Bulldogs fall to Park River 11-0 in opener

Photos by Chad Koenen
Members of the Otter Tail Central Babe Ruth team posed for a picture on Tony Kawlewski Field in Henning during the opening ceremony of the Babe Ruth Midwest Plains Region baseball tournament on Wednesday. Team members include: Max Grove, Rowan Finseth, Kale Misegades, JR Faaaliga, Beck Thorson, Colton Shjerve, Kaleb Hammes, Olin Link, Dawson Bushman, Ryan Despard, Ayden Olson, Quenton Beske and Max Mekalson. The team is coached by Evan Meece, Randy Misegades, Brent Finseth and the bat boy is Easton Misegades.

Otter Tail Central struggled to get their offense going on Thursday as they fell to Park River, N.D., by a score of 11-0.

A single by Beck Thorson in the third inning was a positive for the Bulldogs

 Kale Misegades started Otter Tail Central’s first game of the tournament against Park River, N.D. on Thursday afternoon.

Jake Solseng led the Park River to victory on the mound. He allowed one hit and zero runs over four innings, striking out six. Reeves Jorgenson threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen.

Kale Misegades took the loss for OTC as he went 2 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, striking out two and walking zero.

Max Grove and Thorson all had one hit to lead OTC.

Ryan Despard connects for a hit during Thursday’s game against Park River.

“We did not have the drive and intensity we needed to compete with a tough Park River team. We came out strong in the top of the first inning, but never got the bats going and were soft defensively. We need to be more aggressive and have more energy in the next two days to fight back and make it to Sunday,” said coach Evan Meece. “From a tournament standpoint, this weekend could not have started out and better.  We had a fantastic opening ceremony with an amazing speech by Mike Max, all heard by Tony Kawlewski himself!  I could not be prouder to be part of this community and be able to put on this event for teams traveling from all across the Midwest Plains. I know that we will continue to make memories for every kid playing here that they’ll never forget.”

Friday

OTC fell to Fergus Falls by a score of 13-4 on Friday.

Beck Thorson takes a swing at a pitch during Thursday’s Midwest Plains tournament game on Thursday.

Fergus Falls captured the lead in the second inning when Wiederich’s sacrifice fly scored one run for Fergus Falls.

Fergus Falls took the lead for good with three runs in the third inning.

Fergus Falls scored four runs in the fifth inning. Fergus Falls’ big inning was driven by a walk by Powers, a single by Scheuerman, and a double by Wiederich.

Ayden Olson took the loss for OTC as he allowed eight hits and nine runs over four innings, striking out two.

Ryan Despard, Olson, Kale Misegades, Dawson Bushman, and Max Mekalson each collected one hit to lead the Bulldogs.

Dawson Bushman eyes up a pitch during Thursday’s Babe Ruth baseball tournament in Henning. The tournament featured teams from four different states.

“We started the game exactly the way we wanted to, being aggressive on the bases and opening up a 2-0 lead.  After Fergus took the lead, we again battled back to regain it.  But then the wheels slowly started to fall off and we couldn’t get it back on.  We’ve got a quick turnaround, so we don’t have time to dwell on anything and get back to business in the morning,” said coach Evan Meece.  “I couldn’t be prouder of this community coming together for this tournament.  After the rain today, the countless amount of people working on the field and helping to make sure we could still play ball the rest of the day was amazing.  I can’t thank all the volunteers that have made this happen enough.”