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ST. CLOUD – New York Mills’ Bode Roberts had himself a seventh inning in the state Class A third-place game.
Tied 8-8, Roberts threw out a runner at second base on a steal attempt to end the inning. About 10 minutes later, he sent the New York Mills faithful home with a third-place plaque on a walk-off single.
Third-seeded New York Mills (24-4) beat fourth-seeded Sacred Heart (22-5) 9-8 despite falling behind 5-0 in the first inning. Ethan Arnston got the first two runs across with a single before Isaac Zavoral lofted a two-run double to center field.
New York Mills got two runs back on a two-out, two-RBI double from Jonah Johnson. Sacred Heart’s Kaven Rohrich got one of the runs back in the top of the second inning with an RBI single.
Johnson delivered again with a run-scoring single before Brady Ehnert drew a bases-loaded walk. Bren Salo and Jacob Guck tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the third, each driving in runs with singles.
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In the top of the fifth, Sacred Heart found more two-pout magic. Breck Bloom sent a triple to left-center field to put the Eagles in purple 8-0.
Bloom didn’t have the only triple of the inning. Guck cut the lead in half with a three-bagger to before scoring on a fielder’s choice to tie the game.
New York Mills’ Cody Barthel shut the door in the final two innings to earn the final win of the season. His counterpart, Arnston, was pulled before the seventh for Bloom.
Guck led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk before getting caught stealing by David Larson behind the plate.
Johnson got New York Mills in scoring position with a two-out double down the right-field line before Roberts delivered the final blow of the season.
Sacred heart fell to top-seeded Hayfield (24-2) 6-0 in the first of two Class A semifinals. New York Mills ran into a familiar state opponent.
New York Mills and second-seeded Randolph (24-1) played one of the most entertaining games Class A baseball had to offer in 2021. The Eagles knocked off the Rockets 9-8 in 15 innings to advance to the state tournament. This time, Randolph got the upper hand.
The Rockets came back from down 3-0 to punch their ticket to Target Field with a 4-3 win over New York Mills. A four-run fifth inning marred with walks and a crucial error was the difference between a third-place game and a rematch with Hayfield for the Class A title.
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Randolph’s Collin Otto cut the deficit to one with a single. Otto advanced to third base on an error. The Rockets loaded the bases, setting up Jacob Weckop’s game-tying walk.
A controversial play ensued in the next at-bat. Randolph’s Nathan Weckop was ejected from the game after colliding with Ehnert, the New York Mills first-baseman. His ejection led to an automatic one-game suspension, ending his season in the state semifinals.
The Rockets took a one-run lead on Mason Lorenzen’s bases-loaded walk following the ejection.
New York Mills threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Salo got on base with a one-out single, ending Will Baldus’ start on the mound at 6.1 innings.
Weckop surrendered a two-out walk to Roberts before getting Ehnert to fly out to center field.
New York Mills got ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Guck got on base with a leadoff walk before Salo was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced to second base on a passed ball before Guck scored on a fielder’s choice.
The Eagles made it 3-0 in the top of the second inning. Breck Hensch and Barthel reached with singles before Hensch scored on an error at first base. extended the lead with an RBI single.
Randolph got out of a bases-loaded jam with a 5-2-6 double play. Baldus struck out the next batter to keep the damage to a minimum.
Johnson made it 4.1 innings on the mound, allowing three earned runs on three hits with five walks. He struck out seven batters in the loss. Ehnert closed out the final five outs with no damage. Randolph won despite tallying only three hits.
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Baldus earned the win in over six innings of work. He surrendered seven hits, three earned runs and one walk, while also collecting seven strikeouts.
SACRED HEART 510 020 0 - 8
NEW YORK MILLS 222 020 1 - 9
WP: Cody Barthel, LP: Breck Bloom
