The Becker Buzzards 35+ amateur baseball team entered the 2021 MSMABA state tournament last Saturday with four straight state titles. However, their pursuit of a fifth state title hit a temporary road block in the opening game, losing 5-2 to the Searle’s Bullheads. With the loss, Becker advanced to the Class A bracket (the tournament has four levels), but still has a shot at a class A title after picking up a win Sunday over Belle Plaine.

In the loss to the Bullheads, Pitcher Tanner Bakke drew the start on the mound but some uncharacteristic defensive lapses led to several unearned runs.

“We kicked the ball around a little bit and it ended up costing us some runs,” said Acting Manager Brian Kolbinger. 

Jason Baune, the team’s usual skipper, missed the game and was reportedly in Texas on franchise related business to tour several baseball stadiums as he collects ideas for an eventual Buzzards baseball stadium project in Becker.

The Buzzards would notch all their runs in the third inning, as Rich Petty and Jason Pfingsten came around to score on a Matt Koester single to tie the game at 2-2. The score would remain tied until the sixth inning, when Searle’s would score three runs on a pair of Buzzard errors.

Todd Klaers led the offensive effort for Becker, collecting two of the team’s seven hits.

Belle Plaine

Sunday, Becker was able to get back into the win column with a 5-1 victory over Belle Plaine behind a complete game pitching performance from Pfingsten. The right-hander scattered just four hits and gave up one unearned run in the first inning while striking out four batters in his seven innings of work.

Petty opened the scoring for the Buzzards in the first inning, as he singled and scored on a Klaers base hit. Klaers answered the call again in the third inning, as he brought Steve Newman home with another RBI and Becker took the 2-1 lead.

Becker would open up the game in the fourth inning by plating three runs to extend their lead.

At the plate, Petty was the hot bat with a 3-for-4 performance, while the Buzzards totaled nine hits as a team.

With the win, Becker advanced to Mankato for the Class A semifinals, playing against Prior Lake on Saturday (today). If they win on Saturday evening, they will play for the title on Sunday, while a loss in the opener would lead to a spot in the third place game on Sunday.