Senior starting pitcher Aaron Nissen survived scary seventh inning as Blackduck held on to beat BOLD 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the state Class 1A baseball tournament on Thursday, June 14, at Athletic Park in Chaska.

 

Nissen took a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning, which he started by hitting Tyler Seehusen. Two singles, a walk and sacrifice fly allowed two runs to score, but Nissen eventually got Logan Sandgren to ground out to end the dramatics.

 

Blackduck (23-3) advances to the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at Athletic Park. Oliva-based BOLD plays in the consolation semifinals at 12:30 p.m. at the Mini Met in Jordan. 

 

The Drakes’ Trey Volk went 3-for-4 with a double, and teammates Shane Fenske and Jacob Krabbenhoft each went 2-for-4. The Drakes had 10 hits off BOLD pitcher Jacob Marcus, who struck out three and walked four.

 

Nissen allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked one.

 

Kyle Athman had two hits and was the only BOLD with a multi-hit game. Trent Athmann and Nick Steffel had the seventh-inning singles for BOLD. Marcus delivered the sacrifice fly that drove in a run.

 

Both teams are makling their first state tournament appearances.

 

The Drakes are making their first state tournament appearance, and Volk is just a sophomore, a double whammy that might have rendered the shortstop ineffective at best, a liability at worst. Nah. The sophomore had an abundance of poise, making difficult throw after difficult throw to first and belting three hits, including a double. 

 

The senior pitcher went the distance, but only barely. He was cruising along through six innings with a shutout, then survived a rocky seventh when he hit a batter, allowed two singles and gave up two runs. Still, Nissen was gritty when he needed to be and that’s all the underdog Drakes needed from him to get the win.

 

The No. 7 hitter in the Drakes’ lineup delivered two hits, scored a run and played great defense at third base.