ST. CLOUD — Chad Weiss pitched a complete-game 6-hit shutout as Region 8’s fourth-seeded Lastrup Lakers blanked the Clear Lake Lakers 5-0 in the opening round of the 89th annual Class C state tournament Friday at Dick Putz Field.
Weiss struck out nine with no walks and Lastrup advanced to the second round Aug. 25 against Region 6C champion Jordan.
Dave Woitalla was 2-4 with a double and two RBIs to lead Lastrup at the plate.
Clear Lake starter Ryan Spengler walked the first three batters he faced, then uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Weiss. Woitalla followed with an RBI single to give Lastrup a 2-0 lead.
Lastrup added a run in the second when Nate Janson led off with an infield single, advanced on Brandon Lochner’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Weiss’ single.
Clear Lake put together its only threat against Weiss in the bottom of the second. The leadoff batter singled, Weiss then hit a batter and gave up another single to load the bases with no outs. He then recorded back-to-back strikeouts and got a flyout to end the threat. Weiss did not allow a Clear Lake runner to advance to second the rest of the game.
Lastrup produced its final two runs in the fourth. Reggie Litke led off with a single, Rick Schlieman walked and Woitalla cracked an RBI double into the left-field corner to make it 4-0.
Spengler was relieved by Asa Patterson, a draftee from Mora. He struck out the first man he faced. Shawn Fischer pinch-hit for Dustin Schmaltz and put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Schlieman for the final score.
The loss eliminated Clear Lake, the Region 1C runner-up, from the 48-team, single-elimination tournament.
Lastrup 5 9 0
Clear Lake 0 6 1
WP: Chad Weiss. LP: Ryan Spengler. 2B: L-Dave Woitalla. Overall: L 23-2. Next: Lastrup vs. Jordan in Class C state tournament, Putz Field, St. Cloud, 11 a.m. Aug. 25.
