MAD FROGS UPSET TOP-SEED BRONCS FOR STATE TOURNEY BERTH

Menno finally came out on top in a close game, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Playing in an elimination game in the District 6 Amateur Baseball Tournament in Freeman Thursday night, July 28, the sixth-seed Mad Frogs upset top-seed Lesterville 4-3 in 11 innings to earn their ticket to the state tournament.

“It felt awesome, just because we’ve come up short so many other times this year,” said Caleb Preszler, the player/manager for the Mad Frogs who didn’t see his team pick up a win until the third week of June. “All season long it seemed like things just didn’t go our way. And to come into districts as the last seed, lose to Freeman in a close game (3-1 on July 22) and then to knock of the top seed, it does feel good.”

The Broncs, who had lost to No. 4 Wynot in the semifinals last Sunday, tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth and had a threat to win the game with two runners on and nobody out in the bottom of the 10th but Doug Hall got out of the game.

Then, in the top of the 11th, leadoff man Dylan Lehr drew a walk and Spencer Schulz connected for a go-ahead RBI double that made it 5-4. And in the bottom of the 11th, Hall once again pitched out of tough situation — this time a bases loaded, one-out jam. The veteran picked up the win when he got the last two men of the night to hit into groundouts.

“It was great to see Doug come in and do his thing,” said Preszler. “The game was as exciting as it sounds.”

In other action Thursday, Tabor earned a trip to state with an 11-6 win over Crofton.

The District 6 Amateur Baseball Tournament concludes in Freeman Saturday night, July 30 when Freeman faces Wynot for the championship. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. Both teams have already qualified for state, which will be played in Mitchell Aug. 3-14.