ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Roseau had the experience, with six seniors in its starting lineup. But Fairmont had Spencer Chirpich on the mound.
On Thursday, the freshman right-hander prevailed.
Chirpich pitched a 5-hitter as Fairmont edged the Rams 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Class AA state high school baseball tournament.
Chirpich won a pitchers' battle against Logan Hulst, the Roseau senior left-hander who gave up only three hits.
"It was a disappointing loss for us," Roseau coach Tracey Wensloff said. "We played well. We didn't have any errors. Logan maybe wasn't quite as sharp as he was his last few games, but he still threw pretty well.
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"But we ran into a good pitcher. He's only a freshman, but he probably is as hard a thrower as anybody we've seen this year. And when we started to hit his fastball, he adjusted instantly. He had a good change-up and curve, and he'd go to them."
Fairmont got to Hulst for two runs in the first. After Fairmont's first two batters were retired, Michael Forster's two-run double capped the two-out rally.
Roseau got one run back in the third when Nick Anderson, Austin Halvorson and Alex Strand all singled, with Strand driving in the run. Fairmont got its third run in the fourth on a Bryce Holm run-scoring single.
Roseau made it 3-2 in the top of the sixth when Strand singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error. The Rams had runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but couldn't get a run across.
"We had a couple of opportunities to score -- guys on first and second, one out," Wensloff said. "But we weren't able to move them around. We didn't hit a lot of balls hard when we got runners on base."
The 20-6 Rams play Cannon Falls, an 8-0 quarterfinal loser to Holy Family Catholic, in a 10 a.m. consolation semifinal game today.
