Leinies finally able to win Finland softball tournament

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Leinies of Silver Bay was finally able to win the Finland Fire Department’s annual softball tournament on their 25th attempt, although it was the children of original team members who brought home the hardware.

Leinies came out of the losers bracket Sunday to win five games in a row and earn the championship at the 27th tournament after losing 10-3 to Sandberg Construction of Cook in the Sunday semifinal.

Both teams had been unbeaten in the 11-team, double-elimination event. The field had three teams from the Twin Cities area; one each from Duluth, Two Harbors, Isabella, Grand Marais, and Cook; and three from Silver Bay.

Leinies had the lucky draw Saturday in winning their only game scheduled in the heat and humidity, 20-0 over The Landing. On Sunday morning they fell to Sandberg in their first game of the day and faced a long road back.

They started the run with an easy win over the Two Stooges Bar. After edging out West Branch 7-6 by scoring four in the sixth inning and two in the seventh to erase a 6-1 deficit, they faced the five-time champion John’s Sanitary of Silver Bay.

John’s had lost 8-7 to Sandberg in the last battle of unbeatens. Sandberg threw out a runner at the plate in the top of the seventh and scored one in the bottom half of the inning with two outs for the win.

John’s led Leinies 2-1 after four until Leinies erupted for six in the fifth and four in the sixth on their way to a 12-8 win.

The finals were a rematch witch Sandberg and Leinies had to win twice for a title. Leinies jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first game and never looked back as they won by a final score of 18-5.

Two runs in the bottom of the third gave Leinies a 2-1 lead it would never relinquish. Three insurance runs in the sixth made it 8-3 and a title the team had hunted for so long. They turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the tournament.

Tags: two harbors, finland, softball