The Rochester A's capped a stellar regular season with a pair of routs against La Crescent on Saturday at Mayo Field.
The A's beat La Crescent 9-3 and 15-2 to enter the district playoffs with a 36-3 record.
The A's earned the No. 1 seed in the Division I First District playoffs. They face eighth-seeded La Crescent for the third time in four days at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday at Century High School.
"The biggest thing for us over the next few days is that hopefully we'll get re-energized and ready to hit the playoffs," A's manager Keith Kangas said. "It was a grueling five weeks."
In a span of five weeks, the A's won 36 of 39 games, including two tournament championships and a second-place finish in a wooden-bat tournament. The A's, who are ranked second in the state coaches/media poll, hope the momentum leads all the way to the Division I state tournament -- in Rochester, where they will serve as a tournament host.
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"It's our goal to win the district," Kangas said. "But at the same time, we're not going to kill our pitchers. The ultimate goal is to win the state tournament."
Jay Kasner's two-run homer in the first inning ignited sparks for the A's in their 9-3 win over La Crescent on Saturday. Ted Garry was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Dan Lyons was 2-for-4 with a double. Justin Grant earned the complete-game win, walking none and striking out four.
Lee Anderson followed Kasner's lead and ripped a three-run homer in the first inning of the A's second game Saturday, a 15-2 win over La Crescent. Anderson also earned the pitching win, walking one and striking out six in four innings. Dan Lyons was 3-for-3, Garry was 2-for-3, and Tom Lyons was 2-for-3.
The Rochester Redhawks and Austin were tied for the second seed in the First District playoffs, but Austin won a coin-toss for the No. 2 spot. The third-seeded Redhawks will face the sixth-seeded Rochester Patriots on Tuesday.
