American Legion
Minnesota Division I
State Tournament

GAZETTE

 

 

 

 


Volume 10, No. 2 Excelsior, Minnesota Friday, August 4, 2006

Hopefuls reduced to 12 on 1st day
Some large scores and close games marked the first day's action in the Minnesota American Legion Division I Baseball Tournament Thursday.

Coon Rapids, West St. Paul, Eden Prairie, and Burnsville made it through the day without a loss and advanced to the semi-finals of the winners' bracket.

The Tenth District and the Third District each had two teams in the ranks of the undefeated.

St. Paul Park, Bemidji, Excelsior, Richfield, Hopkins, St. Paul Hamline, Moorhead, and the Rochester Redhawks remained alive with one loss and one victory and will face off on Friday in the losers' bracket.

Hermantown, New Ulm, Westphal Armstrong, and Willmar lost both games in the first day and went home.

Play will begin on Friday at Bennett Field in Minnetonka at 9 a.m. with Excelsior taking on Richfield. Other games at Bennett include Moorhead and Rochester at noon, and the winners of the two earlier games at 3 and 6 p.m.
Other early games i the losers' bracket will be St. Paul Park at B emidji at 10 a.m. and Hopkins against St. Paul Hamline at 1 p.m., with both games at Big Willow.

The games between the undefeateds will be at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Big Willow, with Coon Rapids taking on West St. Paul in the early game and Eden Prairie playing Burnsville in the nightcap.

Six teams will survive to Saturday, with all the games played at Big Willow. The final games will be played on Sunday at Big Willow at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.

This year's tourney is hosted by Excelsior Post 259, with Jim Peck and Mabel Roher serving as co-chairs of the host committee.

The Division II Tournament will begin on Saturday in Willmar.

Two teams will advance from the Division I tourney, with one traveling to Aberdeen, SD., for a national regional, and the other heading east to Evansville, Inc. The World Series is in Cedar Rapids, IA, August 19-23.
Cobra strikes a dramatic walk-off homer
by John Sherman

Carter Sacket is known for his home-run swing and he unveiled it for all to see as the Burnsville Cobras scored a dramatic 13-12 win over the Rochester Redhawks in their state tournament opener.

Sacket hit seven home runs for B urnsville High this spring and had hit four more in Legion ball going into Thursday's ballgame.

"Down two runs going into the last inning, I told our hitters to take a strike," said Burnsville Coach Greg Nesbitt. "We started the inning with a walk and a hit batsmen. We weren't looking for anyone specific to come up....we just wanted to get as many runners on base as we could."

Enter Sacket. He got the pitch he wanted, in his words, "a fastball that was a little high...right where I like it." As his high drive sailed over the left-field fence, pandemonium broke out and the celebration began at home plate.

"That was probably the biggest home run I have ever hit, even though I don't think I got all of it," said Sackett. "It was a rush."

Hitting has been a major component in Burnsville's success this summer, and Sackett is only one member of a potent lineup. Catcher Ben Braaten leads the club with a .485. Billy Stitz has a .421 average, while several others, including Sackett, are above the .300 mark.

Burnsville also has a couple of ace pitchers, Josh Threlkeld (8-0) and Phil Solynjes (9-1).

Solyntjes proved effective in beating the host team, Excelsior, 8-2 in the winners' bracket Thursday eveing at Big Willow Park. He hurled seven and one-third innings, allowing only four hits.

Sackett flexed his muscles with anothe home run, while Bratten and Threlkeld also hit homers. Burnsville pounded 14 hits to four for Excelsior.

Braaten had three hits to lead a balanced effort. Will Stituz, Sackett and Matthew Trocke each had two hits. Ben Mattson, Marcus Traetow, Threlkeld and Dubanoski each had a hit.

The big RBI man was Sackett with three. Although Burnsville didn't need much help, the Cobras benefitted from three Excelsior errors.

Burnsville is capable of putting together a string of wins. In fact, the Cobras opened the summer with 16 straight victories. Going into Friday's action, three more wins would give Burnsville its first-ever State American Legion Baseball championship.

After coming through the Third District Tournament, Burnsville is anxious to make a statement in the state tourney. The statement was followed by an exclamation point in the state opener.
Stars of the Day

Carter Sackett's walk-off home run gave Burnsville a 13-12 victory over the Rochester Redhawks.

Phil Haig pitched five scoreless innings as West St. Paul dominated in a 16-0 victory over Westphal.

Jake Krause of Moorhead went six for six in an 11-10 victory over Richfield. Moorhead had 18 hits in the game.

Jason Kickhafer of St. Paul Park pitched a complete game to beat St. Paul Hamline 5-4.

Charles Dubanoski of Burnsville hit a grandslam homer in his team's win over the Rochester Redhawks.

Steven Fischer of Richfield had a total of eight hits in his team's first two games.
First Day Statistics

BATTING
Joey Lindseth, Bemidji...................... .833
Jacob Leitch, Eden Prairie................ .833
Steven Fischer, Richfield................... .727
Madison Boer, Eden Prairie.............. .714
Ben Braaten, Burnsville..................... .667
Jake Vann, Westphal Armstrong....... .667

SLUGGING %
Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids............1.375
Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks..1.300
Joey Lindseth, Bemidji......................1.167
Doug Molden, Westphal Armstrong..1.143
Madison Boer, Eden Prairie..............1.143

RUNS BATTED IN
Carter Sackett, Burnsville......................6
Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks...... 6
Michael Bormann, Moorhead............... 5
Matt Seehusen, Willmar....................... 5
Doug Molden, Westphal Armstrong......5
Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids................5
8 tied at ...............................................4

HOME RUNS
Carter Sacket, Burnsville..................... 2
Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids............... 2
Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks..... 2
Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids .............. 2
Micahel Bormann, Moorhead............... 2
15 tied at ............................................ 1

TOTAL BASES
Nate Hanson, Eden Prairie ................. 20
Lee Anderson, Rochester A's ............. 13
Mike Mahoney, Duluth Lakeview ....... 11
Blake Eller, Brainerd .......................... 10
Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids ............... 9

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
Jay Anderson, Eden Prairie.................0.00
Ross VanHauen, Willmar....................0.00
Matthew Brinda, Hopkins...................0.00
Andrew LeBlanc, Hermantown...........0.00
Jason Kickhafer, St. Paul Park............1.00
Gary Wilfahrt, New Ulm Gold.............1.00

BATTERS STRUCK OUT
Steve Gerten, West St. Paul.................12
Daniel Miller, Eden Prairie....................10
Jason Kickhafer, St. Paul Park.............. 8
Matthew Brinda, Hopkins..................... 7
Andrew Stone, Moorhead.................... 6
Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks...... 6
Phil Haig, West St. Paul........................ 6
Kyle Berg, St. Paul Hamline.................. 6

WINS
Phil Haig, West St. Paul.........................2
14 tied at ..............................................1

RUNS ALLOWED
Andrew LeBlanc...................................0
Daniel Miller, Eden Prairie.....................1

   

Nick Le saves the day for Coon Rapids
By John Sherman

Coon Rapids came into the 2006 Minnesota Division I American Legion Baseball Tournament as one of the favorites, but it was Willmar that looked like a champion early in a first-round game Thursday morning at Bennett Park in Minnetonka.

Willmar took an early 5-2 lead, then carried an 8-7 lead into the ninth inning. In the top of the ninth, Coon Rapids showed why it finished third in the final state Legion poll. After a key single by Dylan Blake, a double by Nick Le put Coon Rapids ahead 9-8. Coon Rapids added an insurance run, then Le threw a scoreless relief inning for for the save, as Coon Rapids improved its season record to 42-9.

Le, who stands 5 feet, 8 inches and weighs 165 pounds, said his key hit was just what he'd hoped for. "I was sitting there with two men on base an my first thought was put the ball in play," he said. "Their pitcher left a slider up over the plate and I knew I tagged it pretty hard."

Our strength is confidence, said Le. "Everyone expects to win every game. We have a never-give-up attitude."

"To have a legitimate shot at the state title, you can't lose your first-round game," said Tom Yelle, who has coached Coon Rapids Legion for 27 seasons. "You do what it takes to win the first one. We haven't had another comeback like this one. We usually start our comebacks earlier. For the first eight innings, we dind't play up to our capabilities."

Yelle used five pitchers in the first-round game. The patchwork pitching performance showed the importance of the depth on Coon Rapids' staff.

"We wanted to start Andrew Kinney, but he has had a chronic elbow problem for the last few weeks and was't able to pitch," said Yelle. "We playded Willmar the first game of the season eight weeks ago and won a 2-1 ballgame. Willmar has improved vastly since then. They have two really good pitchers."

"We wanted to start Andrew Kinney, but he has had a chronic elbow problem for the last few weeks and wasn't able to pitch," said Yelle. "We played Willmar the first game of the season eight weeks ago and won a 2-1 ballgame. Willmar has improved vastly since then. They have two really good pitchers."

Yelle used five pitchers in the first-round game. The patchwork pitching performance showed the importance of the depth on Coon Rapids' staff.

"We wanted to start Andrew Kinney, but he has had a chronic elbow problem for the last few weeks and was't able to pitch," said Yelle. "We playded Willmar the first game of the season eight weeks ago and won a 2-1 ballgame. Willmar has improved vastly since then. They have two really good pitchers."

Le, who has a 2.47 earned run average in 49.2 innings, plays third base when he isn't on the mound. He is one of the team's top all-around talents and a third-year Legion player.

"I have been a starting pitcher this year," he said. "Last year my role was to close out ball games, so I went back to my old role today."

Le explained his success as a reliever. "I base my slider off my fastball with the same arm motion," he said. "I was focused on the hitters."

Next spring, Le said he plans to stick with coach Yelle, but at that time they will team up at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, where Yelle is head coach.

Following the win over Willmar, Yell gave a brief talk with two main points of emphasis. "We can't let down and we have to believe in ourselves," he said.

Game Summaries, Thursday, August 3, 2006:

Game 1
Coon Rapids 10, Willmar 8
Nick Le's two-run double provided the victory margin as Coon Rapids defeated Willmar 10-8 in a first-round game at Minnetonka's Bennett Park. Le's key hit came in the bottom of the eitghth inning. He then pitched a scoreless inning in the bottom of the ninth to record the save. Willmar outhit Coon Rapids 14-9. Left fielder Josh Dahlke went three for three for Willmar and Ross VanHauen was three for five. Kevin Johnson hit a home run for Coon Rapids.

Coon Rapids     2 0 3   0 0 0   0 2 3     10   10   2
Willmar     3 2 0   0 0 2   1 0 0     8   14   6

Nienaber, Frogner (2), Kraft (6), Baumgartner (8), Le (9) and Oberfoell. VanHauen, Brower (8) and Seedorf. WP Baumgartner. LP Brower. HR Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids.

Game 2
Hopkins 11, Bemidji 1
(7 innings)
Matthew Brinda threw a three-hit complete game as Hopkins won the opener 11-1 in seven innings. Brinda struck out six along the way. Bryan Gentz, Thomas Wheeler and Nicholas Vavra each had two hits for Hopkins.

Bemidji     0 0 0   1 0 0   0       1   4   2
Hopkins     0 3 3   1 0 4   X       11   11   1

Olson, Parker (5), Saccoman (6) and Lindseth. Brinda and Stearns. WP Brinda. LP Olson.

Game 3
Moorhead 11, Richfield 10

A six for six performance by Moorhead's Jake Krause led Moorhead to an 11-10 victory over Richfield in a first-round game at Chaska Athletic Park. Brock Gnadt added a three-run homer for the winners and Mike Bormann also hit a home run. Richfield rallied late in the game with four funs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth. Steven Fischer went four for six at the plate for Richfield. The win was Moorhead's 40th of the season against 14 losses. Richfield fell to 16-18 overall.

Richfield     0 0 0   1 3 0   0 4 2     10   14   3  
Moorhead     3 0 1   0 1 2   2 1 1     11   18   3  

Book, Gruetzmacher (7) and Bruley. Stone, Emmerich (8), Eldred (8), Gnadt (8) and Bormann. WP Gnat. LP Gruetmacher. HR Gnadt, Moorhead; Boorman, Moorhead.

Game 4
West St. Paul 16, Westphal Armstrong 0
(7 innings)
West St. Paul pitchers Phil Haig and Brent Oppegard combined for a two-hit shutout, as their teammates played errorless ball in the field. Haig, Tim Shows and Peter Usset each had two hits for the winners.

Westphal Armstrong     0 0 0   0 0 0   0       0   2   4    
West St. Paul     2 1 6   4 3 0   X       16   11   0    

Schuld, Hutt (3), Jaster (5) and Vathing. Haig, B. Oppegard (6) and Usset. WP Haig. LP Schuld.

Game 5
Eden Prairie 13, New Ulm Gold 1
(7 innings)
Danny Miller pitched a complete game for the defending state Division I champions, striking out nine and allowing eight hits in seven innings. Eden Prairie pounded out 15 hits to win by the 10-run rule in the seventh. Kyle Geason had a double and two singles for Eden Prairie, while teammate Justi Milo homered and Jake Leitch had three hits. Nate Van Roekel led New Ulm Gold with three hits.

Eden Prairie     1 1 0   0 3 0   8       13   15   0
New Ulm Gold     0 0 0   0 1 0   0       1   8   1

Miller and Anderson, Mohn (7). Nilson, Trullinger (7), Hoffmann (7) and organ. WP Miller. LP Nilson.

Game 6
St. Paul Park 5, St. Paul Hamline 4
Jason Kichafer pitched a complete game, striking out eight in St. Paul Park's win over St. Paul Hamline.

St. Paul Hamline     1 0 0   2 0 0   0 2 0       5   13   8
St. Paul Park     2 0 0   0 0 1   0 1 0       4   9   4

Kickhafer and Marks. Shrewsberry, Punch (8), Salmen (8) and Kelly. WP Kickhafer. LP Shrewsberry.

Game 7
Burnsville 13, Rochester Redhawks 12
(10 innings)
Carter Sackett's walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning ended an exciting first-round game at Big Willow Park in Minnetonka. It was a game of timely home runs. Chales Dubanoski hit a grandslam for Burnsville, while Mitchell Anderson and Aaron Senne homered for the Rochester Redhawks. Sackett, Will Dahlgren and Ben Braaten each had three of Burnsville's 16 hits. Tyler Rank had three hits for Rochester. Justin HAckett was the winning pitcher for the Cobras, who raised their season mark to 29-8.

Rochester     0 0 2   6 1 0   0 1 0   2     12   14   1  
Burnsville     0 2 1   5 2 0   0 0 0   3     13   16   0  

Threlkeld, Siegfried (4), Hackett (8) and Rank. Senne, Becker (5) Ferschweiler (7) and Braaten. WP Hackett. LP Ferschweiler. HR Mitchell Anderson, Rochester; Aaron Senne, Rochester; Charles Dubanoski, Burnsville, Carter Sackett, Burnsville.

Game 8
Excelsior 6, Hermantown 4
Excelsior scored three unearned runs in the fourth, and then plated the winner in the seventh when Jacob Bandy doubled and scored on Christopher Hoeschen's single. Hermantown brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Daniel Gastuch had four hits, and Patrick Deppa and Hoeschen had three each to lead the Excelsior attack. Travis Teran and Ray Hernesman had two hits for Hermantown.

Excelsior     0 0 1   3 0 0   1 0 1       6   15   0
Hermantown     0 0 0   1 2 0   0 0 1       4   8   4

Patterson, Reid (7) and Kriegeer. Teran and Baker. WP Patterson. LP Teran.

Game 9
Bemidji 12, Willmar 6
In a losers' bracket game Thursday evening, Bemidji outlasted Willmar 12-6. Joey Lindseth led Bemidji with a four for five performance, while teammate Justin McKee went three for five and Nate Brown went two for five with four RBIs. One of Brown's hits was a three-run homer.

Willmar     1 0 0   2 0 0   2 1 0     6   8   3
Bemidji     0 0 3   4 0 2   3 0 X     12   13   3

Ditterich, Lotthammer (6), Elkjer (7) and Seedorf. Anderson, Saccoman (4), Parker (7) and Bauer. WP Saccoman. LP Ditterich. HR Brown, Bemidji.

Game 10
Coon Rapids 5, Hopkins 2
Kevin Johnson and Corey Johnson supplied the offense for Coon Rapids with home runs, while Dylan Blake pitched a complete game, striking out five. He helped his own cause by getting three hits. Jonathan Ricco and Adam Dressel each had two hits for Hopkins.

Coon Rapids     1 0 1   0 1 1   0 1 0     5   13   1  
Hopkins     1 0 1   0 0 0   0 0 0     2   12   2  

Devaan, Agneberg (6) and Stearns. Blake and Oberfoell. WP Blake. LP Devaan. HR Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids, Corey Johnson, Coon Rapids.

Game 11
Richfield 17, Westphal Armstrong 15
Steven Fischer's second four-hit performance of the day led Richfield to a 17-15 win in a slugfest at Chaska Athletic Park. Alex Gruetzmacher added three hits for the winners. Andy Duppler and Doug Molden hit home runs for Westphal. Shawn Eid was the winning pitcher in relief for Richfield.

Westphal Armstrong     1 0 5   2 0 0   6 0 1     15   15   6  
Richfield     2 0 0   0 3 0   6 6 X     17   16   3  

Johnson, Hutt (7), Schuld (7), Walzer (8) and Jaster. White, Ermisch (4), Eid (7) and Bruley, Jarjula (8). HR Doug Molden, Westphal Armstrong, Andy Duppler, Westphal Armstrong.

Game 12
West St. Paul 9, Moorhead 7
After winning a game as a starter earlier in the day, Phil Haig won in relief as West St. Paul upended Moorhead 9-7 in a winners' bracket game. Tim Shows led the West St. Paul attack with two hits.

Moorhead     0 0 1   0 4 0   0 2 0     7   4   3  
West St. Paul     0 1 1   0 3 1   0 3 X     9   7   1  

Bormann, Pieterick (7), Gnadt (8) and Weiss, Dahl (3). Gerten, Haig (8) and Usset. SP Haig. LP Pieterick.

Game 13
St. Paul Hamline 4, New Ulm Gold 3
Kyle Berg went eight innings on the mound to get the win as St. Paul Hamline eliminated New Ulm Gold. Berg struck out six and allowed five hits before turning the ball over to Sam Rinner, who got credit for a save. Kinne had three hits to lead the Hamline attack.

St. Paul Hamline     0 0 0   0 0 3   1 0 0     4   11   4  
New Ulm Gold     0 0 0   0 0 2   0 1 0     3   5   2  

Berg, Rinne (8) and Kelly. Wilfahrt and Morgan. WP Berg. LP Wilfahrt. HR Tyler Morgan, New Ulm Gold.

Game 14
Eden Prairie 13, St. Paul Park 2
(7 innings)
Eden Prairie had 14 hits in an easy second-round win over St. Paul Park. Madison Boer hit a home run and two singles for the winners. Adam Vortherms and Danny Miller added three hits each. Brian Olson had two of St. Paul Park's three hits against winning pitcher Jay Anderson.

St. Paul Park     0 0 1   0 0 1   0       2   3   0    
Eden Prairie     2 4 0   3 2 2   X       13   14   4    

Anderson and Thorney, Mohn (7). Ulb, Bahl (6) and Marks, Plemel (6). HR Madison Boer, Eden Prairie.

Game 15
Rochester Redhawks 10, Hermantown 9
Brett Feerschweiler and Shawn Palmer led the Rochester Redhawks to a win with three hits each. Tyler Rank was the winning pitcher for the Redhawks, working the first five and two-thrirds innings. Hermantown's Justin Baker had three hits and walked three times for a perfect day at the plate.

Hermantown     0 1 0   0 2 1   0 5 0     9   10   3  
Rochester Redhawks     3 4 0   3 0 0   0 0 X     10   19   3  

Adams, Reid (3), Hanson (3), LeBlanc (5) and Anderson. Rank, Levison (6), Becker (7) and Morsette. WP Rank. LP Adams. HR Travis Taran, Hermantown.

Game 16
Burnsville 8, Excelsior 2
Burnsville used the long ball to defeat Excelsior in a winners' bracket game Thursday night at Big Willow Field. Carter Sackett, Ben Braaten and John Threlkeld went deep for the winners. Adam Petterson had two hits to lead Excelsior.

Excelsior     0 0 0   0 0 0   0 2 0     2   4   2  
Burnsville     0 1 0   1 0 1   4 1 X     8   13   0  

Gastuch, Utoft (8) and Krieger. Solyntjes, Hacket (8) and Sackett. WP Solyntjes. LP Gastuch. HR Braaten, Burnsville, Sackett, Burnsville, Threlkeldt, Burnsville.


Additional Issues:

The Gazette, Thursday, August 3, 2006
The Gazette, Saturday, August 5, 2006
The Gazette, Sunday, August 6, 2006
2006 State Tournament Homepage

 

Last updated: 8/04/06
Thank you for visiting our web site!

Gail Kalata, Web Site Designer & Volunteer