The Upsala Blue Jays needed to beat the Flensburg Falcons on Saturday to clinch a region berth and stay alive in the Victory League West division playoffs.  The Jays did just that, blanking the Falcons 6-0 on a 5-hit shutout by lefty ace Matt Swanson.  Swany struck out 11 in route to earning the win.  Ben Burggraff led the way for Upsala with 3 hits.  Eric Lampert belted his first victory league homerun in the 7th inning, which pushed the lead to 6-0.

With the win on Saturday, the Jays would travel to Sobieski on Sunday to face the Sobieski Skis for the West Division title.  Upsala would score first on an RBI single by Matt Swanson in the bottom of the first.  The Blue Jays held the lead until the 3rd, when the Skis would erupt for 11 runs.  Sobieski would cruise to a 15-3 victory in this one, clinching the #1 seed out of the West for the region 8C tournament.  The loss locked the Blue Jays into the #2 seed.

As the #2 seed in the West, Upsala will match up against the #1 seed out of the east, which belongs to the Lastrup Lakers.  These 2 teams met up deep into last years region tourament, where the Lakers beat the Jays 5-1.  The game is scheduled for 5 o'clock on Saturday in Pierz.  With a win, the Blue Jays will move into the winners bracket where they would play a 5 o'clock game onn Sunday in Pierz.  With a loss, they will slip into the losers bracket where they would play Saturday morning at 11 A.M. in Pierz.

Pending the outcome of first round action, Upsala will either meet Nisswa or St. Stephen in the 2nd round.