Braves finish solid season

The Waseca Braves were hopeful of winning at least one game in the double-elimination Region 6C Tournament.

They’ll have to settle for a fine season.

The 2023 campaign ended Monday night with a 6-0 loss to Waterville at Jordan, two days after a 7-1 setback to a solid Jordan squad. It left Waseca with a season record of 15-5-1.

“It was a fun summer,” said Braves coach Tink Larson.

The Waterville game, according to Larson, was closer than the score indicated as the Indians tacked on two unearned runs in their final at-bat.

Kelvin Nelson, Jimmy Loonan and Kyle Waugh were the only Braves to hit safely as Waterville ‘s Luke Sellner struck out nine and walked three while handing the Braves their only shutout of the season.

Nelson pitched all eight innings for the Braves, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits, with four strikeouts and a walk.

“He did a great job of keeping us in the game,” said Larson. “But we couldn’t do anything with our bats against Sellner.”

The Jordan game was also closer than it looked.

“We had one bad inning,” said Larson. “They sored four unearned runs on one hit. We had a couple of mental mistakes that cost us.”

Danny Cromer started and pitched six innings, taking the loss. Uriah Possin threw in relief. The Braves committed five fielding errors.

Nelson had the Braves’ only hit as they struck out 11 times against two Brewers pitchers.

“We didn’t hit the ball,” said Larson. “It would have been tough to beat them.”

The Brewers improved their season record to 29-2.

“They have a very good team,” said Larson.

Larson felt great about the season, especially considering the fact they used four pitchers who were in high school last spring.

“They should add some pitching depth in the future to go along with Nelson and Cromer,” said Larson.

Another exciting thing about this past season, according to Larson, was playing before some large crowds at home games.

“It was great to see that many fans coming to our games,” he said.

This year’s roster included Larson, Nelson, Loonan, Waugh, Cromer, Possin, Chaz Verduzco, Chris Glynn, Seth Anderson, Kendrik Volkmann, Scott Hanson, Ben Schoenrock, Jason Reger, Kodi Cunningham, Payton Garza, Ryan Wangen, Eli Lutgens, Eric Simmons, Zach Hoehn, Carter McQuery, Nick Rathmann, Alex Feeney, Geno Glynn and Jason Reger. The manager was Blake Nelson.