MILBANK – Groton built an eight-run lead, lost it, and then rallied to eliminate Scotland-Menno-Freeman-Canistota 16-11 during the State B American Legion Baseball Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

“Obviously, we hit the ball very hard today,” said Groton coach Seth Erickson. “We made a couple costly errors that basically gave them 11 runs.”

Groton scored twice in the top of the first inning on an RBI triple from Korbin Kucker, who then scored on a single from Brevin Fliehs.

Groton tacked on six more runs in the second frame for an 8-0 advantage. Five of the runs were scored after two outs. This time Kucker had a run-scoring double, Fliehs drove in two runs with a single, and Gavin Englund doubled home a pair of runs.

However, SMFC had its own offensive explosion, scoring six runs in the second and five more in the third to take an 11-9 lead.

Groton responded in a big way, accounting for seven unanswered runs the rest of the way to secure the victory.

“Very proud of the kids,” Erickson said. “They battled the whole game.”

Groton scored once in the fourth and twice in the fifth to regain the lead. The local squad then took control for good in the sixth when Carter Simon belted a grand slam home run.

Meanwhile, Alex Abeln came in for Englund on the mound and kept SMFC under wraps the rest of the way, throwing five-plus innings, allowing just one walk while striking out six.

“Pitching was great,” Erickson said. “Both guys threw strikes and held them in check. A grand slam definitely helps.”

Simon finished with four hits and knocked in four. Kucker and Fliehs each had three hits and three RBI. Braxton Imrie contributed two hits, and Englund and Nick Morris each drove in a pair.

Erickson said the players are excited about moving into the final four of the state tournament.

“It’s been a while since Groton has made Day 4 of the tournament,” Erickson said. “We just want to keep the momentum going and the bats alive.”

Groton will face Parkston in another elimination game at 4 p.m. today.

Erickson said the Trojans are solid.

“They have a lot of arms and probably the best team speed I’ve seen,” Erickson said. “We need to hit the ball well and don’t strike out.”

Groton 261 124 0 – 16 15 2

Scotland-Menno-Freeman-Canistota 065 000 0 – 11 7 3

Gavin Englund, Alex Abeln (2) and Karsten Fliehs; Tannen Auch, Bryce Sattler, Riley Tschetter, Easton Miller and Easton Tschetter. 2B – Groton, Englund, Korbin Kucker; Scotland-Menno-Freeman-Canistota, Rocky Ammann, Tayden Kerrigan. 3B – Groton, Kucker. HR – Groton, Carter Simon.