By Nick Gerhardt
Minnetonka long served as the class of Class A baseball with 15 Class A state titles as the Millers. Two years ago they morphed into the Monarchs and some of the familiar names from those Millers teams have moved on.
Two veterans remain – 40-year-old Blaine Rutledge and 39-year-old now player-manager Mike Davis. The Monarchs haven’t had the success yet that the Millers experienced, though they have reached the state tournament each of the past three seasons. The Millers reached the semifinals in 2023 before running into Air Freight ace Graham Laubscher.
“It’s been interesting because we’ve gotten really young and whenever you transition to a younger team, there are a lot of growing pains that a lot of teams probably go through,” said Davis, who’s in his 19th year of playing amateur baseball. “I’ve been amazed at how well our young players have come in and been ready to play and really excelled in situations.”
This version of the Minnetonka squad might find itself on a deep run after a 4-0 win over the St. Paul Mudhens Saturday at the Mini Met in Jordan.
“We’re not like the Minnetonka Millers of old where we’re hitting a bunch of home runs,” Davis said. “We really have to play the game the right way where we move runners over, we get them in with less than two outs, we steal bases that we know we can do and most importantly we have to pitch and play defense. Today was a perfect example where with the depth of our pitching staff, if we can play good defense and put up a couple of runs, we’re really tough to beat.”
Veteran right-hander Jake Marsh carved up the Mudhens and allowed just four singles, two of which got out of the infield. The former Bethel pitcher struck out 11 in a complete-game shutout and sent the Monarchs on to face the winner of Elk River-Mac’s Industrial Warriors Saturday, Sept. 5 at 1:30 p.m. in Shakopee.
Minnetonka took advantage of walks and miscues by the Mudhens. In the third inning, Max Pederson drew a lead-off walk and later scored when a relay throw from the outfield got away from the St. Paul infielders. Eli Charney added an RBI ground out to score Will Koppen, who singled following Pederson’s walk.
The Monarchs added to the lead in the fourth when Rutledge scored on a bases loaded walk. Minnetonka drew seven walks in the game.
Rutledge delivered an RBI sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 4-0. Nick Thimsen scored after he reached on an error, stole second and got to third on a wild pitch.
“Tom Skoro, Benny Hughes and Nick Thimsen were on the Millers for a short period of time,” Davis said. “They bring a lot of energy to the park. They’re showing these kids how to play the game the right way and most importantly they’re showing up. I think a lot of teams struggle with that this time of year where kids are going back to college. We have guys who moved up to St. John’s and moved in and they came back to play in this game. To me, it means a lot to them, which means a lot to me. I love this game, I love this team and I’m lucky to be able to still do this.”
Northwest Orioles 9, St. Anthony Hogs 5
The Northwest Orioles in just their third state tournament appearance are making it last. The Orioles knocked off Section 6 champion St. Anthony 9-5 to advance to Labor Day weekend.
Northwest last made the state tournament in 2020 and promptly lost 18-1 to the Minneapolis Cobras. The Orioles previously made the state tournament in 2015 and won their first game 2-1 over the St. Paul Shamrocks. Northwest lost its next two games to exit the then double elimination tournament.
The Orioles rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the fourth inning to grab a 4-1 lead. Brady Quan, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, drove in two with a single and Corey Palyan added an RBI single, a bases-loaded walk also brought in a run.
The teams combined to walk 18 batters, hit two, and finish with 24 hits in a game that last three hours and 40 minutes. Each team also used four pitchers.
Northwest tacked on a run in the fifth inning for a 5-1 lead.
In a marathon seventh inning the Orioles sent eight hitters to the plate and came away with three runs for a 7-1 lead. Kole Krier had an RBI single and Quan drove in his third run of the game. A hit-by-pitch brought in another run.
In the bottom half of the inning St. Anthony sent nine to the plate and scored four runs to make it a 7-5 game. Noah Bluth scored on a wild pitch, Nick Zezulka hit a sacrifice fly for his second RBI and Nick Fredrikson drove in a pair of runs.
Northwest created some breathing room in the eighth after drawing three walks to load the bases. Gavyn Krzoska delivered a two-run single to make it 9-5.
The Orioles move onto face Shakopee Saturday, Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. in Shakopee.
