MILBANK – Several trends continued Saturday morning at the State B Baseball Tournament in Milbank.

Groton eliminated Clark-Willow Lake 4-3 in a loser’s bracket contest. It marked the second time this season that Groton defeated CWL by one run, the last time the score being 5-4 in mid-July.

It was also Clark-Willow’s Lake second one-run loss in the tourney, and also the same result as last year’s state tourney when Groton lost in the first round and came back to win on day two.

Groton jumped in front with a single run in the top of the second inning on a Nick Morris RBI double.

Clark-Willow Lake scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the second. Collin Gaikowski drove in a run with a single and Copper Pommer delivered a two-run single.

That would be the end of the scoring for Clark-Willow Lake as Jarrett Erdman shut the door for the next four frames.

“Jarrett pitched well. Not a lot of hard hits,” said Groton coach Seth Erickson. “We turned a few double plays that saved us from big innings from Clark. We got the hits when we needed to.”

Erdmann walked six and struck out eight, and did not allow a hit in his final four innings of work.

“Erdmann came out and was wildly effective for Groton on the mound,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Chris Bokinskie. “He didn’t pound the zone, but made big pitches when they were needed. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to string together a bunch of hits and score those runs in bunches.”

Groton scored a run in the third to make it a one-run game on a RBI triple by Brevin Fliehs.

Groton then surged ahead with a pair of runs in the fifth. Following a single and two hit batters, Gavin Englund produced a two-run single.

Bokinskie credited the performance of starting pitcher Charlie Luvaas, who pitched 4 and 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out four.

“We were pretty limited on what we had available for pitching, but Luvaas has done a nice job this year,” Bokinskie said. “We sent him out there and he gave us a chance at least. He got down to a few kids and they came up with big hits and scored on them. We just couldn’t get over the hump and push across the runs we needed.”

Clark-Willow Lake threatened in the seventh inning, putting three runners on base. However, a double play wiped out one runner, and the other two were stranded, one in scoring position.

The contest was a familiar one for Groton, which was involved in two walk-offs along with many other games that went down to the wire during the regular season.

“It definitely helps,” Erickson said of having faced pressure situations. “It’s really a credit to the kids for staying in the game and not making the big mistakes than can cost us.”

Carter Simon and Englund had two hits each for Groton, while Watson Grantham matched that total for Clark-Willow Lake.

The finish was a difficult one for Clark-Willow Lake, which fell 1-0 to Dell Rapids in the opening round.

“To lose two one-run games in the state tournament is a tough pill to swallow,” Bokinskie said. “You feel both games were within reach and as a coach you start to wonder what you could have tried differently to get those runs across. In the end, we got to be on the field with the best teams in the state and I feel we showed we belonged.”

Groton will try to win another elimination game when the tourney resumes today when it takes on Scotland-Menno-Freeman-Canistota at around 2 p.m.

“Same as last year,” Erickson said of the scenario. “I think we have the pitching this year to keep going. We just need the bats to stay alive.”

Groton 011 020 0 – 4 6 2

Clark-Willow Lake 030 000 0 – 3 4 0

Jarrett Erdmann, Brevin Fliehs (7) and Karsten Fliehs; Charlie Luvaas, Cooper Pommer (5) and Jakob Steen. 2B – Groton, Carter Simon, Nick Morris. 3B – Groton, B. Fliehs.