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Sauk Valley, Central Valley, Stearns County, Victory league playoffs finish first weekend

brian mozey, st. cloud times
·6 min read

The first weekend of town ball league playoffs is in the books and some teams already punched their tickets to region tournaments. Others are fighting for their shot at regions or have concluded the 2022 season.

The Sauk Valley, Central Valley, Stearns County and Victory leagues played opening round games Saturday and Sunday with a handful of upsets. Here's a breakdown of where local teams are standing after the first weekend.

Sauk Valley League

The Sauk Valley League had some big run performances by the top seeds in the opening round Saturday. Monticello (No. 1 seed East) came out firing with a 20-10 win over Albertville (No. 5 seed East). The Polecats played the Sartell Muskies (No. 2 seed West) who won 10-1 over Becker (No. 3 seed East).

The Muskies came out with the upset a 13-10 win over the Polecats. Sartell will be playing Clearwater (No. 2 seed East) in the championship Saturday as the Muskies look for a No. 1 seed heading into regions.

Clearwater earned its first win of the weekend on Saturday 4-3 over the Sartell Stone Poneys (No. 3 seed West). Then, Clearwater pulled off an upset, defeating St. Joseph (No. 1 seed West) on Sunday with a 5-4 win in 12 innings.

As Clearwater and Sartell are playing for the championship on Saturday next weekend, the third-place game will be between St. Joseph and Monticello, the No. 1 seeds. That game will be at St. Joseph on Saturday.

Sartell's Austin Henrichs throws the ball in from center field as the Sartell Muskies host the Sauk Rapids Cyclones at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
Sartell's Austin Henrichs throws the ball in from center field as the Sartell Muskies host the Sauk Rapids Cyclones at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field on Saturday, July 16, 2022.

In the fifth-place bracket, the Stone Poneys and Bandits each won in the first round to create a matchup for the No. 5 and 6 seeds for regions. These two teams will play at Becker on Saturday.

Clearwater, Sartell Muskies, St. Joseph, Monticello, Sartell Stone Poneys and Becker have punched tickets to the Region 11C Tournament in early August. This weekend will be focused on what seeds each of these teams will be receiving heading into the region tournament.

Kimball's Matt Dingmann throws a pitch Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.
Kimball's Matt Dingmann throws a pitch Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.

Central Valley League

In the Central Valley North, Kimball (No. 1 seed) had a dominating performance with a 9-1 win over Eden Valley (No. 4 seed) to reach the championship game. The Express will face off against Cold Spring as the Rockies (No. 2 seed) won a close 8-7 game on Saturday over Pearl Lake (No. 3 seed).

Kimball and Cold Spring have locked a spot at the Region 11C Tournament in early August, but these two will play at Kimball at 1 p.m. Saturday to determine the No. 1 and 2 seeds. Pearl Lake eliminated Eden Valley from the playoffs with a 2-0 win on Sunday to claim the No. 3 seed for the Central Valley.

In the Central Valley South, the No. 1 and 2 seeds reached the championship game. Luxemburg (No. 1 seed) earned an 8-1 win over St. Nicholas (No. 4 seed), while Watkins (No. 2 seed) won a close 4-3 game over St. Augusta (No. 3 seed).

Luxemburg and Watkins have earned either a No. 1 or 2 seed in the Region 15C Tournament, but these two will play at Luxemburg on Saturday for the championship. St. Augusta had a dominating game with a 14-4 final over St. Nicholas to eliminate the Nicks and earn the No. 3 seed for the Central Valley.

Stearns County League

Elrosa and St. Martin are the champions for the North and South brackets; both came into the tournament as the No. 1 seeds.

In Stearns County North, Elrosa (No. 1 seed) won 9-3 over Meire Grove (No. 4 seed) to advance to the championship, while New Munich (No. 2 seed) had to battle with Spring Hill (No. 3 seed) to earn a 3-1 win and reach the championship.

Elrosa used its balance of pitching and offense to win 5-2 over New Munich to claim the No. 1 SCL North seed for the Region 15C Tournament. New Munich will be the No. 2 SCL North seed, while Spring Hill took the No. 3 SCL North seed after a 2-0 win over Meire Grove on Sunday.

In the Stearns County South, St. Martin (No. 1 seed) recorded the 6-2 win over Lake Henry (No. 4 seed) to reach the championship game and match up against Richmond (No. 2 seed). The Royals won 4-0 over Farming (No. 3 seed).

St. Martin's Matthew Schlangen puts down a sacrifice bunt as St. Martin defeated Cold Spring 9-1 at Cold Spring Baseball Park on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021.
St. Martin's Matthew Schlangen puts down a sacrifice bunt as St. Martin defeated Cold Spring 9-1 at Cold Spring Baseball Park on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021.

St. Martin took charge in the championship to win 6-3 over Richmond and claim the No. 1 SCL South seed for the Region 15C Tournament. Richmond became the No. 2 SCL South seed, while Lake Henry won 7-6 over Farming to eliminate the Flames and become the No. 3 SCL South seed for regions.

The six teams that reached the Region 15C Tournament will play the top three teams from the Central Valley South in the first weekend of August.

Avon's Jackson Henderson makes a diving catch in right field Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Schneider Field in St. Joseph.
Avon's Jackson Henderson makes a diving catch in right field Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Schneider Field in St. Joseph.

Victory League

The Victory League started the weekend with 16 teams in play. Now, there are 12 fighting for eight spots at regions.

In the Victory North/East bracket, Nisswa (No. 1 seed) and the Pierz Lakers (No. 3 seed) will be playing in the championship after two big wins over the weekend. Nisswa won 11-0 over St. Mathias (No. 8 seed) and 10-4 over Buckman (No. 5 seed), while Pierz earned a close 5-4 win over the Pierz Brewers (No. 6 seed) and a 4-2 win over Fort Ripley (No. 2 seed).

Fort Ripley will host Foley (No. 4 seed) at 4 p.m. Saturday for a chance to earn a bid to regions, while Buckman hosts the Brewers at 1:30 p.m. Saturday for the other spot. The winners of these two games will play each other Sunday for the No. 3 and 4 seeds.

Nisswa will host the Lakers at 1 p.m. Saturday for the championship game as the No. 1 and 2 Victory League North/East seeds are up for grabs. The top four teams will play in the Region 8C Tournament in the first weekend of August.

Mitch Keeler of the Foley Lumberjacks makes a catch at first as Andrew Deters runs during the game Friday, July 31, 2020, at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field in Sartell.
Mitch Keeler of the Foley Lumberjacks makes a catch at first as Andrew Deters runs during the game Friday, July 31, 2020, at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field in Sartell.

In the Victory League South/West bracket, Avon (No. 1 seed) and St. Stephen (No. 2 seed) will play each other in the championship. Avon won 5-1 over Opole (No. 8 seed) and 14-1 over St. Wendel (No. 5 seed) to reach the finals, while St. Stephen dominated with a 17-0 win over Swanville (No. 7 seed) and a 11-5 final score over Freeport (No. 3 seed).

Freeport will host Upsala (No. 4 seed) at 11 a.m. Saturday with the winner advancing to regions. On the other side of the bracket, St. Wendel will host Randall (No. 6 seed) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The winners will play on Sunday to determine the No. 3 and 4 seeds for regions.

Avon will host St. Stephen at 11 a.m. Saturday to figure out the No. 1 and 2 seeds for the Victory League South/West division. All four of these teams will play in the Region 8C Tournament in early August against the four teams from the Victory League North/East.

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: Town ball league playoffs finish first weekend