Tea Steam falls just short in first loss of the season against Garretson

The Tea Steam amateur baseball team suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday night, June 24 narrowly falling 3-2 in a tightly contested battle against the Garretson Bluejays.

Garretson capitalized early, scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and the bases empty, a hit-by-pitch and a string of hits gave the Bluejays the momentum. Garretson knocked in the first run with a double, followed by an RBI single from their pitcher. An error at shortstop allowed another run to cross, putting Garretson up 3-0.

Tea Steam’s offense was silenced early by Garretson’s pitcher, who retired the side in order in the first three innings and tallied several strikeouts throughout the night.

 It wasn’t until the top of the fifth that Tea found a rhythm. Singles from Troy Ljunggren, Cameron Jensen, and Trey Heckenlaible loaded the bases. Sam Kampschoff drove in the team’s first run with a sacrifice fly, and a passed ball moments later allowed Jensen to score, cutting the deficit to one.

Despite multiple chances in the late innings—including two runners stranded in the sixth and a ninth-inning single by Dawson Portner—Tea couldn’t bring the tying run home. Garretson reliever was dominant down the stretch, recording six strikeouts in the final three innings to preserve the win.

Tea’s pitchers, Cole McKinney and Kampschoff, held Garretson scoreless after the first inning and combined for five strikeouts in a solid outing.

The Steam was scheduled to travel to Elk Point on Wednesday, June 25 and will be at LCW Dirt Devils on Sunday, June 29. They will be at Larchwood on July 1 and host Beresford on Sunday, July 6.