Minnetonka Millers scored early in their Round of 16 matchup with Tri-City Shark who didn’t help themselves defensively en route to an 8-2 win. The defending state champions advance to the quarterfinals for a matchup against St. Paul League champ Air Freight Unlimited.
The Millers managed two runs in the first inning without any hits. Joe Shallenberger came to bat with the bases loaded only to ground out into a double play. Joe Abellera then scored on a passed ball and throwing error on the Shark catcher making it 2-0.
Five more runs would cross the plate in the second with Abellera driving in a pair. Jack Hanson drove in another, but the Shark defense faltered again allowed two more runs to score before the inning was over.
Tri-City would get on the board in the eighth, but gave up another unearned run in the bottom half to make it 8-1.
Joey Danielson came on to pitch the ninth for Minnetonka and loaded the bases. He’d walk in a run before settling in and closing out the game.
Don Erdall and Paul Voelker also pitched for the Millers (38-8) who swept a best-of three series over Edina Buckshots to earn their spot in this years tournament. Minnetonka defeated Tri-City twice during the regular season winning 8-3 on May 16 and 10-1 on July 25.
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