Hollanders Churn the Buttermakers

After a long 47 years the Cologne Hollanders made their state tournament appearance against the Hadley Buttermakers. As the Hollanders and Buttermakers have never crossed paths before, not much was known about Hadley except that they've been to the dance before. That didn't stop the Hollanders from stepping on the gas from the get go. Tanner Luebke started the game off with a double to left-center and stole third, but that would be as far as he'd get. The Buttermakers were able to put down the next three Hollanders to keep Tanner from scoring. Cologne came right back in the second to put some heat on as Kyle Brazil lead off the inning with a walk. Anthony Brenner put down the sacrifice bunt to get Brazil to second and then it was Joey Lilya that came through and plated the Hollanders' first run with an RBI single. The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth when Hadley had runners on first and second with one out. A throwing error would result in the Buttermakers' only run of the game and tie it up. The orange crew didn't let it effect them one bit as they responded big in the next half inning. Joey Lilya singled and stole second. He would move to third and then eventually score on a wild pickoff attempt. Twait (running for Casey Clemensen) would advance to second. Carter Clemensen and Cole Pengilly would both reach base to load 'em up for Brazil. Braz came through big by getting the two RBI single to put the Hollanders back on top. Brenner put an extra run on the board with a one RBI double. That was all Cologne needed as the Hollander defense took over. Christian Johnson made his re-appearance on the mound and he shined all game. The only run he gave up was the unearned run in the 5th. Christian pitched out of jams like a veteran and kept the Buttermakers from getting on any sort of offensive roll. During his seven innings he struck out 12 while only giving up four hits, two walks and one hit batter. Zach Iten (draftee from Watertown) finished off the game. Iten picked up the two inning save and worked through a squeezed zone well. The offense looked good, the pitching looked good, but it feels like I'm missing something. Oh ya, the rest of the Hollander defense. Simply put, they were superb. The only Hollander to not shine on defense was left fielder Zack Nelson, but it's not his fault if no balls were hit within 100ft of him. As all cylinders were firing on the field, there was an extra boost from off the field. The Hollander fans played a huge role during the game as the orange covered nearly half of the Delano stadium and the roars filled it with enough noise to be heard back in Cologne. 

The road only gets tougher from here. With the win against Hadley, the Hollanders will play the number one seeded Nisswa Lightning. The game will go down on Saturday, August 24th at 11:00AM and will take place at Maple Lake Irish Stadium. So bring out all that orange and let the Hollander crew invade Maple Lake. See everyone at the ballpark.

GA HOLLANDERS!!!