Dodge County Earns Trip to State Amateur Baseball Tournament; Aces Stay Alive in Region Playoffs
The Dodge County Diamondbacks earned a trip to the state Class C amateur baseball tournament by beating Rochester onSunday night at Fuller Field in Owatonna.
In a tournament marked by upsets, the sixth-seeded Diamondbacks beat the eighth-seeded Roadrunners to land the first of two state tournament bids that will come out of Region 5C. Dodge County had already defeated No. 3 seed Waseca and No. 2 Stewartville-Racine.
Rochester started the tournament last week by upending top-seed Wanamingo, who then got eliminated by Pine Island. Rochester followed up their first win by knocking Owatonna into the loser's bracket with a 9-7 decision Saturday. The Aces rebounded with a 13-2, eight-inning victory over Waseca on Sunday to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.
Owatonna got solid pitching from Brandon Wolf in his return from injury and Isaac Rocha, according to manager Brian Simon. The team also played error-free defense and hit the ball hard against the Braves. He said in a text message to KRFO, the team had, "an unwillingness to be easy outs. Guys were putting the barrel of the bat on the ball and hitting it hard."
The No. 4 seed Aces face No. 2 Stewartville-Racine on Saturday, August 12, at 1PM at Fuller Field at Dartts Park. The winner will play Rochester at 4PM. The winner of that game will also qualify for the state tournament, but will play Dodge County on Sunday for seeding purposes.