By Ryan Simonson
Contributing Writer
BELLE PLAINE — The Miesville Mudhens are such a perennial championship-class fixture in Class B townball that it’s hard to believe they haven’t won a state title in seven years.
Miesville was consistently in the trophy mix during the previous “B” era, when metro teams inside the interstate loop were divorced from the larger tournament and held their own “Class A” championship event. Class B champions in 2016, they battled through the 2017 tournament loser’s bracket (in the former double-elimination format) to upend the Chanhassen Red Birds twice on Labor Day (after losing to them two days before) and repeat.
Chanhassen returned the favor in 2018, coming through the loser’s bracket to defeat Miesville twice on Labor Day and begin its four-year streak of consecutive state championships. Meanwhile, Miesville has played its way into Labor Day weekend in each subsequent year of the tournament, losing in the finals to Chanhassen again in 2021, making the semifinals in 2022, and reaching the quarterfinals in 2023 after Class A and B were merged into one single-elimination tournament.
Miesville Mudhens 4, Champlin Park LoGators 3
The Mudhens entered this year’s tourney as the second-seeded team out of Section 1, handily defeating the Minneapolis Mudcats in round one, escaping what seemed to be certain doom to top the St. Paul Mudhens in extra innings in round two, then toppling the upstart Hopkins Berries in round three, Miesville was set to face the Champlin Park LoGators — who ended their 2022 title bid in the Hens’ own ballpark — in the semifinal round.
Miesville wasted no time scoring, with Ronnie Sweeny pushing Max Gamm across the plate on a single to go up 1-0 amid often contentious chirping between the two dugouts.
Champlin Park punched back in the bottom half of the opening frame, with doubles by Jack Puder and Drake Siens scoring two and giving the Gators a run advantage that they added to in the third when Ethan Mocchi would score after a Mudhens error.
Miesville bounced back with two runs in the fifth, scoring on a Ben Vujovich single and Sweeny groundout to tie the game 3-3.
Miesville starter Quinn Kruger took over the game during the middle innings, shutting Champlin Park down after the third and opening the door for a Brian Sprout double that sent left fielder Siens tumbling into the Belle Plaine ivy and Brock Reinhart to third base, where he would score on a sacrifice fly and give the Mudhens the 4-3 lead that they took home to advance to the tournament championship.
With their ticket punched, the Mudhens awaited the winner of the other semifinal matchup between Minneapolis’ Lyon’s Pub Warriors and St Paul’s Air Freight Unlimited, the defending Class B State Champion.
Air Freight Unlimited 2, Lyon’s Pub Warriors 1
Led by dominant left-hander and 2023 tournament MVP Graham Laubscher, Air Freight entered the day well positioned to defend its title with a fully-rested ace after starter Duke Coborn led them to a 2-0 victory over Minnetonka in the quarterfinal round with a 10-strikeout complete game gem. Laubscher delivered as advertised, holding the Warriors scoreless on a single hit through eight innings while striking out 13.
The Pub wiggled out of numerous scenarios throughout the day to keep the game scoreless, including a huge double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning. While not putting Laubscher-type dominance on display, Pub pitchers Vincent Rupp and David Van Ort were effective through their eight innings of work, scattering six hits and staying away from Air Freight barrels.
Things took a turn for the dramatic in the top of the ninth inning when Warriors’ leadoff hitter Ben Palmer crushed a ball over the left field ivy to send the Lyon’s Pub dugout into a frenzy and give the Pub a 1-0 lead.
Air Freight opened its half of the ninth with a single by Daniel Dahl, but after back-to-back lineouts, they were suddenly one out away from their season ending. That’s when third baseman Kyle Halvorson stepped to the plate and drove a fly ball out of Tiger Park for a dramatic walk-off victory, sending the Freighters back to the title game.
Miesville Mudhens 12, Air Freight Unlimited 1 (7 innings)
Air Freight started Willy Coborn against Miesville’s Jacob Dickmeyer, and the Mudhens went to work on him right away, with Joey Werner driving in a run in the top of the first inning.
After pushing a run across to tie the game in the top of the third, the inning’s bottom half quickly turned into a nightmare for Air Freight, with Miesville plating seven runs on six hits, with Sweeny, Matt Van Der Bosch, Brock Reinhart, and Deryk Marks all in on the action before a Max Gamm homer put an exclamation point on the now 8-1 ballgame.
Air Freight used a total of five pitchers in the game, which slipped to a 12-1 contest after Miesville plated more runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings on a combined 17 hits.
As the sun abruptly set behind the trees surrounding Belle Plaine’s Tiger Park, so did the defending champions’ hopes of a repeat, Air Freight going quietly into the offseason with just one run on three hits as the Mudhens of Miesville took to the field in celebration — once again rulers of the roost.
This year’s championship marks the eighth in the history of the Miesville Mudhens.
