It's go time! State tournament baseball

The game has resumed in Norwood between the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team and the Hampton Cardinals in the Round of 32 at the Class C state tournament.

In the top of the eighth inning, Elrosa made the most out of having the bases loaded on no outs and scored two runs to tie the game at 5-5!

Here's video from the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Cardinals ended up scoring three runs to take a 5-3 lead. Around the 4:40 mark of the video, a controversial call was made on a 2-6 put out throw of a Hampton runner stealing second base.


*Update: we are going into extra innings! The game was tied 5-5 through nine innings. Ethan Vogt has taken over pitching duties for the Saints.

*Update: through 10 innings, there is a 5-5 tie score on the scoreboard at Norwood! We're heading into the 11th inning.

*Update: both the Saints and Cardinals scored one run each in the 11th inning to send the game into the 12th inning tied 6-6.

*Update: the game will go at least 13 innings! Crazy! It's still tied 6-6 through 12 innings.

Elrosa won 7-6 in 13 innings! They take a 24-10 record into the State Tournament Sweet 16 on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 5 p.m. at Green Isle. The opponent will be Maple Lake or Jordan. Spread the word! This is the second year in a row that the Saints have advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Class C amateur state baseball tournament. 

To get the win, Elrosa started out strong in the top of the 13th when lead off batter Pat Illies got on with an errant ground ball throw to first base. AJ Hadley then keyed a hit-and-run play where the fielder's choice throw to second was not in time to get Illies at second. The relay was good at first for the first out. Kevin Kuefler then batted and hit a high ball to the second baseman, who dropped the catch. Matt Middendorf, the No. 1 batter, got an intentional walk to load the bases. Cody Eichers was hit by a pitch for an RBI to score Illies and make it 7-6.

In the bottom of the 13th, left fielder Austin Imdieke made a spectacular sliding catch near the left fence line for the first out. Next was a pop fly to third baseman Austen Hadley, and then Kevin Kuefler ran down a hard hit ball to center field to end the game. Saints win!

**Here's video from the end of the Pelican Rapids game last weekend:


Here's a link to view information on the Green Isle ball park:
 http://classc.leagues.mnbaseball.org/page/green-isle-ballpark