to back infield pop outs and a fielder's choice.

In an unusual development Cannon Falls plays at Hampton 2:00 p.m. Sunday for a makeup game the Cardinals need to play for seeding purposes.

The Bears enter next weekend's Region 5C Tournament with a 14-16 record.