Central Minnesota town ball teams wrap up region play with eyes on state bids this weekend
For town ball teams who haven't solidified a spot at state yet, this upcoming weekend is crucial. It's the last weekend left in the region baseball tournaments before state tournaments start up to close out the town ball season.
For each of the three local region tournaments, two teams have punched their tickets to the state tournament and will be playing this weekend for No. 1 or 2 seedings. For four others teams in each region, there will be a battle for the last two spots to reach state.
Here's a breakdown of the upcoming weekend for region tournaments.
Region 8C
The two No. 1 seeds in the Region 8C tournament will be squaring off for the championship game on Sunday. Avon and Nisswa will be battling it out, but both teams have already punched their tickets to the Class C state tournament.
In the loser's bracket, St. Stephen (No. 2 seed) will play Buckman (No. 4 seed) for a spot at state and an opportunity to play for the No. 3 and 4 seeds. On the other side of the bracket, Pierz (No. 2 seed) will play Foley (No. 3 seed) for the other spot in the third-place game.
Those two games will take place on Saturday night and there's potential for some upsets, as Foley and Buckman have both been on a roll as of late. The No. 1 seeds are already into the state tournament, but the No. 2 seeds from Region 8C will be fighting to get into that final tournament of the season.
Region 11C
The Region 11C tournament is looking a little different compared to Region 8C. Monticello (No. 3 seed) had a big upset over No. 1 Sartell Muskies in the semifinals to clinch a spot at state and compete for the Region 11C championship.
The Monticello Polecats' opponent is unknown right now, as Kimball (No. 1 seed) and St. Joseph (No. 4 seed) will finish their game from last weekend on Friday night. The game is tied 0-0 in the fifth inning, and these two teams will play for a spot in the championship game on Saturday and a lock into the state tournament.
The loser of the Kimball/St. Joseph game will play Cold Spring (No. 2 seed) in the loser's semifinal. A win in that game will clinch a spot for the winning team at the Class C state tournament. On the other end, Sartell (No. 1 seed) will play Becker (No. 5 seed) for the other spot in the loser's bracket championship game.
The loser bracket semifinal games will be Saturday afternoon and evening. The top four seeds will continue on in the postseason.
Region 15C
Similar to the Region 8C tournament, the Region 15C tournament will have its top two teams playing in the championship game on Friday night. Elrosa and St. Martin have already locked a spot at the state tournament and will be fighting for the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the region.
It'll be a battle of mostly No. 2 seeds for the other two spots in the tournament. Luxemburg (No. 3 seed) will play Watkins (No. 2 seed), while Richmond (No. 2 seed) plays New Munich (No. 2 seed) in the loser's bracket semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
These four teams have a variety of skills offensively, defensively and in the pitching department to make for a couple of good, close semifinal games with a state tournament bid on the line.
There will be plenty of good matchups this weekend as some of the best local teams will be squaring off.
The big picture is simple: Win, and head to state. Lose, and the season is over.
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: State bids on the line as region town ball play wraps up this weekend
