BASEBALL: Woodpeckers drop state tournament opener 4-0

Jul. 30—BLOOMINGTON — The Bemidji Junior Legion baseball team had a rude awakening to the Junior Legion state tournament on Thursday, mustering just four hits in a 4-0 opening-round loss to Eden Prairie in Bloomington.

The affair was scoreless through four innings, but Eden Prairie finally got on the scoreboard with one sacrifice fly in each the fifth and sixth innings. An RBI single and an ensuing error scored two more on back-to-back plays in the seventh.

The extra insurance was plenty for the Eden Prairie pitching staff, as three arms combined to shut out the Woodpeckers. Carter Arneson started and threw four innings, while Sam Persson took over for the next two frames before Kenny Evers came in for a scoreless seventh.

Bemidji, meanwhile, busied the basepaths in six of the seven innings but couldn't produce any runs. The biggest threat came in the sixth inning, when the Woodpeckers had runners on second and third with two outs, but the rally fizzled out with a pop-out to short.

Ty Lundeen batted 2-for-3 and had half of Bemidji's hits. Will Zellman and Peyton Neadeau had the others.

Neadeau went 6 1/3 innings on the mound, allowing four runs (two earned) off six hits and three walks. He struck out seven over his 104 pitches.

The Woodpeckers drop to the losers bracket, where they'll face elimination from here on out and need six straight victories to claim the state title.

The road starts with a 9 a.m. game against Bloomington on Friday, July 30. The winner will advance to a 7 p.m. game on Friday against the loser of Edina and New Prague.

Alexandria Black defeated Bloomington 10-4 in the first round Thursday.

Eden Prairie 4, Bemidji 0

EP 000 011 2 — 4-6-0

BEM 000 000 0 — 0-4-2

WP: Arneson (4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K)

LP: P. Neadeau (6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K)