Monday's Section 1A West final featured two pitchers at the top of their games in Blooming Prairie's Steve Seykora and Lyle/Pacelli's Nels Nelson. With such a slim margin for error, one had to figure that the winning team would also be the most opportunistic one.

That team Monday was Blooming Prairie, as Seykora stifled some early L/P chances en route to a 1-0 shutout and a sub-section title for the Blossoms.

"He's been outstanding for us all year," said BP head coach Chris Staloch. "Everyone seemed a little nervous before the game, except for Steve.

"He leads, we follow."

While Nelson retired the first nine BP batters he faced, L/P made some noise against Seykora early on.

"We knew that a break one way or the other would decide it, but we just couldn't capitalize on ours," said L/P head coach Steve Baumann.

L/P's Jake Burzinski got to second to lead off the game when BPHS center fielder Lynn Chheang dropped his fly ball. Seykora responded by retiring the next three batters, two of them on strikes.

Nick Ehret doubled with one out in the second, but Seykora worked out of that jam with two more punchouts.

Chheang would atone for his fielding miscue in the fourth. He led off the inning with an infield single and a steal of second. After a passed ball put him at third, and Kraig Olson brought him home with a base hit for the only run of the game.

L/P mounted one last threat in the seventh. T.J. Parlin and Caleb Martin both drew two-out walks, but Seykora came up with his 12th strikeout of the game, tying his career-high, to seal the victory for the Blossoms.

"I'm relaxed when I've got good players behind me," said Seykora, who finished with a three-hitter to go along with three walks."

His counterpart Nelson gave up four hits over six innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out nine.

BP was led offensively by Chheang and Olson, who were both 1-for-3 in combining for the winning run.

For L/P, Martin was 1-for-1 with a walk, while Ehret was 1-for-3 with the double.

While the Blossoms celebrated, L/P dropped to the second-place game against Southland.

Lyle/Pacelli0000000--032

B.Prairie000100x--141

Seykora and Farr, Nelson and Krueger. WP--Seykora. LP--Nelson.

L/P meets stingy Southland

Lyle/Pacelli's reward for losing a well-played Section 1A West game to Blooming Prairie Monday was a Southland team that had been terrorizing the loser's bracket, beating their three opponents by the combined score of 23-3. With the final Section 1A berth on the line, the Rebels wouldn't go away, as usual, but L/P hung on for the 5-3 win to earn a trip to Rochester.

"We've finished second a few times before the double-elimination rule," said L/P head coach Steve Baumann, "but this is the first time that Lyle's made it this far in my 26 years."

"I was proud of them for coming back," said Southland head coach Larry Luke, "but we could not make the defensive plays in this game that we'd been making before. Zach (Stratton) deserves a better fate."

After losing their opener to LeRoy-Ostrander/Grand Meadow, Southland would have to take the low road to get another crack at the top of the draw. They got off to a good start, crushing Medford 10-0 last Thursday to bring up Goodhue.

After disposing of the Wildcats 3-1, Southland kept it going against Glenville-Emmons, routing them 10-2.

This set up the final game of the sub-section against Lyle/Pacelli, with a trip to sections on the line.

L/P jumped on Stratton early as Burzinski and Nelson both singled with one out. A wild pitch scored Burzinski and a Pete Korfhage single brought home Nelson.

L/P was back at it in the second when Josh Krueger singled and stole second with one out. T. J. Parlin would then deliver a two-out RBI single for the third L/P run.

Southland fought back to keep it a one-run game. With two outs in the second, Adam Landherr slapped a single to center and then stole second. Churchill followed with another single to bring him home for the first Rebel run.

A Burzinski RBI-double in the bottom of the sixth gave L/P a two-run cushion which they almost needed. Southland got two base hits in the seventh, but a line-drive double play crippled their rally, sending L/P on and dealing Luke a loss in his final game at the helm for Southland.

Nelson threw his second complete game of the day to pick up the win, giving up eight hits and two earned runs while striking out seven.

Lyle/Pacelli will play this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Mayo Field in Rochester against the winner of the Section 1A East bracket.

Southland ends its season at 8-15 and 5-12 in the Three Rivers Conference.

Southland0101010--384

Lyle/Pacelli210011X--5101

Nelson and Krueger; Stratton and S.Hanson. WP--Nelson. LP--Stratton.