The Austin Greyhounds kept their slim hopes for a Minnesota state amateur baseball title alive Thursday, when they beat and eliminated Grand Rapids, 4-3 in Marshall.

Friday, August 27, 1999

The Austin Greyhounds kept their slim hopes for a Minnesota state amateur baseball title alive Thursday, when they beat and eliminated Grand Rapids, 4-3 in Marshall.

One-run rallies in the seventh, eighth and ninth spurred the Hounds to the victory. The Hounds, playing in the loser’s bracket after an 11-7 opening-round loss to Apple Valley, are now five wins away from reaching the Class B state championship game.

"The guys felt like they were supposed to win," Hounds skipper Bryant Olsen said. "They were disappointed with how they played (six errors) in losing the first one."

Tate Cummins put the Hounds ahead 1-0 in the second inning with his second home run of the 16-team tournament, a 410-foot shot to dead center field.

But by the seventh, Austin trailed 3-1. Austin starter Ryan Krautkremer, a draftee from Waseca, gave up all three runs in 6 1/3 innings of work. He left the game in the seventh with one out and the bases loaded.

Tony Kamps, a draftee from Mankato, came on and got a double play to get out of the inning. Kamps didn’t allow a hit in 2 2/3 innings of work in picking up the win.

Down 3-1, the Hounds, who outhit Grand Rapids 11-10, scratched for a run in the seventh and the eighth, tying the game.

"At one point they were outhitting us 10-5," Olsen said. "But our bats came around and we started hitting them well."

In the ninth, Troy Holtz lead off with an infield single. Chad Jabary, pinch running for Holtz, moved to second on Garrett Swank’s sac bunt. Adam Schmidt then singled and Jabary brought home the winning run by beating the throw to the plate.

Schmidt, of Mankato, was the third draftee to come through in the game for the Hounds, who picked up the three draftees prior to the state playoffs.

The Hounds will play again at 11 a.m. Sunday in Marshall against the loser of the Rochester vs. St. Michael game, which is at 5 p.m. today.