Prep Baseball: ACGC hopes to play like it practices
Jun. 15—ATWATER — The Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City baseball team arrived at practice at dusk Monday night.
The idea was to emulate playing later in the day and under the lights like the Falcons will when they begin the Class AA state tournament at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday against Belle Plaine at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
"We'll try to recreate as much of (Tuesday) as you can," said ACGC head coach Mike Kingery. "I think the guys are ready. They're not overwhelmed and they're not overconfident. I tell them all the time, 'You respect everyone, you fear nobody. You don't fear any other team. You fear God, no other team.'"
It's been 20 years since the Falcons have played in the state tournament. But emulating the state trip from 2001, where ACGC went 1-2, isn't the goal.
Getting to Target Field at 1 p.m. Friday is the goal
"I told the guys a few days before we played Paynesville (in the Section 3AA finals), 'Guys, my goal is not to win the section, my goal is to win state,'" Kingery said.
"I want the guys to expect to win. ... I don't want them to play not to lose. I want them to play to win and if we play to win, we got our ace pitcher, and they beat us, you tip your hat to them."
Said junior infielder Jaxon Behm, "The whole team's feeling good. We have good mindsets coming into (state). Take it one game at a time. Don't overlook anyone but still look towards the end."
ACGC (22-2) is the No. 3 seed in the AA tournament, which wasn't a surprise to Kingery. What was a surprise is Belle Plaine (18-4) being unseeded.
"That made no sense to me," Mike said, "I seeded them three."
Kinger continued, "We, by far, got the toughest draw in the tournament. We got Belle Plaine, and then you probably got Albany (the No. 2 seed). I seeded Albany number one."
On Tuesday, the Tigers are slated to throw one of the top pitchers in Class AA in junior right-hander Jackson Kruger. With a fastball hitting 88 MPH and secondary pitches in the high 70s/low 80s, Kruger is tied for second in the state in wins (10), second in earned run average (0.28) and tied for ninth in strikeouts (84), according to the MN Baseball Hub.
Kruger should be the hardest thrower ACGC has played this season, according to Kingery. But ACGC's offense is deep. The Falcons are hitting more than .340 as a team and average 9.0 runs per game.
"Our hitting has gone up tremendously," said Behm, who is hitting .329 with one home run, five doubles and 28 RBIs. "We have such depth to our lineup with all good hitting. Our bottom of the order has really picked it up and that helps."
Senior Josh Kingery is the Falcons' catalyst on offense, ranking in the state top 10 with a .569 batting average (3rd), 45 runs (1st), 32 RBIs (T-6th) and seven home runs (T-3rd). Junior Connor Barker has a .435 average with 21 RBis and three home runs, including a state-clinching grand slam against Paynesville.
Eight of the regulars in ACGC's lineup have a batting average better than .300.
"I expected us to score runs, but I don't know if I expected us to score around 10 runs a game," Mike said. "I don't have a great explanation except for a lot of times, as they say, hitting is contagious."
On facing Kruger, Behm's strategy is: "You just got to look for their fastball, hit their fastball, foul off their pitches and hit your pitches."
And on the mound, the Falcons will counter with arguably the top pitcher in the state in Josh Kingery.
This spring, the ACGC left-hander leads the state in wins (14). His 164 strikeouts are 47 better than second place (Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted's Noah Bush with 117). Josh's 0.44 ERA ranks fourth.
"I just go out there and try to throw strikes," Josh said. "The Paynesville game was our best defensive game of the year and as a pitcher, knowing that your guys are behind you, you get a lot more comfortable."
"He usually does a very good job and he doesn't get overwhelmed," Mike said of Josh, the youngest of his eight children. "He wants to pitch in big games so I don't think the situation will be too big for him. The guys are confident when he's pitching and they're confident when the other guys are pitching, also."
Belle Plaine's top hitter is junior Luke Luskey, who has a .462 average with 10 doubles, five triples, two home runs, 36 runs scored, 29 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Joey Burgemeister (.379) and Jake Brandenburg (.373) are also hitting better than .300 for the Tigers.
"We just need to do our best and go out there and not think about who we're playing or anything like that," Josh said. "Go out and do our best and the game will take care of itself."
Class AA tournament
Tuesday
(at the Municipal Athletic Complex, St. Cloud)
Quarterfinals
*
No. 1 Glencoe-Silver Lake (23-3) vs. St. Agnes (17-7), 2:15 p.m., Faber Field
*
No. 4 Wadena-Deer Creek (25-3) vs. No. 5 PEM (21-3), 5 p.m., Putz Field
*
No. 2 Albany (22-3) vs. Aitkin (21-5), 2:45 p.m., Putz Field
*
No. 3 ACGC (22-2) vs. Belle Plaine (18-4), 7:15 p.m., Putz Field
Wednesday
(at the Municipal Athletic Complex, St. Cloud)
Semifinals
GSL/SA winner vs. WDC/PEM winner, noon, Putz Field
Albany/Aitkin winner vs. ACGC/BP winner, 2:30 p.m., Putz Field
Third-Place
Semifinal losers, 5 p.m., Putz Field
Friday
(at Target Field, Minneapolis)
Championship
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
NOTE: There will be no cash purchases onsite. All tickets can be purchased online at www.mshsl.org/state-tournament-tickets.
