WILLMAR — In what may have been a first, each side agreed it was a fun time.

The Willmar Rails beat the Willmar Indians 6-1 in an amateur baseball game Sunday at Elsie Klemmetson Field.

It’s believed to be the first amateur game between two Willmar teams. Willmar has had no more than one team in at least 70 years.

“It was a fun time,” said Rails right-hander Jordan Steffer, who allowed one run in six innings to get the pitching win in the Rails’ season-opener. “It was good to see actual live pitching.”

And the atmosphere? “It was energetic,” he said.

The Rails are the long-time Willmar team. The Indians are a new squad made up entirely of Latino players. Sunday also was an Indians home game. It featured bilingual messages from the public address and included salsa and other Hispanic walk-up music, things generally not found in the Corn Belt League.

Indians player/manager Jean Morales’ team is now 1-3. It’s a learning experience for his mostly young team, which has four players with competitive experience. That includes Morales, who played at Ridgewater College and is from Puerto Rico.

“They like it,” Morales said of the level of play in amateur ball. “It is competitive. There are good players from all around. I like the fields, too. Our players from Nicaragua say they have never played on such nice fields. Every little town has a nice field.”

One of Willmar’s two nice fields saw a large crowd enjoy a well-pitched game between Steffer and Jaciel Cardenas. Cardenas, a right-hander who is a junior at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City High School, went six innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs. He struck out six and walked one, using a deceptive curveball.

He was a complete mystery to Rails first baseman Cullen Gregory, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

“I usually take one (when it’s a new pitcher) and just see what it looks like in the box, which is different from on-deck,” said Gregory, a 2024 Willmar graduate who is majoring in accounting at St. John’s University. “Then I just try to see the ball and hit it.”

Gregory enjoyed Sunday’s atmosphere as well.

“They (the Indians) got some people in the stands,” he said. “They were loud. Good for them.”

The Indians scored first. Gustavo Correa led off the bottom of the third with a single to left. He went to third on Juan Cardenas’ single to right, then scored on a dropped pop fly to right that would have been a sacrifice fly.

The Rails countered with three runs in the fourth. The key blow was Gregory’s two run single to left, followed by an RBI single by Steffer to right.

The Rails tacked on a run in the fifth and got two more in the seventh off Indians side-armer Elvin Rodriguez.

Rails manager Dustin Overcash was impressed with the Indians’ competitiveness.

“He (Morales) is teaching kids how to play baseball right now,” he said. “They’re scrappy. They got the bat on the ball.“Jordan (Steffer) pitched a helluva game. That hit to score their run came off a great pitch by Jordan.”

Overcash also was happy to see Christian Lessman back on the field. The hard-throwing right-hander missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He played shortstop and batted fourth Sunday, going 2-for-4 and scoring two runs. He hit a double off the left-field fence, just missing a home run.

“We’re missing five guys,” said Overcash, listing off Jack Baumgart, Ashton Gregory, Zach Reierson and Gunnar and Gavin Banks as players not in uniform Sunday.

The Rails next play the Milroy Yankees at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Klemmetson Field. The Indians play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Hamel to face the Hawks.

Sunday

Corn Belt

Rails 6, Indians 1

Rails 000 310 002-6 11 2

Indians 001 000 000-1 9 2

Hitting - Rails: Adam Herman 2-5, Mason Thole 1-5 r 2b, Wade Fischer 0-2 r-2 hbp-2 sb, Christian Lessman 2-4 r-2 2b, Riley Lessman 2-4 rbi sac, Cullen Gregory 2-4 r rbi-3 hbp, Jordan Steffer 1-3 rbi, Sergio Fernandez 1-4 2b … Indians: Alexis Castellano 1-4, Jean Morales 0-3 bb, Ever Arauz 2-4, Jenkins Herrera 1-4, Jose Ortiz 1-4, Gustavo Correa 1-3, Juan Cardenas 1-1 bb, Yorfred Arauz 1-3 sf rbi

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Rails: Jordan Steffer (W) 6-7-1-1-1-4, Jayden Dierenfeld 2-2-0-0-1-2, Herman (Sv) 1-0-0-0-1-0 … Indians: Jaciel Cardenas (L) 6-6-4-3-1-6, Elvin Rodriguez 3-1-0-0-1-2

Bird Island 10, Milroy Yankees 0

James Woelfel blasted a home run in Bird Island’s win against the Milroy Yankees at Bird Island.

Woelfel, a former catcher at Bethel University, batted 2-for-3 with two runs and a pair of RBIs.

Dylan and Brad Gass combined for a seven-hitter for the Bullfrogs. Dylan got the start and the win, allowing six hits and striking out one in six innings. Brad allowed one hit in the seventh.

Milroy 000 000 0-0 7 0

Bird Island 000 000 x-10 11 1

Hitting - Milroy: David Schmidt 1-4, Alex Schuh 2-3, Nolan Deutz 1-1, Jackson Hughes 1-3, Ty Kemp 2-3 … Bird Island: Braeden Tersteeg 2-4 r-2 rbi-2, Trent Athmann 0-2 r hbp bb, Jordan Sagedahl 1-3 r rbi-2 bb, James Woelfel 2-3 r-2 rbi-2 hr, Dylan Gass 3-4 rbi-2, Shawn Dollerschell 0-2 r hbp bb, Elliott Serbus 2-4 r, Daylen Weber 1-3 r bb, Jonah Walton 0-3 r rbi hbp

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Milroy: Brian Dolan (L) 3.1-8-9-9-2-3, Schmidt 2.2-3-1-1-2-1 … Bird Island: D. Gass (W) 6-6-0-0-0-1, Brad Gass 1-1-0-0-0-0

Raymond 6, Marshall 0

Cooper Dack and John Sawatzky combined on the shutout in Raymond’s victory at Marshall.

Dack went the first four innings, striking out six and walking two. He allowed six hits. Sawatzky pitched the final five innings. He struck out eight with no walks, allowing three hits.

Tyler Steen went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, a walk and an RBI. Mike Jeseritz went 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and two RBIs for the Rockets.

Talan Plante and Connor Neubeck were each 2-for-4 for the A’s.

Raymond 200 010 210-6 9 2

Marshall 000 000 000-0 9 2

Hitting - Raymond: Caleb Ditmarson 1-4 r-2 bb sb, Eli Nelson 1-4 r bb, Tyler Steen 4-4 r-2 rbi bb 2b-2, Isaac Call 0-3 rbi hbp, Mike Jeseritz 2-3 r rbi-2 bb sb, Brady Kienitz 1-5 rbi 2b, P Sterkowski 0-4 bb … Marshall: AJ Toulouse 1-5, Talan Plante 2-5, Connor Neubeck 2-4, Ryan Schwagel 1-3, Logan Tomasek 1-3 2b hbp, Charlie Jacobson 0-3 bb, Cannon Craigmile 1-4, Tyler Wichmann 1-4, Dillon Loft 0-2 bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Raymond: Cooper Dack 4-6-0-0-2-6, John Sawatzky (W) 5-3-0-0-0-8 … Marshall: Jake Eben (L) 6.1-7-5-4-5-4, Karson Rowe 2.2-2-1-1-0-6

Stearns County

Richmond 3, Elrosa 2

Casey Lenarz scored Richmond’s game-winning run on a passed ball in the fifth inning to help lift the Royals past Elrosa at Richmond.

Richmond racked up 13 hits with a pair coming from Jack Boos, Kyle Budde, Tyler Prom, Cole Schmitz and Dalton Thelen.

For the Saints, Luke Dingmann went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Elrosa 000 110 000-2 5 1

Richmond 010 101 00x-3 13 0

Hitting - Elrosa: Gavin Kampsen 1-4 r, Luke Dingmann 2-4 rbi, Casey Lenarz 1-4 r, Blaine Fischer 1-3 … Richmond: Dalton Thelen 2-5 rbi sb, Tyler Prom 2-5 r, Brock Rothstein 1-3 sb, Cole Schmitz 2-3, Justin Schroeder 0-3 rbi, Kyle Budde 2-4 r, Jack Boos 2-3 sb, Carter Thelen 1-4 r sb, Caleb Maddox 1-4 rbi

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Elrosa: Wyatt Steffensen 4-8-2-1-2-1, Ashton Dingmann (L) 4-5-1-1-0-0 … Richmond: Talen Braegelman (W) 6-5-2-1-2-4, Boos 3-0-0-0-1-5

Greenwald 9, Roscoe 2

Breydon Dobmeier, Grant Moscho, Sam Frieler and Kegan Suteve all had two hits for Greenwald in its victory at Roscoe.

Moscho got the complete-game win, striking out three and walking two. He allowed 10 hits and two earned runs.

Brayden VanderBeek went 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, Matthew Hemingson was 2-for-4 and Nicholas Utsch 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run for Roscoe.

Greenwald 110 000 610-9 11 0

Roscoe 000 011 000-2 10 2

Hitting - Greenwald: Breydon Dobmeier 2-5 r-2, Grant Moscho 2-5 r rbi-2 2b, Sam Frieler 2-5 r rbi-2, Tyler Engelmeyer 1-3 rbi, Isaac Rosenberger 1-4 r 2b bb, Weston Middendorf 0-3 r bb, Kegan Stueve 2-3 rbi bb, Max Wehlage 1-4 r, Henry Braun 0-0 r, Ethan Ettel 0-0 r … Roscoe: Max Athmann 1-4 rbi bb, Brayden VanderBeek 2-4 hbp, Jordan Schleper 1-4 rbi, Matthew Hemingson 2-4, Austin Pauls 1-4 r, Bryce VanderBeek 1-4, Nicholas Utsch 2-3 r 2b bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Greenwald: Moscho (W) 9-10-2-2-2-3 … Roscoe: Bry. VanderBeek (L) 6-10-7-6-2-4, Hemingson 3-1-2-0-2-3

Spring Hill 10, Lake Henry 4

Spring Hill lashed out 14 hits, hitting six doubles, in the Chargers’ victory at Lake Henry.

Eric Terres, Austin Schoenberg and Regan Nelson all had two hits for Spring Hill.

Carter Wessel went 2-for-4 for Lake Henry. Grant Ludwig slugged a two-run homer in the first inning for the Lakers.

Spring Hill -10 14 1

Lake Henry -4 4 1

Hitting - Spring Hill: Eric Terres 2-4 2b, Austin Schoenberg 2-4, Regan Nelson 2-4 2b … Lake Henry: Carter Wessel 2-4 2b

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Spring Hill: Ben Welle (W) … Lake Henry: Trent Wendlandt (L)

County Line

NL-Spicer 10, Starbuck 9

New London-Spicer scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to beat Starbuck at the Green Lake Diamonds in Spicer.

NLS trailed 5-0 before scoring five times in the fifth. The Twins had eight players get one hit each.

Darion Alexander was 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs and an RBI and Noah Jensen was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

Starbuck 203 002 002-9 7 3

NL-Spicer 000 060 202-10 8 0

Hitting - Starbuck: Cam Simon 0-3 r bb, Darion Alexander 2-3 r-2 rbi bb-2, Matt Gruber 1-4 r rbi bb, Noah Jensen 2-4 r rbi, Dylan Alexander 1-4 r rbi-2, Aaron VerSteeg 0-4 r bb, PJ Johnson 0-2 rbi, Marc Gruber 0-0 r, Jack Majerus 1-2 r rbi-3 bb … NL-Spicer: Sam Etterman 1-3 rbi bb-3, Jake Rambow 1-5 r rbi bb, Derek Dolezal 1-3 r rbi-2 bb, Jett Salonek 1-4, Hunter Magnuson 0-5 r rbi, Nolan Johnson 1-4 rbi-3 bb, Aidan Paulson 0-2 r, Mike Danielson 1-1 rbi-3, Scott Rambow 0-0 r, Zak Madsen 1-3 r, Jordan Ellingson 1-3 r rbi-2 bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Starbuck: Austin VerSteeg 4-1-0-0-3-5, Nick Levassuer 0.2-3-6-2-2-1, Da. Alexander 2.1-3-2-0-1-1, Aa. VerSteeg (L) 1.1-1-2-2-3-2 … NL-Spicer: Magnuson 2.2-2-5-5-5-5, Dylan Arndorfer 5.2-4-4-4-2-6, Etterman (W) 0.2-1-0-0-0-1

North Star

Litchfield 13, Montrose-Waverly 3

Litchfield beat Montrose-Waverly in seven innings at Waverly.

The Blues scored seven runs in the top of the first inning, which featured doubles from Bennett Lecher, Andrew Loch and Jacob Jones.

Saturday

Stearns County

Elrosa 6, Farming 3

Will VanBeck went 7-1/3 innings to help pitch Elrosa past Farming at Elrosa.

VanBeck struck out three and walked three, allowing five hits and three earned runs. Luke Dingmann picked up the save, going the final 1-⅔ innings. He struck out three with no walks and allowed one hit.

Ethan Navratil went 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBIs and a walk for the Flames.

Farming 200 000 010-3 6 4

Elrosa 000 212 01x-6 5 1

Hitting - Farming: Will Mergen 1-4 r hbp, Ethan Navratil 2-3 r-2 rbi-3 hr-2 bb, Owen Sunderman 1-4, Robert Schleper 1-4, Cody Fourre 1-2 … Elrosa: Kevin Kuefler 1-4 rbi, Jackson Peter 0-3 r sb bb, Derek Wiener 0-4 r sb, Luke Dingmann 1-2 r rbi, Ashton Dingmann 1-3 r rbi 2b bb, Will VanBeck 1-4 rbi-3, Peyton Winter 1-4 r sb, Andrew Weller 0-0 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Farming: Tylor Schroeder (L) 4-2-3-1-3-2, Mergen 3-3-3-2-1-0 … Elrosa: VanBeck (W) 7.1-5-3-3-3-3, L. Dingmann (Sv) 1.2-1-0-0-0-3

Roscoe 2, Spring Hill 0

Josiah Utsch and Josh Mackedanz combined to toss a five-hitter shutout in Roscoe’s victory against the Chargers at Spring Hill.

Utsch, a freshman pitcher at St. Olaf College, stuck out eight hitters and allowed two hits and one walk in five innings to earn the win. Mackedanz surrendered three hits and one walk with three strikeouts in the final four innings to earn the save.

Utsch also batted 3-for-4. Max Athmann, a sophomore infielder at Ridgewater College, also had three hits, going 3-for-5 with a double and one RBI.

Reegan Nelson was 2-for-3 for Spring Hill, which also got one hit each from Owen Meyer, Austin Schoenberg and Jamie Terres.

Roscoe 000 010 001-2 8 2

Spring Hill 000 000 000-0 5 1

Hitting - Roscoe: Max Athmann 3-5 rbi 2b, Brayden Pung 1-2 sb bb-2, Bryce VanderBeek 1-4 r-2 rbi hr, Josiah Utsch 3-4 … Spring Hill: Austin Schoenberg 1-4, Jamie Terres 1-3 bb, Reegan Nelson 2-4, Owen Meyer 1-3

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Roscoe: Utsch (W) 5-2-0-0-1-8, Josh Mackedanz (Sv) 4-3-0-0-1-3 … Spring Hill: Anthony Revermann (L) 9-8-2-1-2-7

Meire Grove 4, Lake Henry 3

The Grovers held off a late Lake Henry rally for the victory at Meire Grove.

Lake Henry scored twice in the ninth and once in the third to close in on Meire Grove’s 4-0 advantage through five.

Grant Ludwig hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Lakers. Shane Kampsen was 2-for-4 for Lake Henry.

Lake Henry 000 000 012-3 9 2

Meire Grove 001 120 00x-4 11 1

Hitting - Lake Henry: Shane Kampsen 2-4 … Meire Grove: Josh Olmscheid 2-4

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Lake Henry: Grant Ludwig (L) … Meire Grove: Jordan Klaphake (W)

County Line

Regal 5, Paynesville 4

Christopher Schneider belted a three-run RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning to propel the Eagles to a walk-off win against Paynesville at Regal.

Schneider, a freshman infielder at Upper Iowa University, batted 3-for-5. Shane Radermacher earned the win for Regal, allowing zero runs and no hits with four strikeouts in two relief innings.

Grayson Fuchs, a redshirt freshman infielder at St. Cloud State University, went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, one run and a walk for the Pirates.

Paynesville 300 010 000-4 8 3

Regal 000 001 004-5 11 5

Hitting - Paynesville: Reed Johnson 2-4 r bb sb, Grayson Fuchs 2-4 r rbi-2 bb hr, Luke Johnson 0-4 r bb, Drew Tangen 1-5 r, Garrett Leusink 2-5, Grady Fuchs 0-4 rbi bb, Sam Oehrlein 0-3 rbi sb hbp-2, Spencer Eisenbraun 1-4 … Regal: Brayden Skindelien 0-4 rbi bb, Luke Knudsen 2-5 r sb, Bennett Schultz 1-4 r bb 2b, Nathan Meyer 2-5 r rbi, Josh Beier 1-5, Jordan Beier 2-2, Aedan Andresen 0-1 r, Christopher Schneider 3-5 rbi-3 2b, Shane Radermacher 0-5 r, Derek Dengerud 0-2 bb-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Paynesville: Oehrlein 6-7-1-0-3-1, Johnson (L) 2.2-4-4-4-1-2 … Regal: Jordan Wosmek 7-8-4-2-4-2, Radermacher (W) 2-0-0-0-0-4

Land O’Ducks

Clinton 3, Appleton 0

Ryan Toelle and Sam Adelman combined for a four-hit shutout to lift the Cards past Appleton at Clinton.

Toelle went the first six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk, allowing four hits to earn the win. Adelman secured the save going three innings with four strikeouts. Adelman also batted 2-for-3 with three runs, a pair of stolen bases and one walk.

For the Athletics, Brett Baldwin, Ryder Droogsma, TJ Mitchell and Daniel Theilke each had a hit.

Appleton 000 000 000-0 4 3

Clinton 001 010 10x-3 5 0

Hitting - Appleton: Kaiden Allpress 0-3 bb, TJ Mitchell 1-4 2b, Brett Baldwin 1-3, Ryder Droogsma 1-3, Daniel Theilke 1-3 2b … Clinton: Sam Adelman 2-3 r-3 bb sb-2, Keane Turner 2-3 rbi-3 2b sb-2, Brayden Andrews 0-0 bb hbp-3 sb-2, Ripley Holtz 1-3, Jake Adelman 0-3 bb sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Appleton: Druggsma (L) 7-5-3-2-2-4, Baldwin 1-0-0-0-1-2 … Clinton: Ryan Toelle (W) 6-4-0-0-1-7, S. Adelman (Sv) 3-0-0-0-0-4

Non-League

Montrose-Waverly 9,

Willmar Indians 4

Montrose-Waverly knocked off the Willmar Indians at Willmar.

Jean Morales went 2-for-4 with a run for the Indians.