Central Minnesota town ball teams advance to state on a rainy region tourney weekend
The first weekend of the local region tournaments for amateur baseball had to deal with some rescheduling and weather conditions, but there were still plenty of games that finished.
There were even a few teams that advanced to the state tournament with a couple wins over the weekend. Avon and Nisswa punched their tickets in the Region 8C tournament, while Monticello will head to state in Region 11C. Finally, Elrosa and St. Martin will be going to state for Region 15C.
There are some crucial games coming up this upcoming weekend to close out the region tournament, but let's take a look back at last weekend's games.
Region 8C
The Region 8C tournament had some close finishes to open up the weekend. Three of the four quarterfinal games ended with a one-run difference and even one of the semifinal games ended in a one-run difference.
The quarterfinal games started almost three hours late due to rain and storms on Saturday. Pierz kicked it off with a 6-3 win over Freeport to reach the semifinal.
Then, Avon won 3-2 over Buckman after Reese Gregory hit a solo home run in the eighth to earn the game-winning run. Nisswa also squeaked out a 3-2 win over Randall as Kody Ruedisili hit a three-run double to give Nisswa the lead and win.
St. Stephen's game against Foley started at 10:40 p.m. Saturday and went into the wee hours of the morning. The Steves come out with a 7-6 win as Jack Greenlun shined for St. Stephen going 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double, a single and five RBIs.
In the semifinal games, Avon continued to show it's No. 1 seeding with a 2-1 win over Pierz. The Lakers scored a couple runs early in the game and held onto the lead for the final seven innings to punch its ticket to state and play in the Region 8C championship on Sunday.
Avon will be meeting up against the other No. 1 seed with Nisswa in the championship game. The Lightning earned a spot at state after winning 7-3 over St. Stephen in the semifinal. Nic Nelson hit two solo home runs, Aaron Jenkins also had a two-run home run and Jeremiah Piepkorn contributed with a two-run single for Nisswa.
In the loser's bracket, Buckman won 6-0 over Freeport to eliminate Freeport from the postseason. Buckman will play St. Stephen on Saturday with the winner punching a ticket to the state tournament.
Pierz won't know its opponent in the loser's bracket until Monday night as Randall and Foley had their game suspended due to rain. That game will finish on Monday and the winner will play on Saturday against Pierz for a spot at state. The top four seeds in this region will head to the Class C state tournament later this month.
Region 11C
The Region 11C tournament was quite the opposite of Region 8C as all of the quarterfinal games were blowouts. The weekend started with an 11-3 win for Monticello over Cold Spring as the Polecats used its offense all game.
The Sartell Muskies also had a big opening game with a 10-2 win over Pearl Lake. Tim Burns hit a grand slam, while Jacob Merrill and Ethan Carlson each had three hits. John Schumer pitched a complete game to give the Muskies pitching depth for the rest of the weekend.
Kimball closed out Becker with a 12-0 win as the Express used its balance between offense and pitching to capture a victory. Finally, St. Joseph pulled off the upset and won 8-2 over Clearwater as Tanner Blommer hit a two-run home run.
In the semifinal game, Monticello earned the 9-3 win over Sartell to punch its ticket to state and play in the Region 11C championship game on Saturday. The Polecats won't know its opponent until Friday night as the St. Joseph and Kimball game was suspended this weekend due to weather conditions.
The winner will play Monticello and have a spot at state, while the loser of the game will play Cold Spring in the loser's bracket. The Rockies won 7-2 over Pearl Lake to continue fighting in the tournament. Becker will also be in the hunt after winning 4-2 over Clearwater and the Bandits will play Sartell.
Since Region 11C has four bids to the state tournament, the winners of these two semifinal games in the loser's bracket will earn a spot at state.
Region 15C
The Region 15C had a variety of close and blowout games this weekend as two teams have a spot at state and many other teams are eyeing the last two spots.
Richmond started off the weekend with a 7-2 win over Watkins as Luke Jokela pitched a complete game and the Royals had 16 hits overall. Elrosa also got a 4-1 win over Spring Hill to reach the semifinals as Payton VanBeck threw a complete game and gave up two hits and a run.
St. Martin and Luxemburg each got wins in the quarterfinals as the Martins won 2-1 over New Munich and the Brewers won 3-2 over Lake Henry. Both of the teams were able to win a close game and face off in the semifinal round.
St. Martin had the upper hand winning 3-1 over Luxemburg to reach the Region 15C championship game. Elrosa also won a close 4-3 game over Richmond to play St. Martin for the No. 1 seed.
Luxemburg went to the loser's bracket and will play Watkins in the semifinals as the Clippers won 11-3 over Spring Hill. Richmond will play playing against New Munich after a 12-11 win over Lake Henry. The winners of these two semifinal games in the loser's bracket will earn a spot at the state tournament.
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: These Central Minnesota town ball teams advanced to state
