After a 46 hour break between pitches, Spirit Lake and Sheldon picked up where they left off on Saturday night, tied at five in the bottom of the seventh inning of a Class 2A District Final. Three innings later, the Orabs were headed to Substate with an 8-5 win in ten innings over the Indians. Spirit Lake seemed primed to walk off with the win in the ninth with runners at first and second with two away, but Casey Jones’ line drive to right hung in the air for the final out, ending the threat. In the tenth, Sheldon cleanup hitter Cole Kleinwolterwink took an offering from freshman Paul Brown over the left field wall to give the Orabs the lead. Three batters later, senior pinch hitter Adam Nilles cracked a two-run blast for a little insurance. Sheldon’s pitchers combined to strikeout 21 batters and the teams combined to hit six home runs in the contest. Spirit Lake used two solo long balls as part of four unanswered runs on Saturday. Spirit Lake’s season ends at 15-12. To hear coach Jason Schneider’s postgame interview, check out the sportscast on the SportsPage of ExploreOkoboji.com.
The Spencer Tigers also saw their season come to a close Monday, falling 11-7 to Storm Lake in the Class 3A District Finals. The Tornadoes led 6-1 until Spencer rallied to score five in the fifth to pull even. But a half inning later, Storm Lake responded with a five-spot of their own to reassume the lead. Spencer’s Josh Bubke went 2-for-4 with a RBI and was the losing pitcher. The Tigers finish with a record 13-17.
