Tuesday, May 30, 2023

SLP Orioles Eliminate Mpls. South Tigers

 Tuesday night was a big night for Josh Middleton as he drove in three runs and struck out eight batters to lead the St. Louis Park Orioles to an 8-3 win over the Minneapolis South Tigers in a Section 6AAAA elimination round game at Derrick Keller Field at Dakota Park.  

Middleton would drive in the Oriole first run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single that scored Graham Sullivan, who led off the game with a walk.  

In the top of the second, the Tigers would take the lead with three runs, aided by two St. Louis Park errors.  Two of the runs would come on an RBI single from Elias Solberg that scored Alex Menth and Tariku Westrum Ostrom.  The Orioles would tie the game in their half of the inning as Aaron Bilden led off with a triple, then crossed the plate on a fielder's choice by Ryan Moran.  Moran would head home on Middleton's RBI single, his second of the game.  

St. Louis Park would take the lead for good in the bottom of the third on an error by South shortstop Gavy Schacher that enabled Andruw Vela to head home and Griffin Krone to take second base.  Krone would account for the Orioles fifth run on a sacrifice fly from Moran.  

The long ball would prevail for St. Louis Park in the bottom of the fourth when Zach Helfmann hit a two run homer over the right center field fence, his seventh of the season.  

Middleton would settle into a groove on the mound over the last three innings as he recorded five of his eight strikeouts and only allowed three Tiger hitters to reach base.  Alex Menth hit a two out double in the top of the fifth but he retired Westrum Ostrum on a called third strike.  He would leave two runner stranded in the top of the sixth thanks to Vela's outstanding fielding at shortstop.  In addition, he brought home St. Louis Park's final run in the bottom of the sixth on a ground out to Schacher at shortstop that enabled Sullivan to cross the plate following a triple.  

The Orioles improved their record to 10-12 and will face the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers in another elimination round game on Friday, June 3 at 4 PM at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis.  Minneapolis South concluded their season with a record of 12-9.  

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