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Lyle/Pacelli continues winning ways, will play for Class A baseball state championship

guy n. limbeck, post-bulletin, rochester, minn.
·4 min read

Jun. 14—ST. CLOUD — Lyle/Austin Pacelli made it a mission midway through the 2023 baseball season to put everything they had into the game. The Athletics haven't lost since.

Lyle/Pacelli, the No. 3 seed, ran its winning streak to 14 straight games on Wednesday as it topped No. 2 seed New Ulm Cathedral 6-1 in the Class A state semifinals.

"We just started counting them down, one at a time," L/P second baseman Dana Schara said, recalling the Athletics' lone loss during the season, against Southland.

Lyle/Austin Pacelli (24-1) is now just one win away from its goal. The Athletics will play No. 4 seed Fosston in the state championship game at 10 a.m. Friday at CHS Field in St. Paul.

"We expected to win and that's what we've been doing all year," Schara said. "It's awesome to be in this situation and we're going to keep on doing it and keep on winning the state tournament."

"Everybody just kind of gelled together here," L/P coach Brock Meyer said.

One big inning and another strong pitching outing has catapulted Lyle/Pacelli into the Class A baseball championship game for the first time.

Isaac Nelsen held New Ulm Cathedral to just four hits and a single run. The junior right-hander struck out five and walked four. He never allowed more than two runners on base in a single inning.

"What really won us the game was Isaac's pitching," Schara said.

Nelsen has been battling a bad back, but he was on his game against New Ulm.

"Isaac's been struggling with back issues the last couple of weeks, but he manned up today," Meyer said.

"My back is holding up great," Nelsen said. "I just had to go out there and do my job, throw strikes most of all."

The Athletics had a huge six-run third inning to break open the game and all the runs were unearned. Jake Truckenmiller plated the first run with a two-out RBI single. Schara and Tre Anderson both had two-run singles and Landon Meyer capped the rally with an RBI bloop double.

"They did a great job in that inning of putting pressure on their defense," Meyer said. "They made a few errors that helped us, but that's baseball. We didn't make any errors."

Those six runs were more than enough for Nelsen. He is now 8-0 this season with an ERA right around 1.30.

"My defense, they always do their job," Nelsen said.

Nelsen and staff ace Hunter VaDeer have been a stellar 1-2 pitching punch all season for the Athletics.

"He helps give me tips, I give him tips when I can," Nelsen said. "He's obviously a much better pitcher than me."

VaDeer pitched the Athletics to a 4-3 win in the state quarterfinals over Hinckley-Finlayson.

"With all those guys, all year, it's been amazing," Meyer said of the team's pitching. "It's just been amazing to watch them and be around them. It's been a fun year."

Mac Nelson is expected to start in the championship game with Truckenmiller the first pitcher out of the bullpen.

"I'm very excited," Nelsen said. "This is what we've been looking for all year."

Lyle/Austin Pacelli 6, New Ulm Cathedral 1

Lyle/Pacelli#006#000#0#—#6#9#0

New Ulm Cathedral#001#000#0#—#1#4#4

No. 3 Lyle/Pacelli: Landon Meyer 1-for-3, 1 2B,1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB; Jake Truckenmiller 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R; Isaac Nelsen 1-for-4, 1 R; Dana Schara 2-for-3, 2 RBI; Logyn Brooks 1-for-3, 1 R; Jack Klingfus 1-for-3, 1 R;Tre Anderson 1-for-3, 2 RBI. Pitcher: Isaac Nelsen 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.

No. 2 New Ulm Cathedral: Jake Finstad 1-for-3, 1 RBI; Thomas Finstad 1-for-3; Brock Wellman 1-for-3; Colin Anderson 1-for-3. Pitcher: Carter Haala 2 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; Colin Anderson 4 1/3 IP, 2H, 0 R, 0 ER 1 BB, 7 K.