Elk midfielder Zach Griffin (14) dueled Centennial's Nick Pahl (25) during a conference game won by Centennial 11-3. (Photo by Bruce Strand)

The Elk River-Rogers-Zimmerman girls lacrosse team was seeded No. 5 among 15 teams in Section 6, and will open Tuesday against No. 12 Osseo, at Osseo, 7 p.m.

If the Elks (9-4) win, they will take on  No. 4 Holy Family Catholic or No. 13 Cooper, at the higher seed, on Thursday, 5 p.m.

Eden Prairie is seeded No. 1 and Armstrong No. 2.

The ERZ boys team was seeded No. 12 and will play at No. 5 Maple Grove on Tuesday at 5 p.m. If the Elks (5-7) win, they will face No. 4 Armstrong or No. 13 Buffalo at the high seed, Thursday at 7 p.m.

Minnetonka is seeded No. 1 and Eden Prairie No. 2.

Sam Krick is hitting .453 with two homers for the Elks. (Photo by Bruce Strand)

by Bruce Strand, Sports editor

Sam Krick, Elk River senior outfielder, will play in the Lions All-Star Series, announced Elk coach Ryan Holmgren.

Krick, who’s batting .453 with two homers, 12 RBI and 16 runs, was picked by a coaches association committee for the three-game series June 22-23 at Chaska.

He’ll play for Metro East, and Holmgren will be one of the coaches of that team.

“Sam is a strong guy and he gets hits against everyone, even the top pitchers we face,” said Holmgren.

With 11 walks and six times hit-by-pitch, Krick has an on-base-percentage of .586.

Krick, who hit .364 with 15 RBI as a junior,  is the fourth Elk to play in the Lions All-Star Series, following Johnny Lynch (2000), Tony Klaers (2001) and Joe Maciej (2003).

Tucker Morrell made a double play pivot for the Elks in the third inning. (Photo by Bruce Strand)

by Bruce Strand, Sports editor

Tucker Morrell sparked Elk River at the plate, the field and the mound as the Elks snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over Osseo on Monday.

Morrell got the win with an efficient 2 1/3-inning relief stint. He went 1-for-2 plus a walk and scored a run, and at second base pivoted on a 6-4-3 double play started by Corey Collins.

That was the conference finale in a season where the Elks started 5-1 but finished 9-10 in conference and are 9-11 overall going into playoffs.

Elk shortstop Corey Collins threw out an Osseo runner after charging a slow ground ball. (Photo by Bruce Strand)

“We had a real good start and were feeling pretty high,” said Morrell, “and then we started to see every team’s best pitcher and it got tougher. But I still expect us to make a good run in the section. We’ve got good hitting and a good pitching staff.”

The Elks will start Section 7AAA next Tuesday, likely as the No. 8 seed among 12 teams, which would give them one home game, said coach Ryan Holmgren. The top four teams get byes.

“We needed this one,” said Holmgren. “It’s good for momentum going into post-season. We’ve been focusing for a couple weeks on getting ready for the second season. We feel that with as much as we’ve been challenged (in the NWSC) we can be competitive in the playoffs.”

Elk starter Terry Hadden struggled with control, giving up two runs in  3 2/3 innings, on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the first and a wild pitch in the fourth. He allowed four hits, three walks and two HBPs.

Morrell (4-4), in his first relief stint after seven starts, got the final out in the fourth on a grounder, and cruised through the next two innings, giving up one hit and no walks. He got some help in the sixth from Hadden in left with a diving catch of a foul ball, and from his brother/catcher Porter Morrell who threw out a would-be  base-stealer.

Porter Morrell stole second base with a head-first slide. (Photo by Bruce Strand)

Brady Givens pitched the seventh, giving up a two-out double and striking out two, notching his fourth save in five chances, which Holmgren said is a school record.

Givens, Sam Krick and Sam Wirtz each had a hit and an RBI for the Elks, who got the win with no resounding hits. Good pitching and errorless defense did the trick.

Jon Ludwig, first of three Osseo pitchers, took the loss. Alex Eernisse was  2-for-3 and Brett Moody 2-for-4 with a double for the Orioles, who split with the Elks and have the same won-lost record.

Meet the tour leader, Al Schirmacher, at the Mahnomen Trail at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 2.  The tour will end at approximately 11 a.m.  Recent sightings, weather and preferences of the group will determine the itinerary, which may include a car caravan tour along the Prairie’s Edge Wildlife Drive, as well as hiking refuge trails.

The tour is free and open to everyone.  Pre-registration is appreciated, although not required.  Contact the refuge at 763-389-3323 to sign up for the trip and get more details.

For more information on the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visit http://midwest.fws.gov.

The Elks won their last four conference games and enter the playoffs with a 10-10 record. Apollo is 4-14. They’ll duel at 4 p.m. The winner will face No. 4 Alexandria (13-6) at 6 p.m.

Top four seeds among 12 teams are Brainerd (18-1), Bemidji (14-5), Big Lake (10-6) and Alexandria (13-6).

The Crimson loaded the bases in the first on errors by shortstop Corey Collins and pitcher Brandon Meyer, then a single. Meyer gave up the grand slam to his mound opponent, Mitch Bauer, with two outs, a towering blast over the left-field fence. The errors made the four runs unearned.

The Crimson got two more in the fifth when Collins gloved a blooper to shallow center but lost the ball in a collision with an outfielder. With two outs, runners in first and second bases were running and both scored, making it 6-2.

Brady Givens was 2-for-4 for the Elks and drove home a run. He leads the team with 22 RBI. Collins was 2-for-4, Sam Krick 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Tucker Morrell was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs.

Bauer pitched 5 2/3 innings for the win, allowing three runs, with Shay Torgerson and Tyler Field finishing.

The Crimson are 16-3 and ranked second in Class 3A behind Burnsville.

Meyer threw five innings, allowing six hits and three walks, and six runs (two earned), striking out two.

The Elks lost their fourth straight and dropped to 8-11. One game remains in the regular season, vs. Osseo at home on Monday. They’ll have a week off before opening playoffs May 29.

Andover 10, Elks 7

A three-run homer by Andover’s Nick Weeks broke a 6-6 tie in the fifth inning and the Huskies held off Elk River 10-7 on Thursday in Andover.

Tucker Morrell pitched five innings, giving up nine runs and taking the loss. Porter Morrell pitched the seventh and allowed one run.

Tucker Morrell was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Collins had an RBI single for the Elks, who scored three of the runs on wild pitches or passed balls.

The Royals then lost to host Apollo 11-1 on Saturday, closing their regular season with a 7-12 record.

Rogers scored six in the last of the seventh, including a two-run homer by O’Neill, to tie the game at 13, and won in the ninth when O’Neill doubled home a run. The walkoff hit capped a 3-for-5 game with two doubles, a homer and three RBI.

Andrew Smith, Rogers’ sixth pitcher, blanked the Lions in the eighth and ninth and got the win. Ryan Gelle was 3-for-6 with two runs and three RBI, and Austin Barbeln was 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI.

Apollo’s T.J. Frerichs held Rogers to four hits in the five-inning game Saturday. Tyler Mueller was 3-for-4 with a double and solo homer. Barbeln was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Neal Smith 1-for-2 with a double and a run.

Lakeville South won with 624,  followed by Eden Prairie and Chanhassen with 626 each, and Rogers and Byron with 632 each,  Orono634 and Cretin-Derham Hall 637

Morgan Rask was low for the Royals with 77-78-155, followed by Corey Muenzhuber 77-80-157, Jordan Rykal 76-83-159, Zach Hnath 84-77-161, Rocky Nelson 86-93-179, and Andy Suedbeck 91-93-184.