The six-seed Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks defeated the three-seed Martensdale-St. Marys Blue Devils, 4-2 in the Class 1A quarterfinals Saturday at Principal Park. Sophomore Blaine Harpenau had a no-hitter for six innings, and the Hawks held off a seventh-inning MSTM rally.
Through the first four innings, both teams’ pitching were almost unhittable — only one hit was given up by Blue Devils pitcher Isaac Gavin.
This would all change when the Hawks put together a rally in the fifth. It started with a leadoff double by Jaxon Bunker and was followed with three consecutive walks to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Then, with the bases loaded and no outs, Xavier Galles blasted a single into left which scored two more Hawks. By the end of the inning, St. Mary’s was up 4-0.
Harpenau was simply dominant through six innings. With the help of a couple of great fielding plays — including a diving catch from Jaxson Bunkers and a difficult over the back catch from Levi Waldschmitt — the Blue Devils didn’t reach base on a hit until the bottom of the seventh.
But when the Blue Devils were faced with their last stand in the bottom of the seventh, it appeared that they had found their mojo. RBIs from Kasey Carter and Esa Johanson cut the Hawks lead to 4-2 and allowed the Blue Devils to put the game tying batter at the plate. But Harpenau would prevail and strike out the final batter.
The Hawks advance to the semifinals and face off against the two-seed Alburnett Pirates. The Blue Devils conclude their season with a record of 34-6.
