SHAKOPEE — The Delano A’s looked every bit the part of defending state champions as they took on the Union Hill Bulldogs to open its state tournament run. Led by another gem on the mound, Max Otto, plus clutch hitting and big defensive plays, the A’s cruised to a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs.
“I don’t like being off for two weeks, but this team’s been here before,” Delano manager Steve Eilen said. “We’ve had byes, and we’ve not had byes. I wasn’t sure hitting-wise if we’d get off to a slow start, but they kind of picked it up where we left off.”
Looking to dethrone the champions, Union Hill nearly struck first in the top of the second. After a hit batter put a runner on base with one out, Conrad Masberg delivered a double off the wall. A sloppy relay throw in gave the Bulldogs a chance to score, but a perfect throw from Jack Paulson to Michael Reem got the runner at the plate to keep the game scoreless.
“It was huge,” Eilen said. “I mean, if you’re going to get to Max, usually it’s going to be early because he settles in. Our defense came through huge, and that’s kind of been our mantra. We’ve been playing good defense. We’re a different team from last year, but the standard is what it is, and they showed up today again.”
After being held scoreless in the first inning, the A’s broke through in the bottom of the second thanks to some clutch hitting. Making his state tournament debut for Delano, Carter Van Beusekom delivered a two-out RBI single to give the A’s a 1-0 lead.
“We’re kind of blessed to be as deep as we are,” Eilen said. “Those guys (Van Beusekom and Andrew Bruett) have helped us out. After their Legion seasons, we got them in because you don’t know when you’re going to need them. They’ve done a nice job, and you saw it today. Carter had a big hit early and made a nice catch in the outfield, and Andrew has just been steady for us all year.”
Playing with the lead early on, all Delano did was add to it as it got aggressive on the basepaths all game long. For the game, the A’s finished with 10 stolen bases. Lead-off hitter Mason Henry had four stolen bases himself while Toby Hanson finished with three of his own. Henry scored two runs out of the leadoff spot and was on base three times to help spark the offense.
“He knows he’s our catalyst,” Eilen said about Henry. “If he can get on base, he can make things happen. He’s not shy about it either. He’ll challenge the pitcher, and he’ll challenge the catcher, and he usually puts us in a really good spot. That’s how we want to play, and he sets that table.”
Delano kept adding to its lead with the clutch hitting as the game went on. In the bottom of the third inning, the A’s added on two more. Gunnar Paulson drove in a run with a two-out RBI single and Van Beusekom scored on a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-0 heading to the fourth inning.
The A’s broke things open in the sixth. Up 4-0, they would strike for three more runs, two of which came on an error with two outs to put the Bulldogs away for good.
“You know, I kind of forgot about that,” Eilen said about scoring with two outs. “That’s huge. Anytime you can score with two outs like that is huge. It’s nice to see us put pressure on them early as guys get on.”
With the win, Delano advances to the Class B quarterfinals where it will take on the winner of St. Martin. That game will be played Saturday, Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. in Jordan. While Delano certainly knows what lies ahead as it looks to repeat as state champions, the A’s know that it’s important to stay the course as well and take things one inning and one game at a time.
“That’s the goal,” Eilen said about repeating. “We’re aware of it and everything that comes with it. We know every level you get to in state, it’s going to ratchet up. Whoever we end up getting next weekend, we know is going to be a good team.”
