By Ryan Simonson
MBA Contributing writer
“Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.”
– Warren Spahn
The obvious object of baseball is to score runners by hitting the ball and advancing them around the bases. Standing in the way of that objective are the pitcher and the gloves of the defenders, all attempting to fulfill their goal of preventing said runners from advancing and scoring. When the latter objective fails, you end up with either slugfests or lopsided blowouts. That was most certainly not the case in Jordan, where the four games on the docket were decided by a combined eight runs, with no team scoring more than four on the day. The four contests featured only 13 total pitchers, with three starters throwing complete games and earning player of the game acknowledgments in two of the matchups.
If you are a fan of big offensive production, Saturday in Jordan was not your day to be at the ballpark.
Class C: Litchfield 4, Granite Falls 1
Granite Falls, the fourth seed out of Region 2 sent Bennett Knapper to the mound to face Region 6’s top seeded Blues, who countered with southpaw Owen Borema.
Both clubs went quietly through the first three innings with Boerema lacing the game’s first hit and stealing second before Litchfield was retired in the second inning. Knapper helped his own cause in the top of the fourth, drawing a walk and scoring on an error, to give Granite Falls a 1-0 advantage.
The Blues answered back in the bottom half of the fourth frame, with shortstop Daniel “Winky” Estrada doubling and coming around to score on an Avery Liestman single.
The score remained knotted at one run each until Knapper began to lose his control in the bottom of the seventh. After a leadoff out and an error, he surrendered a pair of walks to load the bases with one out. First baseman Jack Ramthun stepped to the plate and worked an RBI walk after fouling off what felt like dozens of offerings from Knapper to take a 2-1 lead. A Tony Baumann single extended the lead to 3-1 and chase Knapper. His replacement, Brody Dack, hit the first batter he faced, pushing another run across to make it a 4-1 game.
While the Blues failed to score again, Boerema continued to cruise through the rest of the game, earning player of the game honors, going the distance for Litchfield and allowing only one unearned run on two hits and a pair of walks, while striking out 16 Kilowatts.
Litchfield advances to face Windom on Friday, Aug. 28th, at 7:30 p.m. in Jordan.
Class C: Cold Spring 2, Aitkin 1
The second game of the day featured a pair of righties — Cole Fuchs from Cold Spring facing off against Nathan Ehnstrom of Aitkin. Fuchs worked his way around a pair of baserunners for a scoreless top of the first. Ehnstrom nearly escaped the first unscathed, but a throwing error put Tyler Geislinger on base and Rockies’ stalwart David Jonas followed with a hustle triple that scored him to give Cold Spring an early lead.
After 3 1/2 quiet innings of pitchers dueling, Cold Spring added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth, with Geislinger scoring Jordan Neu with a single. Geislinger was later cut down at the plate following a Max Fredin base hit to keep the score 2-0.
Aitkin responded in the top of the sixth with Landon Janzen, who reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring on a wild pitch. The Steam threatened again in the seventh, but could not score. The Rockies sent southpaw Ryan Hennen to the mound in the eighth to finish the game. He allowed one run to reach on an error and struck out three, slamming the door on Aitkin.
Jonas earned player of the game honors with three hits and an RBI. Fuchs went seven innings, striking out five with one walk, and Tyler Geislinger drove in a run for the Rockies.
Drew Paulbeck led Aitkin with three hits, while Ehnstrom had a hit to go with his 7 2/3 innings pitched, where he allowed 11 scattered hits while striking out seven.
Cold Spring advances to face Fairmont on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 4 p.m. in New Prague.
Class B: Kimball 3, Bird Island 0
Another pair of righties faced off in the third game of the day, with Kimball’s Clay Faber facing the Bullfrogs’ Casey Lewandowski.
The first three innings of the game went by with little fanfare before Kimball broke the game open in the fourth with a pair of runs, when Joe Hess of the Express launched a two-run homer over the left-field wall, scoring Riley Blanc ahead of him. After allowing a quiet single in the bottom of the inning, they added another in the fifth with help from a Bird Island error.
Bird Island threatened in the seventh, with Dylan Gass reaching third base, where he was stranded.
The last 12 batters of the game were retired in succession by Faber and Bird Island’s Jordan Sagedahl, who threw three scoreless innings of relief. Faber allowed only four hits in his complete-game shutout win, with three strikeouts.
Kimball advances to face Sobieski on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 1:30 p.m. in New Prague
Class B: Young America 4, Pierz Lakers 3
The final game of the day featured Crow River Valley powerhouse Young America putting Jack Paumen on the hill to face Carter Petron of the 2025 Class C state champion Lakers, now playing in Class B.
The upstart Lakers came out of the gates swinging, with Patron slugging a lead-off double, advancing to third on an error, and scoring on another double by Kamden Happke. Preston Rochleau, who reached on the error, scored on a fielder’s choice, putting the Lakers ahead 2-0.
Young America loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first with none out, but could only push one run across on a fielder’s choice, with two batters striking out.
The second through fifth innings featured little traffic on the bases, with Petron and Paumen cruising along until the Lakers struck again in the sixth, plating a run on a pair of hits to take a 3-1 lead.
Young America tied the game in an eventful bottom half of the sixth. With one out and Isaac Hormann aboard, Josh Lenz’s bat exploded into multiple pieces on a come-backer to Petron, resulting in an error and both runners safe. Roch Whittaker then hit a single to left and Hormann was thrown out trying to score for the second out. Cole Peters followed with an RBI single to chase Petron, replaced by Noah Cekalla, who was greeted with an RBI hit by Dillon Whittaker, tying the game at 3-3.
Paumen set the Lakers down in order in the seventh, then in the bottom half, Cardinals shortstop Blake Pistulka scored from second base when a back pick throw to first base sailed into right field, putting Young America ahead for the first time, a lead they would not relent as Paumen would put the next six batters down in order to preserve the victory and send Young America to the second round of the tournament.
Dillon Whittaker led the Cardinals offensively with a pair of hits and an RBI.
Kamden Happke had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Lakers. Ryan Chmielewski had a hit and an RBI. Petron went 5 ⅔ innings, giving up three runs with four strikeouts.
Young America advances to face the Jordan Brewers on Sunday, Aug 30, at 4 p.m. in Jordan.
