ABOVE: Fairmont Martins’ pitcher Josh Smith throws a strike during Game 2 of the Region 13C championship series on Friday night at Herb Wolf Field.
FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Martins defeated the Luverne Redbirds 9-5 in the second game of the Region 13C championship series on Friday, forcing Game 3 on Sunday at Redbird Field in Luverne.
Martins pitcher Josh Smith delivered an impressive performance, pitching seven innings as a relief pitcher, allowing only four hits and striking out six players.
Smith said he felt good overall during the game and saw that everything was coming together.
“Honestly, everything, especially as the game went on,” said Smith. “Curveball and changeup were coming through and the fastball felt good. I felt like I could get the ball where I wanted it to go, that really helped.”
Derek Shoen was 3-for-5 with an RBI to be Fairmont’s top hitter, while Levi Becker was 2-for-5 with four RBIs and Spencer Chirpich was 2-for-4. Jon Traetow, Jack Kosbab and Arnaldo Malave each contributed an RBI to the score.
To start the first inning, the Martins forced an early groundout before allowing a double to left field. Paxten Gravlin, a Fox Lake draftee and the Martins’ starting pitcher on Friday, allowed a single on a line drive to center to score the game’s first run. Gravlin managed to strike out the next batter and force a groundout to force the Martins’ defense off the field.
The Martins quickly answered with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Luke Becker hit a line drive to center for the Martins’ first hit of the night. Chirpich followed with a single to shortstop before Lincoln Becker filled the bases with a walk. Traetow hit a line drive to center to open the scoring for the Martins. Chirpich scored on a wild pitch, bringing Levi Becker to the plate, who hit a ball to left field and scored another three runs.
At the beginning of the second inning, the Redbirds scored four runs themselves and regained the lead at 5:4. The Martins’ offense stalled in the second inning and the team was replaced in series.
After a quick pitcher change to start the third inning, Smith took the mound. Smith prevented the Redbirds from improving their score on the night by allowing a walk before the end of the inning.
The Martins offense regained the lead by scoring four more runs in the third inning. A leadoff triple by Derek Shoen put the first baserunner on base for the Martins. Shoen and Traetow both worked a walk to load the bases. Levi Becker hit a double to center to bring in Shoen and Lincoln Becker. Kosbab hit a single to right field to bring in Traetow. Malave hit a ball to shortstop and reached base on an error, allowing Levi Becker to score and make the score 8-5.
Thanks to a solid defensive performance from both teams, no runs were scored in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
The Martins shut down the Redbirds in the top of the eighth inning, leaving two runners on the bench. A leadoff single by Chirpich opened the bottom of the eighth inning. Shoen hit a pitch to deep center and hit an RBI double, bringing Chirpich in for the first and only run of the inning.
Smith continued his attacks against the Redbirds in the ninth inning and ended the game with a score of 9-5.
The Martins return to Luverne on Sunday for Game 3 at 1 p.m. at Redbird Field.
