The Bertha Blazers swept all four of their games to win the Region 14C tournament and advance to state completing the sweep with a 14-4 victory over the Bluffton Braves in seven innings in the tournament final.
Bertha outscored their opponents 41-12 including one shutout and two games finished early by mercy rule.
Bluffton also advanced to the state tournament with a 3-2 record in tournament play. Both losses came to Bertha where the Braves were outscored 21-4 by the Blazers.
Bertha punched their ticket with an 11-inning victory in the final of the loser’s bracket over the Perham Pirates by a score of 2-1. Jake Hendrickx worked a bases-loaded walk to score Jordan Vaughan to clinch the victory, according to a report from LakesAreaSports.com’s John George.
Both Bluffton and Bertha are allowed to draft two League players to make the trip to state. Bertha drafted Taylor Doll of Perham and Alex Brockpahler of the Nimrod Gnats. Bluffton chose Gunner Johnson of Nimrod and Brandon Kupfer of the New York Mills Millers.
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In Region 16C play, the Fergus Falls Hurricanes defeated the Midway Snurdbirds 15-8 in the final.
Both teams advance to the state Class C tournament. Both teams qualify for the second straight season as the 2012 Region 16C tournament finished the same as this year. It’s Fergus Falls won their third Region title in the past four seasons.
For more information on the state tournament, including brackets, visit http://www.mnbaseball.org/League/ClassC .
For final brackets from both region tournaments, visit Ron Bern's website: http://baseball.bernsinfo.com/
