Essig tops Lamberton for trip to state

LAMBERTON -- Essig dominated Lamberton behind the pitching of Dayton Larson Sunday, winning 11-4 to take the Region 2C Amateur Baseball runnerup position and earn a trip to the state Class C Amateur Tournament in Belle Plaine.

Larson, a draftee from Hanska, pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up three runs, only one earned. He gave up five hits and struck out 2.

Adam Schumacher took the loss for Lamberton, giving up seven runs on nine hits. He struck out five and walked four.

Terry Helget was 3-for-3 at the plate with a triple and an RBI for Essig. Doug Radloff was 3-for-5 with two RBI, and Mitch Stueber was 2-for-3 with one RBI.

Essig moves on to the state tournament as the Region 2C runnerup. It will face the Region 15C champion at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22.

Granite Falls was the Class 2C champ, and will face the 15C runnerup.

In the player draft following the game, Granite Falls picked up pitcher Tom Steinbach from the New Ulm Brewers. Essig picked Colby Pack from Lamberton, who will catch.