Since it didn’t have to win its way into the VFW state baseball tournament, Austin Post 1216 wanted to prove its worth as the host at Riverland Complex Thursday.

Austin did just that when it bested St. Cloud 10-4 in an elimination game after dropping a 6-2 contest to Proctor in the opening round.

Post 1216 scored nine runs in the first two innings against St. Cloud as the bottom of the order stepped up. Tommy Olmsted grounded a 3-2 pitch through the left side of the infield to score two runs and make it 3-0 Austin and Jake Martin drove in two more runs with a single to right field with two outs.

“We pulled it together all the way and hit through our lineup,” Olmsted said. “I think that none of us wanted to go home in the first day of our own state tournament. We really pulled together as a team. It was really good for us and we got some great pitching from Steve (Serratore).”

Austin, which will play in another elimination game Friday at 11 a.m. at RCC, got a clutch two-out, two-run single up the middle from Joey Rasso to make it 9-0 in the top of the second.

While the offense got it started, Steve Serratore, who normally plays catcher, pitched a solid game on the mound —although it was just his third start of the summer. He scattered four hits, while walking one and allowed just two earned runs

“I tried to throw a lot of strikes and they picked up the ball for me,” Serratore said. “This is a fun group of kids, they play the game right and they play the game hard. I think they’re going to be a solid high school team in the future. It’s fun to represent Austin in the state tournament.”

Serratore is glad to have a chance to play with Austin at the state tournament this summer, because, come next spring, he’ll be playing against the Packers for Rochester Mayo.

“A lot of them actually saw me play at Mayo Field when I hit a homerun to beat Austin,” Serratore said. “It’s kind of a weird situation, but they know where I come from and there’s nothing to be said or done, you go out and play with each other.”

As for Olmsted, who also stole two bases, he continued his solid outing with a single in the fourth that saw a run score on a throwing error.

“I’ve been having a pretty good time with my at-bats lately, I’ve been hitting the ball pretty hard,” Olmsted said. “The ball just started dropping today and it was a good day.”

Serratore played on last year’s VFW team that won state and he hopes this year’s group enjoyed getting a win in a state tournament game.

“This is a memory they should hold on to, I still remember every game from last year,” he said.

In the first game, Austin couldn’t make enough plays in a 6-2 loss to Proctor in the first round in Dick Seltz Field.

Austin had three errors in the second inning that allowed Proctor to score twice and three errors in the seventh inning that allowed Proctor to score three times and break open a 3-2 game.

Austin pulled within one when Gabe Kasak drilled a single up the middle to score two in the bottom of the fifth. Post 1216 also had two chances to tie the game with a runner on third but Zach Wilder struck out and Jake Thompson popped out

Austin, which had seven errors in the game, stranded six runners in scoring position in the loss.

Proctor 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 — 6 7 1

Austin 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 8 7

Austin pitching: Jake Thompson (L), 7 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 R, 2 ER, 3 K, 1 HBP

Austin hitting: Marcus Stoulil, 2-for-4, SB; Gabe Kasak, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Zach Wilder, 1-for-3, BB; Anthony Condit, 0-for-3, BB; Thompson, 0-for-4, SB; Zach Huntley, 0-for-2; Isaac Gorman, 0-for-3, R; Tyler Bellknap, 2-for-2, R; Jake Martin, 1-for-2; Joey Raso, 1-for-1; Tommy Olmsted, 0-for-1

Austin 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 — 10 12 2

St. Cloud 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 — 4 4 2

Austin pitching: Steve Serratore (W), 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 K

Austin hitting: Stoulil, 2-for-4, R, BB; Kasak, 1-for-5; Wilder, 2-for-2, double, 2 R, 3 BBs, SB; Condit, 1-for-3, triple, 2 RBIs, 2 R; Belknap, 1-for-3, double, 2 R, BB; Gorman, 1-for-2, R; Olmsted, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, R, 2 SB, BB; Raso, 1-for-2, 2 RBIs, BB, HBP; Martin, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Thompson, 0-for-2; Huntley, 0-for-2