Jays put end to their long state drought
Posted on Aug 12, 2020

By Tom Schardin

swnewsmedia.com

 

The Prior Lake Jays have snapped their long state drought.

Mitchell Goodwin doubled, tripled and drove in two runs in helping the seventh-seeded Jays to a 6-4 win at fourth-seeded Shakopee Aug. 7 in a Section 3B elimination game.

The win ensured Prior Lake a spot in the Class B state field for the first time since 2009.

Four teams from Section 3B make the state field. The other three teams from the section are top-seeded Chanhassen, second-seeded Victoria and third-seeded Chaska.

State play starts Aug. 21 and the tournament will be held Schleper Stadium at Tahpah Park in Shakopee. For more information, go to mnbaseball.org.

Prior Lake (5-11 overall) followed the win over the Shakopee with a 9-0 loss at Victoria. The setback makes the Jays the No. 4 seed for state out of Section 3B.

Against Shakopee, the Jays used a five-run third inning to go up 5-0. It was 6-2 going into the bottom of the eighth when the Indians scored two runs, but the left the bases loaded with one run with two runs already in.

Brandt Broderick relieved Jake Larson and got a strikeout and a fly ball to end the inning. In the ninth, Shakopee got a runner on base on a two-out error, but Broderick got a pop out to first to end the game.

Broderick fanned two batters in his 1 2/3 innings. Larson got the final out of the seventh inning for the Jays, relieving starter Ben Eisenberg, who went 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while fanning six.

Larson walked four in two-thirds of inning, giving up two runs (one earned) with one strikeout.

Jonah Hoeg also had a strong game at the plate for Prior Lake, finishing 2 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Goodwin was 2 for 5, while Corey Goodwin was 3 for 5 with an RBI.

Tommy Keating also drove in a run for the Jays, while Joe Loftus was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

In the loss to Victoria, Prior Lake was held to just three hits. Three Vics pitchers combined on the shutout, finishing with 11 total strikeouts.

Jett Heinen took the loss for the Jays with five innings of work, giving up four runs. Ben Koopman allowed two runs in two innings, while Cooper Schnackenberg allowed three runs in one-third of an inning. Mitchell Goodwin got two outs in the eighth inning.

All three of Prior Lake's hits were singles from Jeff Butler, Corey Goodwin and Sam Shopbell.