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EDINA -- The Bemidji American Legion baseball team was on the cusp of going home.
Competing at the Gopher Classic in Edina, the Centaurs trailed East Ridge 10-5 in their pool play finale on Sunday. But Bemidji rallied for 10 runs in the sixth, finishing 3-1 in the pool and advancing to the Round of 16 for the first time in program history.
In that explosive sixth inning, Aaron Heger kicked off the Centaurs’ comeback with an RBI double. Soon after, Ben Corradi walked with the bases loaded to tie things up, and Hunter Brodina followed with another walk for the go-ahead run.
Cam Justice and Heger added RBI singles from there, and Brodina and Justice came in before the inning ended for the 15-10 advantage.
East Ridge added one run in the seventh, but Bemidji hung on to win 15-11 and advance out of pool play in dramatic fashion.
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The Centaurs also defeated Rapid City (S.D.) 1-0 on Saturday and Edina 5-2 early on Sunday.
In the early game against Rapid City, Ethan Biehn’s fourth-inning RBI triple was all that Sawyer Nendick needed. Biehn scored Ty Lundeen on the play for a 1-0 lead, and Nendick shut down Rapid City the rest of the way.
Nendick ended his outing by tossing seven scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out a pair.
Against Edina, Biehn hit a bases-clearing double for a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning. Edina got two back in the second frame, but Will Zellmann clubbed an RBI double in the third inning and scored on Brodina’s single for a 5-2 edge.
Zeroes filled the scoreboard the rest of the way, and Lundeen finished with a complete-game win. He tossed all seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out seven.
Teams advancing out of pool play continue to the Round of 16, and winners move onto the quarterfinals, both on Monday, July 11. The Gopher Classic semifinals and finals are on Tuesday, July 11.
Bemidji 1, Rapid City 0
RC 000 000 0 -- 0-4-1
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BEM 000 100 X -- 1-4-0
WP: Nendick (CG, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K)
LP: Anderson (CG, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)
Bemidji 5, Edina 2
BEM 302 000 0 -- 5-5-2
EDI 020 000 0 -- 2-5-0
WP: Lundeen (CG, 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K)
LP: Hentges (3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K)
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Bemidji 15, East Ridge 11
ER 312 211 1 -- 11-16-3
BEM 200 03(10) X -- 15-10-2
WP: Heger (3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K)
LP: Jircu (0.1 IP, 1 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 K)
