Squirrels' season ends in regional semifinals

The Charleston Fighting Squirrels put up a late fight but came up short in their quest to advance to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series for a third straight season Monday.

Hopkins, Minnesota, rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three runs in the top of the fifth inning and hung on for 4-2 win against the Squirrels in a semifinal of the Midwest Plains Regional at Battershell Field in Lyons, Kansas.

"Whenever you get in a close game, you need some breaks to go your way, and we didn't create any for ourself," Squirrels coach Michael Minner said. "We just didn't play well enough defensively to win, and that's what it boils down to today. In a close game with a regional championship on the line, you have got to make the close plays. Unfortunately, a couple plays didn't go our way today defensively, and they made a couple big plays that got them out of innings."

Killian Quinn and Bradley VanTatenhove opened Hopkins' fifth inning with consecutive singles. Charleston starting pitcher Ty Householder obtained the first out on a pop fly, but Quinn and VanTatenhove later advanced on a wild pitch.

The next hitter Bridger Pavelka hit a ground ball to third base that was fielded by third baseman Adam Pope and thrown home to catcher Blake Wolferding, who lost the ball during a collision at the plate. Quinn was called safe to tie the score at 2-2.

Oliver Hager lined out for the second out, but VanTatenhove advanced to third base and Pavelka moved to second base on another wild pitch. Coby Hair followed with a game-winning two-run single to set the final score.

"We couldn't get it done today, but I thought Ty Householder was remarkable," Minner said. "That may have been the best game thrown out here by a kid. He was tough for seven innings. He made pitch after pitch. A couple plays didn't go our way and he allowed four unearned runs."

The Squirrels had two hitters reach base in the bottom of the fifth inning and two more in the sixth.

Householder collected a one-out double and Cameron Clark was hit by a pitch with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Hopkins starting pitcher Riley Martin escaped the jam when he got Wolferding to fly out.

Pope collected a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Hopkins center fielder Joe Nelson erased the trouble when he turned a double play after making a diving catch on a ball hit by Wyatt Pratt. Chandler Young followed with a double with the bases empty before Tim Fox popped out to end the inning.

Martin retired all three hitters he faced in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure a complete-game victory for Hopkins. Martin allowed two runs, nine hits, struck out one, walked one and hit a batter.

Householder allowed four unearned runs on four hits in a complete-game effort. Householder struck out four and walked two.

The Squirrels took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Fox drew a two-out walk, Colton Averett collected a two-out single and Hunter Cook followed with a two-out RBI single.

Hopkins made the most of its first hit off of Householder when Nathan Nelsen singled with two outs in the fourth inning. Nelson advanced to second base on a wild pitch and later scored when Joe Nelson reached on an error, tying the scored at 1-1.

The Squirrels took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Pope led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third when Pratt grounded out and scored on a one-out single by Young.

Pope and Householder both finished 2 for 3 at the plate.

The Wayne County Lumberjacks beat Riverton, Kansas, 6-0 in the other regional semifinal. Wayne County played Hopkins Monday night for the right to go to the World Series that begins Aug. 8 in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

"Now our job after having a great run that sort of ends this year is to go get ready for 2016," Minner said. "We'll talk about all the memories on the way home of this season and when we get home try to work on next year and make sure we are right back where we need to be. I think it's starting to get a little bit easier to find kids that want to play because of the success we have had."

The Squirrels finished the season with a record of 19-24. It is the ninth straight season the Squirrels have advanced to the Midwest Plains Regional.

"There wasn't anything out here we hadn't seen this year," Minner said. "We finished 19-24, but our schedule prepared us to win this thing. I thought we had challenged ourselves enough and we were ready for anything that could be thrown at us. We just didn't get it done."

Hopkins 000 130 0 -- 4 4 0

Charleston 010 100 0 -- 2 9 1

WP -- Riley Martin. LP -- Ty Householder. 2B -- Householder (CH), Chandler Young (CH). Multiple hits -- Charleston: Adam Pope 2-3, Young 2-3.