HANSKA — Sunday afternoon in Region 2C playoffs, one team’s road to the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament got a little easier while another’s got a bit more difficult.

Stark jumped out to a 7-1 lead after 3 1/2 innings, before Hanska mounted a late rally, as the Lakers fell to the Longhorns 7-5 in Hanska.

Austin Pinke, a draftee from St. James, got the win for the Longhorns, who improved to 2-0 in Region 2C play.

Dayton Larson was charged with the loss for Hanska. Larson gave up seven runs on nine hits as he worked into the fourth inning.

Adam Sellner led the Longhorns with three hits, with Nathan Kral and Joey Wahl each adding two hits. Both Kral and Wahl belted home runs. For Wahl, it was his third home run in the last two games. Brandon Helget and Kral each drove in two runs.

Brady Mosenden had three hits for Hanska, with Kevin Larson adding two hits. Larson drove in two runs.

Both teams continue 2C play Tuesday night with 8 p.m. games. Hanska is at Lamberton while Stark hosts Gibbon.

“Our key was to get off to a big start,” said Stark manager Brian Mathiowetz. “We got some big home runs from Joey Wahl and Nathan Kral that really got us going. And we got good relief jobs from Kyle Pinke, shutting them down, and by Sean Mathiowetz in the ninth.”

Hanska trailed 7-4 going into the bottom of the ninth. After Pinke retired Larson for the first hour, Pinke allowed consecutive singles to Eric Portner and Kyle Fischer to end his day. Mathiowetz was greeted by an RBI single off of the bat of Brady Mosenden that cut the lead to 7-5. Mathiowetz walked Gary Wilfhart to load the bases. But a force out at home and a game-ending infield flyout ended the game.

“We got ourselves down by to much early — got in a big hole — but I am proud of the way that they battled back,” said Hanska manager Chris Koob. “Hats off to (Cole) Wellmann. He kept us in the game. It could have spiraled out of control.”

Wellmann took over for Larson in the top of the fourth and allowed no runs and just four hits the rest of the way.

The Longhorns took a 3-0 lead in the first on a Craig Fischer sacrifice fly and a two-run home run from Wahl.

“He is on a big tear,” said Mathiowetz about Wahl. “He has really come around in the playoffs.”

Hanska scored a run in the bottom of the inning on a Gary Wilfahrt sacrifice fly.

Stark plated a run in the second on a Wahl solo home run and then pushed three runs across in the top of the fourth. Wahl doubled before both Jake Mangen and Tim Seifert singled. Brandon Helget then ended Dayton Larson’s day on the mound with a two-run single.

But the Lakers battled back with three runs in the bottom of the inning on a Derek Wilfahrt RBI single and a two-run single from Kevin Larson.

Mathiowetz knows that the win Sunday was a big one. “We looked at this as probably the key game of the region,” said Brian Mathiowetz. “We have not been to the state tournament since 2012.”

Koob said that last year Hanska was 1-2 and won the last two games and qualified for the state tournament.