By Ryan Simonson
MBA contributing writer
2020 was a townball season that almost didn’t happen. As the COVID epidemic swept across the globe, finally reaching the U.S., government, academic and business organizations struggled to make sense of the chaos and enact appropriate preventative policies to protect citizens from the virus. Minnesota was caught in uncharted waters as the nation fell into shutdown mode in the spring, putting baseball on indefinite hiatus, and forcing a complete cancellation by many leagues. Major League Baseball wasn’t even sure how to make a season work.
Once Minnesota was cleared for outdoor activities to resume and the 2020 townball season was relaunched, more bad news — New Ulm, the scheduled host site for the tournament, was forced to withdraw when their community leaders opposed holding the games in their city. After a last-minute scramble, the Class C games were all relocated to Springfield and Milroy, with Shakopee hosting the B tournament (and St. Anthony hosting the Class A tournament, which was still being held separately). Strict attendance limits were enforced and ballparks were cleared between games by state order, making for an incredibly unusual tournament environment.
Through the chaos and perseverance of that ordeal, Fairmont emerged as state champions, its first since 1959, by absolutely bludgeoning St. Patrick in the Labor Day Classic after storming its way through a field of opponents that included Waconia, Jordan, Buffalo, and Cold Spring. The Martins seemed positioned to be a contender in Class C for years to come.
The following summer, that dream came to a grinding halt, as they were barred from postseason participation after it was determined that they had used a player in a game that had not secured a release from a team he had played with years prior, a violation of MBA rules.
After returning to the tournament, they faced quick exits in 2022 and 2023, then lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Young America in the 2024 quarterfinals. 2025 saw them promoted to Class B, where they failed to make the state tournament.
They returned to Class C this year with a vengeance, as the second seed from Region 10, where they were runners-up to the Windom Pirates.
They faced Quamba in the first round, whom they dispatched with a 7-0 victory, followed by a lopsided 9-1 win over the Cold Spring Rockies and another 9-1 drubbing of the Richmond Royals. In the semifinal, they squared off with the Starbuck Stars, whom they sent home with a 10-0 win in seven innings, setting up a title game with the Elrosa Saints.
Both teams opened the game with draftees, the Martins starting Hadley Buttermaker Dylan Kluis and the Saints giving the ball to Norway Lake-Sunburg’s Jared Cortez, having burned their way through their home-grown starting pitching during the drive to the Sunday evening championship.
Fairmont, the visiting team on the scoreboard, drew first blood in the second inning when Levi Becker came up with the bases loaded and two outs, driving a bases-clearing double into right field to give the Martins a 3-0 early advantage.
The Saints bounced back in the bottom half of the inning, plating Gavin Kampsen with a Jackson Peter single.
In the top of the third, Joey Crissinger crossed home on a wild pitch, again giving Fairmont a three-run advantage.
Jon Traetow led off the sixth for the Martins with a double. His pinch-runner, Vincent Schultz, then came around to score on a Spencer Chirpich single, extending the lead to 5-1.
As the sun set and the ballpark lights illuminated the contest, Elrosa came charging back in the bottom of the seventh with three runs, loading the bases with a pair of singles and a walk before Peyton Winter cut the lead to 5-2 with an RBI single. Luke Illies got cut down at the plate trying to advance on a wild pitch that took a fortuitous ricochet for Fairmont, keeping the Martins lead in place when Kampsen and Winter came around to score.
With the game on the line and the Saints gaining momentum, Martins mainstay Chirpich took control of the game on the mound, stopping the Saints from scoring in the eighth and ninth to secure the second Class C state title in six years for the blue bombers of Martin County.
Chirpich led the Martins with a pair of hits, an RBI, and 2 2/3 innings of vital relief. Lance Becker added a hit and scored a run, and Levi Becker’s three RBIs led the team.
Elrosa got multi-hit performances by Peter, Ethan Mueller, Kampsen, and Derek Wiener. Cortez went five innings for Elrosa, followed by Aiden Mueller, who struck out four in four innings while not surrendering a run.
Watertown Red Devils 3, Jordan Brewers 2
The day’s earlier matchup pitted a pair of Class B powerhouse clubs against one another in their tournament’s semifinal, with Watertown’s Michael Foley facing Tommy Thompson of the Brewers.
A costly Jordan error in the top of the first allowed the Devils to take a 1-0 lead when a soft single to right field bounced away from third baseman Nate Beckman as Chris Olson attempted to advance first-to-third, ultimately allowing him to score.
Jordan nearly tied the game in the third when Brandon Arnold attempted to score from second on a Beckman single and was called out as he and catcher Ben Theisen both dove toward the plate, ending the inning.
Watertown made it 2-0 when an Isaiah Mead single scored Ryan Hangartner, who reached on an error in the top of the fourth, and another in the seventh when Noah Weinzierl scored on a Jaren Vogt sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 3-0.
A Turner Storm RBI double and Beckman RBI single cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, and Jordan put the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth with a Zac Daak sacrifice bunt to move Andrew Nichols to second after he came in to run for Scott Hollingsworth, who opened the inning with a sharp single. Arnold was then walked before a strikeout and groundout denied Jordan its tying run and send Watertown to face Crow River Valley League rival Plato in the Class B state championship game on Monday in Shakopee.
