Houghton Building Supply/Stanton earns postseason bid
Defeats REL Inc./Mohawk Technology 2-1
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STANTON -- The fourth seed of the upcoming Twilight League postseason was decided on Thursday in Stanton as Houghton Building Supply/Stanton earned a 2-1 victory over fifth seeded REL Inc./Mohawk Technology.
With the win, Houghton Building Supply will face top-seeded Garnet Garage in a best-of-three series starting Tuesday.
The low-scoring affair was very much a defensive battle according to Stanton’s player-coach Daron Durocher.
"We had runners on base every inning," he said. "It was just a matter of getting the clutch hit to bring that run in."
The first clutch hit came in the fifth inning to tie the game at one each.
REL had a 1-0 lead for the first five innings. It started in the first with their leadoff batter Travis Pietila hitting a double deep to right center. He advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and came home on a Howard Johnson single through the infield.
While Houghton Building Supply had runners on base every inning, REL starter Grant Johnson and team did a good job of keeping them from getting home. That is, until the fifth inning. That’s when Stanton tied the game.
In that frame, a hit-by-pitch to Zach Geborkoff put him on first. He stole second and tied the game on an error, making it a 1-1 game with two frames to go.
Stanton’s winning run came in the sixth. Durocher reached on a hard-hit single. Then after fly outs to shortstop and the catcher, Clark Aappla stroked a clutch double to gap scoring Durocher.
While Houghton Building Supply pitcher Levi Frahm put the tying run on by way of a walk to REL’s Gerald Johnson, Johnson got no further than second base before Stanton made the third out and earned another week of Twilight baseball with the 2-1 win.
Frahm earned the complete-game win with 11 strikeouts and four walks.
"Levi was spectacular," said Durocher. "He seemed to get better as the game went on. It was the best game he has thrown all year."
Up next
The Twilight League playoffs continue with two best-of-three playoff series beginning Tuesday. Top-seeded Garnet Garage will host Houghton Building Supply/Stanton in Houghton. Second-seeded Northern Driveline will host third-seed Coldwell Banker Craig Heinonen in Stanton. Both games will start at 6:30 p.m.