Lennox's Defense Sends them to the R3 East Division Championship

Through the use of great pitching and great defense, the Lennox Orioles are headed to the Region 3 East Divsion Championship to be played Tuesday May 23rd. 

Lennox hosted the first round and second round of playoffs on Monday the 15th. The first round is between the only two teams in the division that did not get a bye. After Canton eliminated Garreston, it was Lennox's turn to play Canton. 

Amongst a great pitching duel, Lennox was forced to battle against Canton. Lennox really had to work hard as Canton's pitcher Austin Rhode had Lennox off guard. Both teams struggled with the bats and had trouble scoring. Finally, in the bottom of the fourth, Lennox's Senior Devon Jongeling pulled an RBI double to deep left scoring Marshall McLaren who had recently walked. 

Photo Courtesy of Brenda Haan

Brock Anderson finished by pitching six innings and allowing only one hit. He also struck out 13 of 18 outs. Wallenstein would come in to finish the seventh. After a leadoff double from Jake Peterson, a pickoff at second was attempted but failed as Wallenstein's throw sailed into centerfield. However, centerfielder Ray Williams threw out Peterson trying to get to third. A strikeout and a groundout would end the game and give Lennox a 1-0 playoff win. 

Photo Courtesy of Brenda Haan

Now, Lennox will go to the third round of the playoffs. This round is state wide division championship games. This game sets up the teams to play in the region championship. On Tuesday the 23rd, three games will be played in Lennox. The first game will be played at 3:30 and that is Lennox vs Sioux Falls Christian. The second game is Hanson County vs West Central for the Region 3 West Division Championship. The winners of those two games will go head to head at 7:30 on Tuesday with the winner going to state. 

Lennox has won the Region before but they have never hosted the region playoffs. This system was only set up five years ago of all the championships being played in the same location.

There is supposed to be some pretty good weather coming on Tuesday as Lennox will look to make the State tournament with two tough wins.