Regional thrill ride rolls on for Jackson

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Jackson's improbable run through the Senior Babe Ruth Midwest Plains Regional continued Monday.

Now the team is just one victory away from its first regional title and Senior Babe Ruth World Series berth.

"It feels great, but we still have to win one more," Garrett Fritsche said.

Jackson put itself in the driver's seat as Fritsche's walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning beat Minnesota state champion Minnetonka 8-7 in the winners bracket final.

Jackson, the only non-state champion in the eight-team field, improved to 3-0 in the double-elimination regional and 33-5 on the season.

ABOVE: Jackson rightfielder Alex Beussink hauls in a sacrifice fly ball during the fourth inning Monday in Charleston, Mo.

"We're playing good at the right time and we're not intimidated," Jackson coach Paul Sander said. "These guys feel like they belong on the field with anybody."

Playing for it all

Jackson advances to today's 2 p.m. championship round against either Minnesota or Charleston, who square off in the 11 a.m. losers bracket final.

A Jackson win ends the tournament and sends the squad to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series set for Aug. 15 through 22 in Moses Lake, Wash.

If Jackson loses, one more title contest would be played at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

LEFT: Jackson shortstop Garrett Fritsche throws a ground ball to first for the out during the fifth inning Monday in Charleston, Mo.

"It's ours to lose," Sander said of a potential regional championship. "We may lose, but it's ours to lose.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the tournament. We'll have [ace pitcher] Chris Roth ready to go and whoever we play is going to have to use a lot of pitching just to get to the finals."

Jackson squeezed out a one-run triumph for the second straight day.

Against Nebraska in Sunday's winners bracket semifinal, Jackson rallied from a 7-2 deficit with a seven-run fifth inning and prevailed 9-8.

Jackson's largest deficit against Minnesota was 5-3 as the back-and-forth affair featured three lead changes and two ties.

"We just grind it out," Ryan Bass said.

Jackson, which led 3-1 after one inning, broke a 5-5 deadlock on a two-run single by Bass with two outs in the fifth inning.

Minnesota forged a 7-7 tie with a two-run sixth, which is where things stood entering the bottom of the seventh.

Ryan Sprandel got things going as he led off with a pinch-hit single.

"How many kids can come up off the bench, not see a ball all game and drill one to left?" Sander said.

Roth, Jackson's leadoff batter, doubled to right-center as Sprandel stopped at third.

Minnesota brought on its third pitcher of the game, Andrew Roy. He intentionally walked Spencer Sander to set up a force play at home.

Fritsche, after taking ball one, drilled a hard shot just to the right of the second base bag that easily got through the drawn-in infield as Sprandel scored the winning run.

"If the pitch was up, I was going to try and hit it to the outfield. But if it was down I just wanted to drive it up the middle," Fritsche said. "I knew when I hit it that the game was over."

Key players

Fritsche was also the winning pitcher with 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief. He allowed Andrew Prochno's two-run, game-tying triple in the sixth inning -- both runs were charged to Austin Mueller -- before retiring the final five batters he faced.

Fritsche was able to pitch despite having to leave his start Sunday after just one inning due to a sprained ankle suffered during a collision at the plate.

Fritsche got the ankle taped and re-entered in the third inning, but he did not return to the mound in that contest.

While Fritsche -- Jackson's shortstop when he doesn't pitch -- said the ankle still was sore, he was ready to take the mound if needed.

"It was worse today than yesterday, but it loosened up as the game wore on," Fritsche said. "It was pretty bad, but I told him [Paul Sander] I was ready."

Fritsche, who played the first five-plus innings at shortstop before coming in to pitch, had three of Jackson's 14 hits.

Bass, Sander, Bryant Steffens and Josh DeBrock all added two hits.

"We hit the ball up and down the lineup," coach Sander said.

Bass, in addition to his two-run single, belted a two-run homer in the first inning. That blast stands as the only home run of the tournament being played at spacious Hillhouse Park.

"The first thing I did was make sure it was fair," said Bass, whose shot cleared the 331-foot sign on the left-field wall. "Then I took the trot."

While Fritsche notched the pitching win, Mueller arguably was Jackson's most important hurler.

Steffens, the starter, lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He was charged with four runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter.

Mueller allowed one run and one hit over the next 3 2/3 innings. He was replaced by Fritsche after allowing two one-out singles in the sixth. Those runs scored and were charged to Mueller.

"He [Paul Sander] told me to warm up quick and I did," Mueller said. "I was hoping to stick it out, but the team pulled through."

Said coach Sander: "He [Mueller] saved us. Without him pitching four-plus innings, we don't win."