FERGUS FALLS -- With a little bit early and a lot more late, the Bemidji American Legion baseball team blew out Alexandria 8-1 in the Sub-State 14 Tournament on Thursday in Fergus Falls.
The victory advances the top-seeded Centaurs in the winners bracket final, where they’ll face second-seeded Moorhead at 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 23, for a spot in the championship series.
Bemidji (24-4) grabbed a quick 2-0 lead thanks to Grant DeClusin’s RBI double in the first inning and Isaiah Biehn’s RBI single in the second.
But Alexandria halved the deficit in the fourth frame on a sacrifice fly, and the 2-1 score stood into the middle of the fifth.
That’s when the Centaurs turned on the jets, though.
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DeClusin clubbed a two-RBI triple, and Ty Lundeen followed with an RBI single for some breathing room at 5-1. An inning later in the sixth, Lundeen walked with the bases loaded, Ben Corradi scored on a passed ball and DeClusin scored on a sac fly.
The surge brought on a much more comfortable 8-1 advantage, which was more than enough for Aaron Heger to work with on the mound. Heger needed just 77 pitches for the complete game, allowing one run on four hits while striking out three.
Bemidji is now two wins away from reaching the state tournament. A loss Friday would put the Centaurs in the losers bracket final on Saturday, in which case three straight wins would also clinch a state berth.
Moorhead defeated sixth-seeded East Grand Forks 18-1 in five innings on Thursday.
Bemidji 8, Alexandria 1
ALX 000 100 0 -- 1-4-3
BEM 110 033 X -- 8-9-1
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WP: Heger (CG, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)
LP: Suchy (4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K)
