BREWERS ROLL OVER REDS 16-1

The Moorhead Brewers have been one of the top teams in the state for several years and that showed Thursday as they jumped out to an early lead and kept adding runs en route to a 16-1 victory over the Crookston Reds Amateur Baseball team.  

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on four hits.  Denver Blinn led off the game with a double to shallow right-center and then stole third.  Kaleb Binstock followed with an RBI single to make it 1-0.  Following a pickoff, the Brewers picked up two more hits but stranded runners on second and third to end the inning.  

The Brewers would send twelve men to the plate in the third.  Tanner Adam drew a leadoff walk and stole second.  Following a strikeout, Kyle Kingsley singled to center to make it 2-0.  Back to back walks would load the bases before a wild pitch brought home Kingsley to make it 3-0 and move the runners to second and third.  After a flyout for the second out of the inning, Jeremy Peschel would reach on an error scoring the third run of the inning to make it 4-0 and a wild pitch brought home another run to make it 5-0.  A walk put runners on first and second before a misplayed fly ball in left allowed two more runs to score making it 7-0.  Adam would double home a run to make it 8-0 and score on an RBI single by David Ernst to make it 9-0 Brewers.  "We knew this was going to be a tough game," said Reds Manager Rob Silvers.  "The Brewers have been one of the elite teams in the state for a long time and we aren't playing good baseball.  I think Zach had perhaps his best outing thus far but we once again kicked the ball around." 

The Brewers made it 10-0 to open the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Blinn and Binstock before three straight batters flew out.  In the sixth, a one-out walk would start another rally as Matt Oye followed with an RBI double to make it 11-0.  An error allowed Blinn to reach and brought Oye home making it 12-0.  Binstock reached on a walk putting runners on first and second with two outs before the second error of the inning brought home another run making it 13-0 with runners on first and second.  Back-to-back walks forced home another run to make it 14-0 before Bailey Schmitz reached up to snag a line drive, that would've been an extra-base hit for the final out of the inning.  

The Reds scored their lone run of the game when Alex LaFrance pulled a one-out double down the left field line.  Jacob Butcher followed with a high chopper off the pitcher's glove that went into center scoring LaFrance to make it 14-1.

The Brewers tacked on two more in the seventh with three straight walks to end the inning.  Blinn and Binstock followed with back-to-back sacrifice fly balls to make it 15-1, then 16-1.  In the bottom of the inning, all three Reds went down on strikes to end the game.   "We have got to be better," said Silvers.  "Yes we were playing a great team but we can't continue to walk 10-12 guys a game and kick the ball around to the tune of five or six errors and expect to win ball games.  Right now the desire to win isn't there, we just don't have guys playing with enthusiasm.  We have to be focused on baseball when we step out on the field which we haven't been very much this season and it has shown from how we pitch to the way we field or lack thereof to many of our approaches at the plate.  The Brewers look like they are going to have a great team again this year and hats off to them for taking care of business but we gave up way too easily." 

The Reds fall to 3-4 and are off until Wednesday when they host the Ada A's at 7:35 p.m. at Jim Karn Field.  Moorhead improves to 3-0. 

For Crookston
Jacob Butcher 1-3, RBI
Alex LaFrance 1-2, 2B, R