A late rally came up a run short as the Hadley Buttermakers edged the Jackson Bulls 5-4 in the opening game of their best-of-three Region 13C amateur baseball playoff series Thursday at Jackson.
Jackson scored a run in the first inning as Shad Wacker’s double scored Andy Wolf.
Hadley scored four runs in the third and added another in the top of the eighth for a 5-1 lead.
The Bulls batted around in the bottom of the eighth and scored three runs but also left the bases loaded. Gavin Jacobsen had a sacrifice fly, Mason Pohlman an RBI single and Easton Bahr an RBI double.
Jackson would be retired in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Pohlman had two hits for the Bulls. Evan Olesen, Bahr and Wacker had one apiece.
Ryan Rasche pitched seven-plus innings and took the pitching loss. Lucas Gardner and Olesen pitched one inning apiece.
Game Two is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Laurie Mahon Field in Hadley. If Game Three is necessary it would be played at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hadley.
Each of the other quarterfinal series ended Friday as the Milroy Irish, Fairmont and Luverne completed two-game sweeps.
The Irish were 13-1 winners in seven innings over Ruthton, the Martins beat Windom 11-6 and the Redbirds shut out Adrian 18-0 in seven innings.
The Jackson-Hadley winner will play Milroy starting Wednesday at The Irish Yard. Luverne hosts Fairmont in Game One of the other series Wednesday.
Region 13C Playoffs
Quarterfinal series
Hadley Buttermakers (4) vs. Jackson Bulls (5)
Hadley leads series 1-0
Game 1 – Hadley 5, Jackson 4
Game 2 – Saturday at Hadley, 2 p.m.
Game 3 – (if necessary) Sunday at Hadley, 2 p.m.
Milroy Irish (1) vs. Ruthton Royals (8)
Milroy wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Milroy 5, Ruthton 0
Game 2 – Milroy 13, Ruthton 1 (7 innings)
Luverne Redbirds (2) vs Adrian A's (7)
Luverne wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Luverne 10, Adrian 0 (7 innings)
Game 2 – Luverne 18, Adrian 0 (7 innings)
Windom Pirates (3) vs. Fairmont Martins (6)
Fairmont wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Fairmont 7, Windom 6
Game 2 – Fairmont 11, Windom 6
League crossover series
Jackson Bulls (2 First Nite) vs. Worthington Cubs (7 Gopher)
Jackson wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Jackson 9, Worthington 0 (forfeit)
Game 2 – Jackson 10, Worthington 3
Fairmont Martins (3 First Nite) vs. Pipestone A’s (6 Gopher)
Fairmont wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Fairmont 12, Pipestone 1
Game 2 – Fairmont 17, Pipestone 2
Fox Lake Foxes (4 First Nite) vs. Ruthton Royals (5 Gopher)
Ruthton wins series 2-1
Game 1 – Fox Lake 6, Ruthton 0
Game 2 – Ruthton 9, Fox Lake 8
Game 3 – Ruthton 15, Fox Lake 14
Lakefield Frogs (5 First Nite) vs. Adrian A’s (4 Gopher)
Adrian wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Adrian 2, Lakefield 0
Game 2 – Adrian 8, Lakefield 7
Mountain Lake Lakers (6 First Nite) vs. Hadley Buttermakers (3 Gopher)
Hadley wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Hadley 8, Mountain Lake 2
Game 2 – Hadley 26, Mountain Lake 1
Heron Lake Lakers (7 First Nite) vs. Luverne Redbirds (2 Gopher)
Luverne wins series 2-0
Game 1 – Luverne 13, Heron Lake 1
Game 2 – Luverne 5, Heron Lake 0