Midland States Bank Faces Mid-Illinois Concrete For Jr. Babe Ruth Tourney Title

Midland States Bank and Mid-Illinois Concrete picked up victories Monday evening at Paul Smith Field to advance to the championship game of the Junior Babe Ruth League Tournament.

Sixth-seeded Midland States Bank brought down top-seeded Washington Savings Bank 7-4. Midland States took a 3-0 first inning lead. Washington Savings came back with a run in the second and one in the fifth but Midland States tallied a run in the sixth and put the game away with three in the top of the seventh.

Midland States was led by Zac Bateman with two singles and an RBI while Bryan Jansen had a single and scored twice and Cody Grove had a single and an RBI. He also drew two walks.

Chris Ungrund and Joe Phillips had two hits each for Washington Savings. Ungrund had an RBI.

In the second game, Mid-Illinois Concrete downed Tri-Power Towing 11-1 in six innings via the 10-run rule. Tri-Power held a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third when Mid-Illinois scored two runs then tallied four more in the fourth.

Noah Flowers picked up the four-hit pitching win. Mat Weber suffered the tough-luck loss on a two-hitter. Carson Hartke had a hit and scored three runs while Kyle Smith had a hit and two RBI. T.J. Gardner had two RBI.

Midland States Bank and Mid-Illinois Concrete will square off Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the championship.

At Paul Smith Field

Game Four

Midland States Bank                     300    001    3    --    7-8-1

Washington Savings Bank          010    010    2    --    4-7-3

WP -- Bryan Jansen. LP -- Blake Kitten.

Midland States Bank -- Cody  Grove, single, 1 RBI; Bryan Jansen, single; Zac Bateman, 2 singles, 1 RBI; no other hits provided

Washington Savings Bank -- Chris Ungrund, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Joe Phillips, 2 singles, no other hits provided

Game Two

Tri-Power Towing                100    000    --     1-4-4

Mid-Illinois Concrete          002    423    --    11-2-2

WP -- Noah Flowers. P -- Mat Weber.

Tri-Power Towing -- Mat Weber, single, 1 RBI, no other hits provided

Mid-Illinois Concrete -- Carson Hartke, single; Kyle Smith, single, 2 RBI; T.J. Gardner, 2 RBI, no other hits provided