Springers close regular season; Regional play starts Saturday

For July 31 Cold Spring Record

COLD SPRING, Minn. – The Cold Spring Springers went 2-2 this past week to close their regular season schedule with a 33-10 overall record. The Springers won at Delano 6-4 on Wednesday, July 25; won 6-5 against Dundas on Friday, July 27, in Cold Spring; and then lost a doubleheader against defending Class A state champion Minnetonka 10-5 and 3-1 on Saturday, July 28, in Cold Spring.

Ryan Holthaus was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Ryan Lieser had two hits and scored three runs as the Springers defeated Delano 6-4. Zach Femrite (13-1) had two hits and was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Chris Butala.

Steve Huls hit a two-out single in the ninth inning to score Ryan Lieser from second and give the Springers a 6-5 win over Dundas. Huls went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Mike Burtzel went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Winning pitcher Rick Burtzel (7-1) pitched a complete game, allowing four earned runs and 11 hits.

In the Minnetonka (45-2) sweep over Cold Spring, Rick Burtzel went 3-for-4 with two runs and Ryan Lieser was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in game one. Andy Bulson (7-4) took the complete-game loss. In Game 2, Zach Femrite (13-2) took the loss on the mound. He went all seven innings, striking out nine, walking two and allowing six hits and two earned runs. Steve Huls went 2-for-3 and Mike Holman had the only RBI for the Springers.

The seven-team Region 7B playoffs will be played in Cold Spring this year and the Springers are the top seed. They will play their first game at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, against either #4 Soderville or #5 East Bethel. Cold Spring will also be in action at either 4 or 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5. The top two teams for each region qualify for the state tournament, which begins Aug. 16, in Hamburg and Norwood.