Indians Grab 2-1 Series Lead In Section 3B Playoffs

The last thing the Shakopee Indians wanted to do was travel to Jordan on Thursday down 2-1 in their best-of-five playoff series.

And thanks to Brandon Olson's one-out double in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday, they won't have to.

Olson's hit proved to be the game-winner as the two-time defending state champion Indians downed the Brewers 6-5. So the Indians are still headed to Jordan on Thursday, but it's the Brewers, not the Indians, who will have to win that game to extend the series.

“It's a world of difference,” Shakopee manager Brannon Weigel said of being up instead of down in the series. “We haven't played well in their park all year, so there was a lot of pressure on us today to play good game and not go down two-one.”

That pressure mounted after Jordan came back from a 5-1 deficit with a four-run eighth inning. But close games are nothing new between the teams.

“It's always back and forth between us and Jordan,” infielder/pitcher Aaron Olson said. “We knew it was going to be like that.”

Aaron Olson walked back-to-back batters in the inning to force in a pair of runs, including the one that tied the game at 5-5. But he came back to strike out Cullen Bahn to end the inning.

Kyle Green came on to pitch a scoreless ninth to make sure a gutsy starting performance by Chris Rupert did not go unrewarded.

“That guy tonight was our ace,” Weigel said of Rupert. “He threw 149 pitches Friday and came back on three days rest and threw 130-some tonight. He joined our team three years ago, and he's been leading our staff ever since.”

The game was tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, when Shakopee scored three runs to pull ahead. Zack Bohar had the big hit for the Indians in the frame, a two run double to the base of the wall in center field that gave Shakopee a 3-1 lead. Another run later scored on a sacrifice fly by Weigel to make it 4-1.

Aaron Olson's solo home run with two outs in the seventh made it 5-1.

Bohar had three of Shakopee's eight hits on the night. Jordan also had eight hits.

“With the lineup we have, we've got a number of guys who can hit,” Bohar said. “We've got a lineup that can come back. I think we have that better than any other team I've seen.”