By Eric Kraushar
Contributing Writer
There was no doubt in the minds of Bird Island players and coach that a soft fly ball to left field was going to drop. Lead runner Dylan Gass went back to tag, but then started making his way home. Shawn Dollerschell at second base heard the “down” calls from the dugout and started making his way to third base to score.
Justin Schultz had other plans.
The Waconia left fielder sprinted in, sliding across the turf in a Superman-like dive, stealing a hit from Braeden Tersteeg. An easy throw to second base ended the inning. What could have been a 4-1 lead for Bird Island — maybe more — ended up just being one run.
In the end, that play was the difference in a 4-3 win for Waconia over Bird Island in the Class C state quarterfinals Sunday in Green Isle.
The Lakers will play in the semifinals against the winner of Buffalo and Courtland at 4 p.m. in Green Isle.
“The ball is in the air and it’s one of those plays where it’s do or die. There was one out, bases loaded, and you know you got guys behind you backing you up if you miss it, so I went for it. I just dove and after that it was a blur,” Schultz said.
Waconia scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly from AJ Friedrich. Robbie Smith started the rally with an infield single, moving up 90 feet on a Max Kalenberg sacrifice bunt before a wild pitch in the dirt advanced Smith to third base. Friedrich’s high fly ball to left ball easily allowed Smith to cross home plate for the 4-3 lead.
A back and forth game, Bird Island’s No. 7 and 8 hitters, Dylan Gass and Shawn Dollerschell, were at the forefront of their offensive attack. Gass was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, scoring the game’s first run in the second inning off a hit from Dollerschell. Gass drove in Logan Swann from first base in the fourth inning for the 2-1 lead.
After Dollerschell walked and Zeke Walton singled to load the bases for the Bullfrogs, Schultz came up with the inning-ending double play web gem.
“I knew Owen (Amrhein) was backing it up, so I felt like if I didn’t make the catch, maybe it’s only one run with him behind me. I just had to trust that I could get there,” Schultz said.
Waconia took its first lead in the fifth inning on a two-run double from Ronnie Smith. Bird Island tied the game once more on a Dollerschell run-scoring double in the sixth inning.
Aiden Elfering pitched all eight innings for Bird Island, allowing three earned runs with one walk and three strikeouts.
Kodey Simon went six innings for Waconia, giving up three runs with four strikeouts. He handed the ball to draftee Austin Dent of Green Isle for the final three innings. Dent allowed one hit with three strikeouts for the win.
“It’s always the next guy up for us. We have guys that can hit the ball throughout our line-up. We don’t rely on just one guy. We just put the ball in play and good things happened today,” Schultz said.
