Rockets advance to state championship!
Rockford in their first state baseball tournament in school history advanced to their first state championship game on Friday with a win over LeSeaur Henderson 7-3 at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud. The Rockets scored two in the first on a two run home run by Aiden Smith. Rockford lead 3-0 going into the third, but the Giants also in their first state tournament rallied for three runs to tie it going into the fourth. After that it was all Rockets. The Rockets scored the final four runs, and after a groundout to second base with two outs in the 9th by the Giants it was on to the state championship for the Rockets! Aiden Smith pitched a complete game three hitter, while striking out eight, and also hit a two run home run. Jacob Eisentrager, Riley Moran, Will Haas and Owen Schuster each collected two hits as the Rockets pounded out thirteen overall. Next up for the Rockets is number four seed Foley, who knocked out the defending state champs from Esko on Friday 4-0. Will Haas, who is headed to Tennessee will get the ball on Monday for the Rockets for the 1 PM first pitch from the Target Field and you can hear the game right here on AM1360 KRWC, krwc1360.com and on our app. with the pregame starting at 12:45 PM.
Rockets advance to state semifinals!
Rockford made their tournament debut at the state baseball tournament this year receiving a #2 overall seed. Their opponent in the first game was unseeded Blake at 10 AM on Thursday morning. Blake scored first after a double by Willie Nelson, and then a two out single by Pauley Natheson in the 4th inning. Rockford had a chance to tie it in the fourth with two on and two out when Will Haas was robbed of an extra base hit by a Willie Mays type catch at the 380 mark in right center field by Drew Dillon. Finally in the 7th the Rockets broke through. After a leadoff walk to Patrick Binobose, the Bears took out their starter Natheson for Freshman Noah Russeth. Edwards reached on an error by Russeth while trying to sacrifice putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. The Bears walked Aiden Smith intentionally, but got the first out on a pop out by Jake Eisentrager. Will Haas tied the game with a bloop single to left, then Colton Lundberg won the game with a fly ball to medium deep left that was dropped by the left fielder allowing the winning run to score. Will Haas struck out ten in the complete game win for the Rockets, and also went 3-4 at the plate with an RBI. Colton Lundberg went 2-3 at the plate with the game winning RBI for the Rockets. Friday, Rockford will take on LeSeaur Henderson, a 9-1 winner over Perham in the state semifinals, starting at 11:00 AM at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud. The winner of the game advances to the state championship game on Monday at Target Field. You can follow all the live action on Friday at AM1360 KRWC, at krwc1360.com and on our app. with the pregame starting at 10:45 AM.
Aiden Smith, above, will get the ball in the state semifinals on Friday for Rockford as they look to advance to their first state championship game.
The Rockford Rockets qualified for the state tournament with a sweep of Breck last Thursday. Rockford received the #2 seed and will open up against Blake on Thursday morning at 10 AM at Dick Putz field in St. Cloud. KRWC will have all of the Rockets games at AM1360 KRWC, krwc1360.com and on our app. Below is a state preview and good luck to the Rockets.
The Teams:
#1 Seed: Esko Eskimos, 24-3
How they got here: Defeated Duluth Marshall 4-2 in Section 7AA Final.
Key Players: Finn Furcht(.601 BA, 4 HR, 35 RBI.), Sam Haugen(.600 BA, 4 HR, 34 RBI.), and Trenton Ondrus(.425 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI.)
About the Eskimos: The defending state champs are loaded again! This team can hit, and has a deep pitching staff. The favorite for sure. Only question is the lineup is not quite as deep as last year, and in their three losses this season they only scored one run total, so strong pitching could stop Esko.
Sam Haugen, above, makes a catch in the section finals against Duluth Marshall.
#2 Seed: Rockford Rockets, 23-5.
How they got here: Defeated Breck 9-2 in the Section 5AA Finals.
Key Players: Will Haas(8-1 with a 1.00 ERA on the mound, while hitting .381 with 2 HR and 24 RBI at the plate.), Aiden Smith(.506 BA, 3 HR, 38 RBI., at the plate while going 5-2 with a 1.48 ERA on the mound.), Colton Lundberg(.311 BA, 3 HR, 26 RBI.)
About the Rockets: The Rockets have the best pitching staff in the state! Haas. Smith and Edwards are dominant and give the Rockets a chance in every game. Haas who is going to Tennessee was named 1st team All Metro by the star tribune, while Smith was named honorable mention All Metro.
Will Haas, above, is headed to Tennessee after pitching for Rockford in the state tournament this week.
#3 Seed: Perham Yellowjackets, 22-2.
How they got here: Defeated East Grand Forks 9-1 in Section 8 Final.
Key Players: Blaiz Schmidt(.322 BA, 24 RBI.), Gage Aanenson(.431 BA, 2 HR, 19 RBI.), Ashton Detloff(7-1 as a pitcher with a 0.93 ERA.)
About the Yellowjackets: Reached the state championship game last year, and this year just want to get that one last win in the championship this year. The Jackets can pitch, with eleven shutouts this season, but the lineup isn’t as deep as last years team.
Above, Perham celebrates their Section final win over East Grand Forks last week.
#4 Seed: Foley Falcons, 21-4.
How they got here: Defeated Albany 10-6 in Section 6 Finals.
Key Players: Josiah Peterson(.465 BA, 3 HR, 25 RBI.), Trey Emmerich(.250 BA, 16 RBI.), and Derek Dahman(2.84 ERA as their ace pitcher.)
About the Falcons: The Falcons are coming on at the right time! They have won ten straight coming into state and should be prepared for state since the are in a tough conference and one of the toughest sections in the state. One note though, is they only have one hitter hitting over .300, but have scored 10 runs or more four times in their last ten games.
Josiah Peterson, above, is the top hitter in he Falcons lineup.
#5 Seed: Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars, 17-7.
How they got here: Defeated Cannon Falls 6-5 in Section 1 finals.
Key Players: Preston Ohm(.467 BA, 3 HR, 23 RBI.), Jack Krier(.378 BA, with 8 RBI.), Hunter Streit(.394 BA, 11 RBI.)
About the Cougars: Hard team to judge. They don’t have a great record, but they win a lot of close games and have a solid lineup, but pitching has been inconsistent. So Cougars are used to close games, which could benefit them at state.
Preston Ohm, above, is a star at the plate and on the mound for the Cougars.
Unseeded: LeSueur Henderson Giants, 19-5.
How they got here: Defeated Belle Plain 6-1 in Section 2 finals.
Key Players: Logan Feeney, Luke Miller, and Gavin Schwarz.
About the Giants: The Giants have been up and down at the plate this year, but the pitching staff has been outstanding as of late with five shutouts in he last twelve games. Overall the Giants have won 11 of 12 coming into state.
Logan Feeney, above, has lead the Giants down the stretch, and been their ace on the hill this season.
Unseeded: Blake Bears, 14-10.
How they got here: Defeated St. Agnes 12-0 in Section 4 finals.
Key Players: Tyler Vandersall(.360 BA, 23 RBI.), Eli Charney(.309 BA, 2 HR, 12 RBI.), and Drew Dillon(.444 BA, 1 HR, 9 RBI.)
About the Bears: The Bears limped into the Section with five straight losses and losing by the average score of 10-3. In Section though, their pitching staff found there groove. The Bears gave up one run in four games and rolled to the Section championship. Biggest question is just how good are they as they played in a weak Section.
Tyler Vandersall, above, celebrates a strikeout at the 4AA Section finals last week.
Unseeded: Montevideo Thunderhawks, 20-5.
How they got here: Defeated Minnewaska 3-2 in Section 3 finals.
Key Players: Gannon Reidinger(.409 BA, 1 HR, 14 RBI at the plate while on the mound was 7-0 with a 0.38 ERA, and 77 K’s in 55 innings.), Cooper Dack(.304 BA, 13 RBI.), Jackson Baldwin(.333 BA, 16 RBI.)
About the Thunderhawks: The Hawks have really strong lineup, but the key is their pitching staff. They could give Esko fits in the first round with Reidinger on the hill. State baseball is weird, because seedings don’t mean a whole lot when you have stellar pitching.
Gannon Reidinger, above, is a serious threat to Esko in the first round, with a miniscule 0.38 ERA.
What to expect: Chaos! State Baseball is probably the hardest state tournament to predict, because so much of it comes down to pitching, which is good news for the Rockford Rockets! The Rockets have the deepest pitching staff at state and they should get past Blake in the quarterfinals, while in the semifinals they would face a red hot LeSueur Henderson team or last year’s second place finisher Perham. I think the Rockets behind Haas and Smith reach the state championship Monday at the Target Field and pick up the state championship with a win over the defending champs from Esko! Pitching is everything at state and the Rockets have the arms to win it all, not to mention a lineup with some dangerous hitters that could come up big in clutch situations. Either way, expect the unexpected.
Esko, above, enters the state tournament as the defending state champs.
2024 Class State Baseball Bracket:
https://www.mshsl.org/tournaments/2024-state-class-aa-baseball-tournament
