The Moorhead Brewers traveled to Green Isle and Arlington over the weekend to participate in the Miller Lite Invitational and came home with the championship trophy. The Brewers opened the 16-team tournament with a 2-1 win over Blue Earth on Friday night and continued their championship run with an 11-3 victory over host Green Isle late Saturday evening. A semi-final win over Fairfax 11-5 sent them to the championship game opposite the Litchfield Blues with the Brewers coming out on top 8-5. Brewer infielder Dale Dingmann was named the tournament MVP going 8-14 with 1 HR and 9 RBI on the weekend.
Moorhead Brewers 2 Blue Earth Pirates 1
The Brewers and the Pirates tangled in the opening round of the Miller Lite Invitational on Friday evening in Arlington with the Brewers looking to avenge a loss to the Pirates in the semi-finals of the 2004 State Class C Tournament. Brock Gnadt was given the start on the hill and responded by limiting the potent Blue Earth squad to 1 run off 2 hits while striking out 8 Pirate batters. The rookie righthander had a perfect game going through 5 innings of play until beaning the lead-off batter in the 6th. The Brewers pushed 2 runs across in the 3rd inning with a 2 RBI double from Dale Dingmann scoring Mike Bruns and Jeremy Peschel. The Pirates rallied in the 6th with a run but left the bases loaded to end the threat. A diving grab by rightfielder Mike Bruns on a sinking liner with a runner on first ended the game and the Brewers moved on in the winner's bracket.
Moorhead Brewers 11 Green Isle Irish 3
Next up in tournament play the Brewers faced the host Irish in their home park, the Irish Yard. The Brewers came out firing in the 1st inning with a 3-run homer off the bat of Josh Dietz and an RBI double by Brock Gnadt to make it 4-0. The Irish would trim the lead to 4-3 in the 3rd with Mac Zachow's 2-run HR getting them back into the contest. The Brewers answerered in the top of the 4th with a 7 run outburst to push the lead to 11-3. Dale Dingmann's towering grand slam provided the big blow and Brewer starting pitcher Brook Lyter kept the Irish off the board the rest of the way to earn the win. Lyter was backed by a 13-hit attack with Jeremy Peschel getting 3 and Kent Moser, Josh Dietz, and Brock Gnadt each having 2 hits on the night.
Moorhead Brewers 11 Fairfax Cardinals 5
The Brewers moved on to face the Fairfax Cardinals in the semi-finals early Sunday afternoon at a hot and blustery Irish Yard. Josh Dietz got the Brewers on the board right away in the 1st inning with a 2 RBI double scoring Ryan Olson and Dale Dingmann. After the Cardinals scored a single run in the bottom of the inning, Dingmann came through with a 2 RBI double to extend the lead to 4-1. The Cardinals forged ahead with a 4-run 4th and were threatening for more off Brewer starter Andy Leraas, but rightfielder Chris Clemenson gunned out a Cardinal attempting to advance to 3rd to end the inning. Clemenson's play in the field carried over to the plate as he smacked a 3-run bomb over the fence in right centerfield to put the Brewers ahead to stay. Run scoring hits by Olson, Dingmann, and Dietz pushed the lead to 11-5, and Leraas retired the next 9 Cardinals in order to advance the Brewers to the championship game.
Moorhead Brewers 8 Litchfield Blues 5
The title game of the Miller Lite Invitational featured the Litchfield Blues facing the Moorhead Brewers. The Brewers jumped on top in the top of the 1st inning scoring 4 runs courtesy of a 2 RBI double by Chris Clemenson and a sharp run scoring single up the middle by Brock Gnadt mixed in with 3 Blues errors. The Blues answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning off of Brewer starting pitcher Marc Hovey. Brewer bats tallied another 4 runs in the top of the 4th inning as a bases loaded single by Gnadt scored Dingmann and Moser. After a walk to Dietz loaded the bases again, Pat Lisko drew another walk to bring home a run. The Blues would not go away quietly as they scored 4 in the bottom of the 4th to cut the lead to 8-5. Hovey kept them from scoring the rest of the way to earn his 1st win of the year.