Trailing 3-1 in the seventh inning, No. 1 seed Parkers Prairie scored five runs en route to a 6-3 victory over Hinckley- Finlayson in the Class 1A semifinals Friday at Chaska Athletic Park.
Panthers senior Jake Thoennes led off with a double against Jaguars lefthander Travis Visser, who left the game shortly thereafter with the bases loaded. Casey Peterson and Hunter McDaniel each had two-run singles off reliever T.J. Johnson. Parkers Prairie (22-2) defeated another lefthander in its quarterfinal game.
"We came into this game just confident seeing another lefty here," Thoennes said.
Hinckley-Finlayson (19-7) had scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. Trent Gustafson drove in two of those runs with a single.
Springfield 5, Adrian 4: Senior pitcher Sam Baier made up ground quickly for Springfield. Baier surrendered two runs in the top of the first, but he led off the bottom half with a double and scored one of three runs in the inning. The Tigers (20-6) never trailed again.
"You want him to have the ball in his hands at that time," Tigers coach Bob Fink said. "He led us to a victory."
Adrian (20-8) rallied in the fifth but fell a run short.
MATTHEW DAVIS
