The 2011 season came to a close for the Mariners in the final round of the State Tournament as they suffered a 4 - 2 loss to the St. Peter Saints. 

Bill Gabler threw a masterful game allowing but 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out nine as he faced a very tough St. Peter lineup. St. Peter's Travis Helling worked out of several jams as the Mariners had runners on base in each of the seven innings but were unable to score more than 2 runs.

Big Tim Hanson, Mariner 1st baseman singled in the fourth and was driven home by shortstop Tom Maurer for the first run and then Hanson hit a towering Home Run over the left field fence for the second Mariner run leading off the sixth inning.   

The Mariners came away with 4th place in the AA division for the State Tournament and ended a very successful season with 17 wins and 3 losses.

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The Mariners were matched with Slayton, last years AA runner-up in the 2010 State Tournament. 

Lefty Mike Fier held the Barnstormers to a single hit while facing one over the minimum batters through the first 5 innings while the Mariners were able to take a 2 - 0 lead in the bottom of the 5th on a single by Right-fielder John Barrett and 2 Slayton errors.

Unfortunately the wheels came off in the top of the 6th as Slayton scored a run to narrow the gap and another in the top of the 7th to knot the score at 2 - 2 and send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 8th, Slayton scored two more on 2 walks and 2 singles to end the scoring. The defeat was the second of the season for the Mariners as they dropped out of contention for the AA Championship and will now play for third place against the St. Peter Saints.

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The Mariners faced their old 'nemisis", the Jordan Millers in this second round game in Union Hill.

Second baseman, Dean Turnland opened the game with a double and was driven home by John McCaustlin's sac fly to give the Mariners a quick 1 - 0 lead. In the third, Turnland again got things going with a single and after 2 flyouts and a walk to catcher Mike McCallion, Tim Hanson drove both home with a long double.

Right-fielder Jaime Gonzalez reached on an error in the 4th and later scored on a single by Shortstop Joel Schmitz to extend the Mariner lead to 4 - 1. 

The Mariners finished the scoring in the 6th taking advantage of a couple of Miller errors, a pinch hit RBI single by Marco Duarte and an RBI single by McCallion.

The Mariners advance to the third round of the AA competition and will take on the Slayton Barnstormers in Shakopee on Friday evening.

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The Mariners opened State Tournament play as the number one seed in the 32 team field. Their opponent in the A-AA bracket was the Faribault Flames who finished the season at 11 and 5 in the Spaulding Division.

Mike Fier, ace of the Mariner staff, performed above and beyond as he tossed a "No-Hitter" as Prior Lake won the game by a score of 2 - 0. Fier faced 22 hitters (one over the minimum), striking out 14 and allowing but one walk. The Flames were unable to get a ball out of the infield during the course of the entire game.

Matt Moriarity drew a walk with 2 out in the bottom of the 2nd inning and scored on a single by right fielder Jamie Gonzalez to give Fier all of the runs he would need. They scored an insurance run in the 6th as Fier reached base. John Barrett ran for Fier and stole 2nd base. He scored on a single by Bill Gabler..     

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A quick shower passed through St. Peter 15 minutes before game time on Saturday night causing a 1 hour delay in the start of this "showdown" between the previously undefeated Saints and the once defeated Mariners.

The game featured a tight pitching dual between two very evenly matched teams as Prior Lake's Mike Fier and St. Peter's Travis Helling pitched shutout ball through the first 4 innings.

In the top of the 5th, DH Matt Moriarity delivered a single to right. Marco Duarte running for "Big Mo" stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Shortstop Joel Schmitz came through with an RBI single scoring Duarte and the Mariners had a 1 - 0 lead.

In the sixth second baseman, Dean Turnland drew a walk to open the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout to second by Matt Haefner. The St. Peter infield pulled in for a possible play at the plate but John McCaustlin hit a  "duck-snort" just over the head of shortstop John Landkammer to plate Turnland with the eventual winning run.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh as Jeff Welp led off with a single. Pinch hitter Andy Redning lined a double down the right field line to send Welp.to third. Adam Thoreson grounded out to short scoring Welp and cutting the lead to 2 - 1. Leadoff hitter Jeff Jeremiason drew a walk. Landkammer grounded out to second for the second out, but both baserunners advanced. Helling was intentionally passed to load the bases. Fier ran the count to 3 - 2 on cleanup hitter Scott Zeiher. On the final pitch of the game, with all baserunners on the move, Zeiher lined a fly ball to right that Jamie Gonzalez wa able to pick up in the fog and retire Zeiher for the final out.  

The victory tied the Mariners with the Saints in league play at 15 wins and 1 loss, but the Mariners will get the Number 1 seed in the State Tournament based on head to head competition with the win tonight. 

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The Mariners extended their streak of not giving up any runs to 14 innings over the last three games by defeating the Waconia Islanders by a score of 10 - 0 on Wednesday night at Memorial Field in Prior Lake.

Once again, Mariner pitchers Mike Fier and Tim Hanson combined to allow 3 hits while walking only 3 in gaining the shutout. 

Shortstop Joel Schmitz had a big night at the plate with 3 hits. Mike McCallion had 2 hits and drove in a run with a long double and scored two himself.

The Mariners are now 14 and 1 as they prepare to face the league leading St. Peter Saints in St. Peter on Saturday night. The Saints have yet to taste defeat this season with a 15 - 0 record.

Mariner ace, Mike Fier is scheduled to face Saints rookie pitcher Travis Helling in a game set to start at 7:30 pm. 

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12

The Mariners toppled the St. Louis Park Cardinals at Memorial Field on Sunday by a score of 10 - 0 in a game shortened to 5 innings by the 10 run rule.

Leadoff batter Dean Turnland was on base all 4 times with 2 hits and 2 walks while shortstop John McCaustlin chipped in with 3 hiys and 2 RBI's. Lef fielder Joe Schultz also enjoyed a perfect 3 for 3 evening at the plate

Mariner pitchers limited the visitors to 2 hits and escaped the only threat with the bases loaded in the 4th by getting Cardinal catcher Ship Chell to pop out to 1st base.

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The Mariners traveled to Northfield Sunday afternoon to meet the Northfield Millers in River Valley League action.

Tim Hanson and Mike Fier combined to throw a nifty 3 hitter while facing 5 over the minimum number of hitters and with the exception of 1 2-run fourth were never challenged.

Marco Duarte led the offense with a 4-hit performance driving in 2 runs and scoring one. John McCaustlin drove in three with a sacrifice fly and a big double that drove in 2 runs. Hanson also contributed a key single to drive in a pair of runs in the 7-run fourth for the Mariners.

The Mariners ran their record to 12 and 1 as they continue to chase the St. Peter Saints for the lead in the River Valley League of the MSMABA, 

3

The Mariners and Tap were knotted at 0 - 0 after four innings when Eden Prairie broke open the game with a run in the top of the 5th. with a hit, 2 walks and a fielder's choice. 

The Mariners responded with five runs of their own in the home half of the inning with 5 hits and 2 bases on balls. The big blow was a 2 run single by center fielder Matt Haefner.

Billy Gabler went the distance to record the victory for the Mariners allowing but 5 hits and stranding 12 Eden Prairie baserunners.

The victory gives the Mariners an 11 - 1 record in the River Valley League as they continue to chase the St. Peter Saints who lead the league with a 11 - 0 record.

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The Mariners combined their patented good pitching with an explosive offense on Sunday afternoon to defeat the LeCenter Braves by a score of 10 - 0 in a game shortened to 6 innings due to the 10-run rule.

Mike Fier supplied the pitching, giving up 3 hits, while giving up 3 free passes and striking out 9 batters.

John McCaustlin and rookie Tom Maurer provided the bulk of the offense with each contributing 2 hits and driving in 3 runs each.

The Mariners are 10 and 1 in league play and trail the St. Peter Saints by 1/2 game. 

6

The Mariners returned to their winning ways on Monday night as they notched their ninth win of the season against a single loss with a 5 - 4 victory over the Jordan Millers at Memorial Field in Prior Lake.

The Millers came out smoking in the first with four hits but were able to score but one run. The Mariners sent six batters to the plate in the bottom of the third and scored three runs, the big blow being a two out double by center fielder Jaime Gonzalez. 

Dean Turnland was hit by a pitch to open the home half of the third. Matt Haefner singled him to third and Matt Moriarity hit a long sac fly to make the score 4 - 1. 

Gonzalez led off the fifth with a single and was sacrificed to second by veteran Mariner catcher Kevin McDonald. Haefner then drove in what proved to be the winning run with a single to right.

Things got interesting in the top of the sixth as the Millers put together two hits, two walks and a hit batsman to score two and then added another run in the seventh as they benefited from another hit batsman and a walk. Mariner closer Billy Gabler came to the rescue and "shut the door" as the home team emerged with a 5 - 4 win to climb to a 9 and 1 record for the 2011 season.  

4

The Mariners ran up against an excellent pitching performance by Braemar's Gary Fritch and came away with their first loss of th4 season by a score of 1 - 0. The Mariners Mike Fier was equally dominant in holding the Bee's to a single run that came about with 2 out in the fifth inning as the ninth hitter in the Bee's lineup executed a bunt that was misplayed with the batter advancing to second. The leadoff hitter for the Bee's singled home the runner for the lone score of the game.

The Mariners loaded the bases in the third as Mike McCallion opened with a single. With two out, Bill Gabler and Joel Schmitz were able to coax walks out of Fritch and Gabler and Schmitz each walked however, Fritch bore down and struck out the next hitter to squash the threat.

McCallion managed two of the three hits off Fritch, but all in all the Mariner bats were silent as they fell victim to 2 double plays and had the lead off hitter in the bottom of the seventh picked off of 1st base.

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Box Score