Sports
Eastview Legion Advances To Gopher Classic Finals
The Thunder won its 13th game in a row in Tuesday's semifinal, beating Eden Prairie 7-5
A fifth-inning rally helped the Eastview American Legion baseball team inch a win away from the Gopher Classic tournament championship.
Left fielder Stu Daly hit a two-run single, erasing a one-run deficit and handing the Thunder a 7-5 win over Eden Prairie on Tuesday at Veterans Field in Minnetonka. The win set up a matchup with either Tri-City Red (New Brighton) or Coon Rapids in the 2 p.m. championship game at Veterans Field.
Eastview jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to key hits in the second and third innings. Patrick Strey singled home Daly in the second to give Eastview a 1-0 lead, then Taylor Branstad picked up an RBI single and the Thunder took advantage of one of Eden Prairie’s five errors to make the score 3-0 in the third.
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But Eden Prairie bounced back in the bottom of the third. After cutting the lead to 3-1, Daniel Blasy hit a three-run home run to left field and gave Eden Prairie a 4-3 advantage.
But Eastview came back. After Daly helped the Thunder regain the lead in the fifth, Alec Knop laid down a successful squeeze bunt in the sixth and increased the lead to 6-4. Another error by Eden Prairie helped Eastview tack on the final run.
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Starting pitcher Austin Lindquist pitched 4 2/3 innings in the game and allowed four runs on five hits. Reliever Joe Voss pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits.
The win is Eastview’s 13th in a row and improves the Thunder’s record to 21-2 on the season.
A win in Tuesday’s championship would give Eastview its second tournament win this month. The Thunder won the New Ulm Upper Midwest Tournament title on July 3.
