Fourth-seeded Hadley scored three runs after two were out in the bottom of the ninth inning to get past fifth-seeded Jackson 6-5 in Game Three of their best-of-three Region 13C amateur baseball playoff series Sunday at Laurie Mahon Field in Hadley.
The Bulls finish their season with an 18-11 record.
Hadley advances to face top-seeded Luverne in the Region 13C Final Four. Second-seeded Windom plays the third-seeded Milroy Irish.
The winners of those series qualify for the state tournament for seeding and drafting order. The losers of those series meet for the final berth from the region in the state tourney.
Jackson had a pair of three-run leads at 3-0 in the second inning and 5-2 in the seventh. The Buttermakers scored one in the seventh and then had the three-run ninth.
"Any loss is going to be a tough loss," said Jackson manager Scott Bahr. "To have a lead going into the ninth inning and lose is really tough. It was a good series. It was a 4-5 matchup and it went to last inning of the third game. It shows that the regular season matters. Game Three would have been in Jackson if we would have beat Hadley during the regular season so we'll talk about that next year when we do it. Hadley's a good team and I think we're a good team and came up a little short."
Blaise Jacobsen had two doubles and had four runs batted in for the Bulls. Chris Gumto also had two doubles for Jackson.
Shad Wacker had a hit and drove in the Bulls' other run with a sacrifice fly.
Andy Wolf had a hit and was hit by a pitch twice for Jackson. Easton Bahr had the other hit for the Bulls.
Ben Scheevel pitched eight and two-thirds innings for Jackson. He allowed four runs (all earned) on eight hits, walked three and struck out four.
"Ben was a stud," said Scott Bahr. "He pitched into the ninth inning. I went to talk to him and he was tired. He was probably tied in the seventh but he kept going and going. He said if you have a plan let's go with it and we do have a plan. We did it all year long. We went to our bullpen and our bullpen has been really good. A couple feet here or there on a couple ground balls and we're out of that inning with a win, but it went the other way and that's baseball."
Kevin Holm and Sean Minder finished up on the mound for the Bulls.
Jackson will have two players continuing their seasons as drafted players. Draftees can only pitch and can not bat.
Ryan Rasche was selected by Windom and Gavin Jacobsen was picked by Hadley.
REGION 13C PLAYOFFS
First round
Hadley def. Jackson 2-1
Wednesday - Jackson 3, Hadley 2
Saturday - Hadley 9, Jackson 3
Sunday - Hadley 6, Jackson 5
Luverne def. Adrian 2-0
Wednesday - Luverne 15, Adrian 0 (7 innings)
Saturday - Luverne 7, Adrian 0
Milroy Irish def. Lakefield 2-0
Wednesday - Milroy Irish 13, Lakefield 1 (7 innings)
Friday - Milroy Irish 13, Lakefield 5
Windom def. Pipestone 2-1
Wednesday - Windom 4, Pipestone 0
Saturday - Pipestone 6, Windom 5
Sunday - Windom 12, Pipestone 1 (7 innings)
Final Four
Luverne vs. Hadley
Wednesday - at Luverne, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday - at Hadley, 2 p.m.
Sunday - (if necessary) at Luverne, 2 p.m.
Windom vs. Milroy Irish
Wednesday - at Windom, 7:30 p.m.
Friday - at Milroy, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday - (if necessary) at Windom, 2 p.m.
Region 13C draft choices
Luverne: Brandon Alfson, Pipestone
Windom: Ryan Rasche, Jackson
Milroy Irish: Tucker Sorenson, Adrian
Hadley: Gavin Jacobsen, Jackson