My Second Home holds on to win Pleasantville tourney
Shandler Herman delivered a pitch for the Pleasantville Lions Club team during their game against Ritter Hardware on Friday night. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
After taking a big lead, My Second Home needed a late blast to seal the championship in the annual Pleasantville Fourth of July Fastpitch Softball Tournament held last Friday-through-Sunday.
Aaron Berg smashed a grand slam in the second inning to help My Second Home take a 7-0 lead over Cushing Tigers in the championship game. Cushing charged back with six runs in the fourth inning, including a three-run blast by Jack Nelson. They scored again in the sixth inning to tie the game.
The local team had a response in the bottom of the sixth, however as Ethan Ringlien smacked a three-run home run to put his team back in the lead as they went on to win 12-9.
Ringlien struck out 11 as he was also the winning pitcher. Collin Weltzien added two hits for My Second Home.
My Second Home advanced to the championship with a 7-1 win over Pleasantville Lions. Micah Anderson was two-for-three with a two-run double while Ringlien struck out 13 in that game.
The championship team also had wins of 7-1 over Ritter Hardware and 7-0 over Foster Fireside in the tournament. Ringlien was the winning pitcher in both games as he struck out 15 against Foster and 14 against Ritter. Curtis Weltzien, Derek Morris and Drew Anderson all had two hits against Foster and Collin Weltzien homered. Drew Anderson also had two RBIs against Ritter.
The championship game was a rematch as Cushing beat My Second Home 5-0 in the pool play portion of the tournament. The local team was limited to just one hit as Cushing’s Cullen Hanson struck out 11 in the game.
Cushing was undefeated before the championship game as they also defeated Foster, 11-4 and Weiner’s Bar 1-0. They were the second seed in the playoff bracket.
The Pleasantville team went 2-0 in pool play, beating Ritter Hardware 11-1 and Weiner’s 2-1. Shandler Herman was the winning pitcher in both games, striking out eight against Ritter and 13 against Weiner’s. Pleasantville earned a bye as the top-seed in the playoff bracket, but they were upset by My Second Home, the fourth seed, in the semifinal.
Weiner’s was the third seed with a 10-9 win over Ritter Hardware. Matt Stuhr struck out 14 in the win after he struck out 15 in the loss to Pleasantville earlier in the tournament. Weiner’s opened the playoff portion with a 10-1 win over Foster as Scott Hammond struck out seven in a two-hitter and Kody Gunderson went two-for-two. Their tournament ended with a 1-0 loss to Cushing.
Local teams will be competing again in the North American Fastpitch Association (NAFA) State Tournament in Eastman and Prairie du Chien, July 15 to 17. The NAFA National Tournament will be Aug. 3 in Eau Claire.
