Staff photo by Ari Selvey Hanska’s Tanner Wenninger (23) crosses home plate as teammate Alex Stresemann (26) cheers him on during a Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament game against St. James Wednesday at Hanska Ballpark.

HANSKA — The fifth-seeded Hanska Lakers avoided an upset to the 13th-seeded St. James Athletics, coming away with a 10-9 victory Wednesday in the Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament.

Gary Wilfahrt Jr. earned the win for Hanska, striking out six while allowing four runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Aaron Portner got the save, striking out three in two hitless innings of work.

Kevin Larson led the team at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored.

“Just trying to get my pitch,” Larson said. “They threw different arms all night, all three guys kind of had different stuff. Just trying to make sure I’m seeing my pitch, get it in my zone, and barrel it when it comes through.”

Also for the Lakers, Tanner Olson was 2 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Derek Wilfahrt was 2 for 5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Brady Mosenden was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Alex Stresemann was 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored. Eric Portner had a double and two RBIs.

Dylan Grev took the loss for St. James, striking out one and allowing four runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings. At the plate for St. James, Jon Faber was 2 for 5 with four RBIs and a run scored, while Lucas Anderson was 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. David Bradley added a hit, an RBI and a run scored.

Hanska scored twice in each of the first two innings of the game, with Larson and Wilfahrt coming home in the first and Stresemann and Tanner Wenninger scoring in the second on a double by Larson. St. James punched back in the third, cutting the lead to 4-2 with RBIs by Faber and Chase Bottin.

St. James continued the momentum in the fourth, with a three-RBI double by Faber giving the A’s a 5-4 lead. Hanska recaptured the lead in the bottom of the inning, with Wilfahrt singling to bring home Wenninger and Larson. St. James struck right back, however, scoring three runs on three hits to take a 8-6 lead.

“It’s this time of year where you have to have different guys step up in different spots,” Larson said. “Every out matters. Tonight we had a bunch of guys get some clutch hits. It’s good to see everyone one through nine participate in the lineup and just finding ways to scratch across runs.”

Those clutch hits started with an RBI single by Stresemann to bring home Olson in the fifth, then another single by Mosenden to bring home Larson in the sixth to tie the game. Eric Portner hit a double to drive in two more runs in the sixth to take a 10-8 lead.

St. James’ Bransen Peterson got a double and Anderson drove him in with a single to cut the lead to 10-9 in the seventh, but Aaron Portner took the mound in the eighth and pitched two perfect innings to close down the game.

Hanska now heads to No. 4 Springfield on Saturday in the next round of the tournament. Larson sees the game being a battle between two teams who are very familiar with each other.

“In amateur baseball, we see those same guys all the time and they see us all the time,” he said. “We kind of know what to expect from them, and they know what to expect from us. Expect another good game. We’ve had a lot of them over the years, so expect nothing different Saturday in Sleepy Eye.”

St. James plays at 7 p.m. Sunday in New Ulm in an elimination bracket game.