Baseball section notebook: Sauk Rapids-Rice, Albany, St. Cloud advance in opening round

Brian Mozey, St. Cloud Times
·6 min read

COLD SPRING — ROCORI and Sauk Rapids-Rice have seen each other in the regular season, so when the two teams met in the first round of the Section 8-3A tournament there were few surprises.

Honestly, it allowed both teams to look back at a game in early May where the Spartans earned a 5-4 win over the Storm.

There was a sense of deja vu from an early May 5-4 win by the the Spartans. ROCORI's Brady Blattner and the Storm's Noah Jensen were once again the starting pitchers at Cold Spring Baseball Park.

This time, the No. 4 seeded Sauk Rapids-Rice was able to come out with a 9-4 victory over No. 3 ROCORI.

"I've pitched against this team before so I had a better idea of what to expect and how to pitch each batter," Jensen said. "It was great to get some runs early and have that lead on the mound."

The Storm opened the first inning with three runs and followed with four runs in the second.

Sauk Rapids players congratulate Jeff Solorz after scoring a run during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.
Sauk Rapids players congratulate Jeff Solorz after scoring a run during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.

Sauk Rapids-Rice batters were patient and able to place the ball for hits. Storm's Andrew Harren came up to the plate in the first inning with runners on second and third with one out. He hit a line drive to center field to score both runs and make it a 3-0 lead for the Storm. In the second inning, Harren came up with the bases loaded and two outs before connecting on a ball to the left-center gap, scoring two runs.

Terrence Moody of Sauk Rapids tries to turn a double play as ROCORI's Peyton Randall slides into second during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.
Terrence Moody of Sauk Rapids tries to turn a double play as ROCORI's Peyton Randall slides into second during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.

Harren added another RBI in the fourth inning to make it 9-2 in favor of the Storm. He ended the day 3-for-4 with one run and five RBIs.

"I just approached these at-bats like any other ones this season," Harren said. "I just wanted to find a good pitch and make some contact because I knew how important these runs would be early in the game."

The entire Sauk Rapids-Rice lineup was firing on all cylinders as seven of the nine batters connected on at least one hit. The Storm totaled 13 hits and put pressure on ROCORI right away.

Noah Jensen pitches for Sauk Rapids during the game against ROCORI Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.
Noah Jensen pitches for Sauk Rapids during the game against ROCORI Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.

Once the Storm went up 7-0 in the first two innings, Jensen felt comfortable on the mound and was able to use a variety of pitches. Ultimately, Jensen went six innings giving up five hits, two earned runs, five walks and seven strikeouts.

ROCORI didn't back down from the 7-0 deficit, scoring two runs in the third and two runs in the fourth.

ROCORI's Brady Blattner takes a pitch during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.
ROCORI's Brady Blattner takes a pitch during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.

Brady Blattner had a two-RBI double in the third; Jack Spanier and Beck Loesch each had an RBI.

Sauk Rapids-Rice will advance through the winner's bracket, while ROCORI will drop into the elimination bracket. The Storm will play No. 2 Alexandria at 5 p.m. Thursday at Alexandria High School. The Spartans will play No. 1 Willmar at 5 p.m. Thursday at Willmar High School. ROCORI will need to win the rest of the games in the section tournament to avoid elimination.

ROCORI's Beck Loesch dives to make a catch during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.
ROCORI's Beck Loesch dives to make a catch during the game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Cold Spring.

"We have some tough teams in this section, so we're going to have to focus on the next game," said Sauk Rapids-Rice's head coach Jeff Hille. "We just need to continue being balanced offensively, defensively and on the mound. That will help us as we play in the section tournament."

Sauk Rapids-Rice has played Alexandria twice this season and both teams have come out with one win. The Storm lost at home to the Cardinals 5-0 in the first game of the season, but came back with a 5-0 win at Alexandria in mid-May.

ROCORI has played Willmar twice, losing 9-1 at Willmar in early May and 7-0 at home at the end of May.

St. Cloud's Hank Bulson started as the starting pitcher for the Crush as ROCORI hosts St. Cloud for a conference game on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.
St. Cloud's Hank Bulson started as the starting pitcher for the Crush as ROCORI hosts St. Cloud for a conference game on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.

Section 8-4A

No. 9 St. Cloud 9, No. 8 Buffalo 5 (9 innings)

The St. Cloud baseball team opened its section tournament Tuesday with a need-to-win play-in game. The No. 9 seed Crush traveled to No. 8 Buffalo and came out with the 9-5 win in extra innings.

The teams kept it close for the first four innings as Buffalo led 2-1. St. Cloud scored four runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead.

Buffalo tied it up in the bottom of the seventh at 5-5 to send the game to extra innings.

St. Cloud's Jaden Mendel watches the ball connect on the bat at the plate as ROCORI hosts St. Cloud for a conference game on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.
St. Cloud's Jaden Mendel watches the ball connect on the bat at the plate as ROCORI hosts St. Cloud for a conference game on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.

After a scoreless eighth inning, St. Cloud hit a hot streak in the top of the ninth. The Crush scored four runs to advance in the tournament.

Jaden Mendell went 1-for-4 with three runs, three RBIs and a home run, while Elian Mezquita and Tim Gohman each had two RBIs. Hank Bulson and Mezquita combined on the mound to earn the win.

Bulson threw 5.1 innings giving up nine hits and two earned runs, while Mezquita threw 3.2 innings and allowed six hits, two earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts.

St. Cloud will play at No. 1 St. Michael-Albertville at 5 p.m. Wednesday. St. Michael-Albertville comes into the game with a 14-6 record, while St. Cloud improves to 7-14 with this win on Tuesday.

Albany's Caden Sand follows through on his swing against Foley on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Central Park in Avon.
Albany's Caden Sand follows through on his swing against Foley on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Central Park in Avon.

Section 6-2A

No. 4 Albany 7, No. 13 Royalton 2

Albany came out firing in the first round of the Section 6-2A tournament. The No. 4 seed Huskies earned the 7-2 win over No. 13 Royalton on Tuesday to advance in section play.

Caden Sand pitched five innings and earned the win. He struck out nine batters and scored two runs.

Carter Birr finished the game with two innings and five strikeouts. Brandon Holm led the team with three RBIs with his two doubles, while Brady Goebel and Logan Harren each had two hits and an RBI.

Albany's Brandon Holm tags out a Foley runner at third base against Foley on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Central Park in Avon.
Albany's Brandon Holm tags out a Foley runner at third base against Foley on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Central Park in Avon.

The Huskies will play No. 5 seed Annandale at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Faber Field at the MAC in St. Cloud.

Annandale won 15-0 over Staples-Motley on Tuesday in the opening round of section play and sits at13-8. Albany improves to 16-5 with Tuesday's win.

The Huskies earned the 9-2 win at home May 25.

Cathedral's Talen Bragelman gets the starting nod on the mound against Pierz on Friday, May 21, 2021, at Joe Faber Field at the MAC.
Cathedral's Talen Bragelman gets the starting nod on the mound against Pierz on Friday, May 21, 2021, at Joe Faber Field at the MAC.

No. 8 Eden Valley-Watkins 8, No. 9 Cathedral 6

Cathedral had a tough matchup at Eden Valley-Watkins on Tuesday for the opening round section game. The Crusaders fell 8-6 to end their season.

The Crusaders started off with a 5-0 lead after scoring five runs in the top of the fourth, but Eden Valley-Watkins scored three in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game close.

Eden Valley-Watkins scored three runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to claim the victory. John Hawkins, Jack Theisen and Ben Brown each had an RBI in the game.

Cathedral ends the season with a 4-11 record with a handful of seniors graduating this spring.

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Baseball section notebook: Sauk Rapids-Rice, Albany, St. Cloud advance in opening round