It's on to district for Legion

The Brainerd Legion baseball team wrapped up its regular season, splitting a doubleheader with Perham Thursday, winning the first game 8-3 and dropping the second 4-3.

Brainerd will now move on to the district tournament in St. Cloud Thursday, August 1, as the No. 1 seeded team.

In game one, Brainerd jumped out to an early lead in the third inning on hits by Tony Parrish, Chad Weiss and Joey Tautges. They scored two more in the fifth as Ryan Browning and Tautges ripped a pair of doubles. Fred Weiss and Brad Gangestad added singles to give Brainerd a 4-0 lead.

That lead was more than enough as Chad Weiss cruised on the mound, giving up three runs on five hits while striking out five and walking one to pick up the win.

Brainerd batted around in the sixth inning, scoring four more runs on three hits and two walks to put the game out of Perham's reach.

Tautges lead the way for Brainerd, going 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI. Mark Germain was 3-for-4 with an RBI while both Fred Weiss and Boland added a pair of hits apiece.

In the second game, Perham jumped out on top early, plating a run in the first inning.

Brainerd came back in the fourth to tie the score as Tautges led off the inning with a single. He then stole second and later scored, knotting the game at 1-1.

But Perham answered in the fifth, scoring two runs on an error, a double and a single to give them a 3-1 lead.

Brainerd didn't say die as they scored two runs in the sixth as Fred Weiss opened the inning with a walk and later score on a wild pitch. Zach Dockter singled and scored when Chad Weiss reached on an error.

Perham scored the game winning run on a passed ball and set Brainerd down, 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.

Aaron Jenkins pitched five innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out four. Fred Weiss took the loss, pitching two innings, giving up one run on two hits.

Game 1

Perham 000 003 0 -- 3 5 0

Brainerd 002 024 x -- 8 10 1

Perham -- Fritz and Sailer. Home -- Chad Weiss, Ryan Browning (7) and Aaron Jenkins. W -- Weiss. L -- Fritz. RBI -- B-Drew Boland, Joey Tautges 3, Mark Germain.

Game 2

Perham 100 020 1 -- 4 6 1

Brainerd 000 102 0 -- 3 4 2

Perham -- Nelson and Sailer. Brainerd -- Jenkins, Fred Weiss (6) and Morgan Shepherd. W -- Nelson. L -- Weiss. RBI -- B-Chad Weiss. Records -- B-21-5. Next game -- B at District tournament in St. Cloud Thursday, August 1.