July 29--JACKSON -- Kody Johnson helped his own pitching cause Wednesday night with a two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning and the Windom Pirates utilized his control on the hill -- along with a sparkling relief appearance by seasoned veteran Lance Jackson -- to claim a 5-2 First Nite League amateur baseball playoff victory over Heron Lake.

With the victory the Pirates improve to 12-14 for the summer and stay alive in the playoffs, earning a chance to tangle with top-seeded Fairmont Friday night in another elimination game.

The Martins, who have defeated Windom twice in recent games (5-4 to end the regular season and 16-0 in the playoffs July 23), were edged Wednesday evening by the second-seeded Jackson Bulls, 3-2, in a winner's bracket game at Fairmont.

Meanwhile, a fine season ends for the ever-improving Lakers (10-15), who were seeded third in the tournament and won two playoff games -- but were silenced by Johnson and the Pirate defense until the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday.

"That team (Heron Lake) is as good as us if not better," exclaimed Windom manager Jim Johnson after the game. "This happened to be our night, this time -- but we had to play well to beat a good team."

Johnson's son Kody pitched a solid seven-and-one-third innings for the Pirates, scattering just four hits and not allowing a run during the first seven.

But it the eighth, the Lakers chased Johnson with four straight hits -- that plated a pair of runners and put two others in scoring position.

Heron Lake second baseman Lucas Knutson (2-for-4), who hit the ball hard all four times, reached on an infield single in the hole between short and third to start the one-out rally.

Right fielder Lon Eichenberger (2-for-4) also hustled out an infield hit -- a high hopper just to the right of Johnson -- and then shortstop Kirk McBreen followed with a single into left field, loading the bases for clean-up hitter Thomas Albrecht.

Albrecht (2-for-4), who had ripped a leadoff triple the inning before -- but was stranded there, came through with a sharp single into right field, plating both Knutson and Eichenberger.

McBreen, meanwhile, hustled to third and the Lakers had runners on the corners.

Enter Jackson -- a 1988 WHS graduate, who pitched for the Eagles and then four years at the University of Minnesota, Morris.

Eighteen years after finishing his collegiate career, the athletic Jackson showed that he still has his stuff.

While Albrecht stole a base, giving Heron Lake runners on second and third, Jackson struck out the next two Lakers with a nasty breaking ball.

"My slider was working," the short-statured right hander said later. "That's the pitch that I like and luckily, it was breaking over the plate and we were able to get out of that inning."

Jackson also pitched the ninth, getting a fly out and a ground out (he had to hustle to cover first on a close 3-1 play) before striking out the last batter to end the game.

"That was a nice job by Lance," Jim Johnson said about the performance of his closer. "Five guys up and five outs, including a trio of strikeouts -- two of which were very big, stopping Heron Lake's momentum in the eighth."

Windom left fielder Tyler Knutson (3-for-4) scored the Pirates' first run in the top of the second when he singled, advanced a base on Mark Hockel's sacrifice bunt and later scored on a Laker error.

Three innings later, after Brent Fredin reached on a single, Kody Johnson lofted the first pitch he saw over the left field fence, putting Windom up, 3-0.

The Pirates, who put down a total of five successful bunts in the game -- three for sacrifices and two for hits -- scored solo runs in both the sixth and seventh frames.

A single by Matt Anderson in the sixth was followed by bunt singles by Tyler Knutson and Hockel, loading the bases for Brett Dumke.

Dumke attempted a suicide bunt, but Laker first baseman Ben Scheevel hustled in, scooped up the ball and fired to catcher Ike Rogers to stop the run.

Fredin, however, later plated Tyler Knutson with an RBI single.

In the seventh, Trent Anderson drove in Kirby Johnson (single) with an RBI double, increasing Windom's lead to 5-0.

A tremendous throw home by McBreen to Rogers kept the Pirates from scoring a second run in that inning.

"We tried to put the pressure on Heron Lake and force them to make plays," summed up Jim Johnson. "They certainly made some great plays, which kept us from stretching the score and they battled us right to the end."

"We hit the ball hard several times, but Windom's defense -- especially shortstop Sam Fishenich -- was sharp," said Laker player-manager Chad Knutson. "Then at the end, that slider of Jackson's was tough for our guys to hit."

Matt Franks pitched a complete game for the Lakers, working a trio of 1-2-3 innings, including striking out back-to-back Pirates to end the top of the eighth -- setting the table for Heron Lake's rally in the bottom of the frame.

Rogers had Heron Lake's first hit off Kody Johnson in the bottom of the fifth and Lucas Knutson and Eichenberger stroked back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth, but the Lakers could never mount a threat until the eighth -- and then Jackson and his slider put at end to that.

R H E

Win 010 021 100 -- 5 11 1

HL 000 000 020 -- 2 8 2



Jackson 3, Fairmont 2

FAIRMONT -- Tom Hade scattered 10 hits through nine innings, and five Fairmont errors helped send Jackson to the First Nite League amateur baseball finals.

Hade struck out five and walked just one for the Bulls, while Trent Sukalski had an RBI, Pat Rients doubled and Jason Cook hit a pair of singles.

The Bulls (16-6) will play the winner of Windom-Fairmont at 2 p.m. Saturday in Jackson.

R H E

Jac. 000 120 000 -- 3 7 0

Fair. 100 000 010 -- 2 10 5

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