MINOT -- A flashback to the early portion of the high school baseball season didn't bode well for Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg.
The Patriots entered the Class B state high school baseball tournament as one of the hottest teams, having won 10 straight games. That streak was snapped, as well as the Patriots' bid for a state championship, with a 5-1 quarterfinal loss to three-time defending state champion Minot Ryan here Friday.
The 13-7 Patriots will meet Grafton, a 2-0 loser to Shiloh Christian, in a consolation semifinal game at approximately 11:15 a.m. today.
"The first couple of games this season were kind of like this," Patriots coach Eric Nygaard said. "The key hits, we weren't getting them then. And we didn't get them today. We haven't played in about a week. I think it showed today."
The Patriots have hitters -- they entered the state tournament with four regulars batting better than .300. But no player had more than 13 RBIs.
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May-Port-C-G stranded only six runners against Ryan. But the runners left on base came in bunches, as May-Port-C-G had the bases loaded in the fifth inning, and had two on with nobody out in the sixth, and couldn't score in either inning.
"As the year's gone along, our offense has gotten better," Nygaard said. "Our guys at the top of the order usually are good at getting the ball in play and getting runners in. But we struggled with that today. That was a key. If we hit the ball solid and put it in play, we force them to make plays. But we didn't get it done.
"It was the bottom of our order that was getting on. But we didn't get the big hit -- a line drive in the gap, a bloop hit with two out, whatever -- that probably would have been at least two runs (in the fifth)."
Part of the reason for that struggle was Ryan pitcher Ben Magnuson. The right-hander allowed only four hits -- two of them by Hunter Torgeson -- and two walks while striking out six. Nick Rygg lined a single to left past a drawn-in infield in the second inning to drive in the Patriots' lone run.
"Ben does a good job," Ryan coach Bryan Kramer said. "He goes out and throws strikes. He'll get hit, but he doesn't give up a lot of runs."
Ryan broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the third. Adam Burckhard's double deep to left field drove home Kyle Petz from first. The sliding Petz was safe at home on a close play, then Burckhard was able to score on the play on an errant throw trying to nail him at third base.
"I thought that was a back-breaker," Kramer said. "We figure if we get a two-run lead, that's huge. It sets up your defense so much better. And Magnuson isn't going to give up a big inning."
Jace Ingebretson took the mound loss, allowing seven hits while striking out six. "Jace threw well," Nygaard said.
