Lewiston-Altura beat Wabasha-Kellogg 9-6 to win the First District, East Sub-district American Legion baseball championship Saturday.
St. Charles, which advances to the district playoffs as the runner-up, rallied in the losers bracket and routed Wabasha-Kellogg 12-0 after beating Caledonia 8-2 earlier in the day.
The four-team, double-elimination district tournament is Thursday through Sunday at New Richland. Lewiston-Altura plays Kasson at 5 p.m. Thursday, and Stewartville plays St. Charles at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The tournament continues Saturday, with the championship game on Sunday.
The district champion advances to the Division II state tournament in Ely Aug. 9-10.
St. Charles didn't waste time in the second-place game over W-K. It scored six runs in the first inning, another in the second and three more in the third to bury W-K. Chris Ask earned his second win of the day, pitching a total of 11 innings in St. Charles' two wins (8-2 over Caledonia; 12-0 over W-K). Brian Bambenek was 3-for-4 against W-K, Ask was 2-for-4 with a home run, and Tommy Hagan and Paul McKay both had two-hit games.
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Mike Deutschman hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to punctuate St. Charles' win over Caledonia in the elimination game earlier Saturday. Bambenek and Hagan were both 3-for-3 for St. Charles. Ask struck out nine and walked just two to earn a complete-game win. Pete Schiltz was 2-for-3 to pace Caledonia.
