By Kip Kovar
Contributing Writer
JORDAN – Just get one.
That was the talk in the dugout for the Waconia Lakers in their matchup with the Montgomery Mallards. With ace John Bezdicek dealing on the mound, the Lakers knew just a run or two would be enough and they were right.
“A lot of the guys in the dugout were saying just get one,” catcher Sam Schiffman said. “We knew one might be enough because he’s going to keep us in it. Fortunately, we got that one run and some more.”
Bezdicek was locked in on the mound for Waconia throughout as he tossed the 26th no-hitter in state tournament history in a 6-1 win for the Lakers securing their spot on Labor Day weekend.
“Not that I can remember,” Bezdicek said about if he’s thrown a no-hitter before. “This is a pretty cool moment and this is a special team. It took me a few innings to get locked in and figure out the zone but once we got through the order once, I felt more comfortable. Sam was calling a great game and things just went from there.”
Throughout the game, Bezdicek was fully aware of what he had going on but that’s not how he operates. Instead of counting down the outs to something special, he focuses on the task at hand and he did just that throwing the first no-hitter in the state tournament since Matt Geisglinger did for the Watkins Clippers in 2021.
“It’s definitely on the mind and you kind of hear it once in a while from the stands,” he said. “I just like to split the game up into three different chunks and just win those three innings one at a time. That’s how I kind of attack a game. It’s in the back of your head for sure but I was just trying to get a zero for each of those three innings.”
While a large crowd got to witness history in the stands, Schiffman had the best seat in the house to witness the moment. Just the first year of working together, he and Bezdicek have found a groove together and it’s paying off for Waconia in a big way.
“He always just makes my job easier,” Schiffman said. “He hits the spot almost every single time. He really executes every single inning. I have a pretty good front-row seat to watch him. It took a few games (to get on the same page). When you catch a guy as good as him you have to understand how his ball moves. After a couple of games into the season, we’ve been just grooving. He’s so dominant up there that it just makes my job pretty easy.”
“He does a great job,” Bezdicek said about Schiffman. “Early in the year we kind of were off with each other a little bit. We’ve really found a rhythm and ever since then we’ve been on the same page.”
Schiffman has been a long-time player for the Lakers and a big part of their state tournament success over the years. He and Waconia are back to playing on Labor Day weekend in the Sweet 16, a round that has given the Lakers fits over the years. The round of 16 is where they’ve had their season come to an end the past two seasons but Schiffman believes this year will be different.
“We got guys up and down our lineup that can execute everywhere,” he said. “This group is pretty special and I’m looking forward to the next weekend together.”
Buckman 8, Fergus Falls 2
JORDAN – The Buckman Billygoats are a staple at the Class C state tournament. Making their seventh appearance in the past eight years, the Billygoats looked right at home.
A grand slam by Aaron Weber in the top of the first had Buckman off and running as it cruised to an 8-2 win over the Fergus Falls Hurricanes.
The Billygoats were just getting things going after jumping out to the early lead. A solo home run from Benjamin Thoma in the top of the third extended their lead to 5-0 putting Fergus Falls in a big hole early on.
After Fergus Falls chipped away at the deficit with a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings, the Billygoats wrapped up an impressive win with three insurance runs in the top half of the ninth.
Buckman, which has reached the semifinals each of the past two years, including losing in the championship game in 2022, is poised to make some noise again in this tournament. After two impressive wins against the Webster Sox and Fergus Falls Hurricanes, the Billygoats will try to knock down the door this year.
Sartell 3, Nisswa 1
JORDAN – A quick look at the box score for the Sartell Muskies won’t necessarily look impressive. That doesn’t tell the whole story though.
The Muskies did all of the little things right in their matchup with the Nisswa Lightning and they were rewarded for it picking up a 3-1 win at the Jordan Mini Met to secure their spot on Labor Day weekend.
“I thought we played pretty well,” veteran player Tim Burns said. “We knew with our pitching we are going to be in pretty much every ballgame. As long as we get some timely hits like we did, we should be good to go for the rest of the tournament.”
Runs were hard to come by early on for both teams but the Lightning had their chances in the first two innings. That was until the Muskies showed off their defense, turning two double plays in the first two innings to erase Nisswa’s scoring threats early on. For the game, Sartell turned three double plays.
“That always gets us fired up,” Burns said about double plays. “It’s great for any team but who knows what happens if we don’t get those outs. It could be a whole different ball game. Those are the kind of plays that help us get our hitting going too as we can use that as momentum.”
After being held off the scoreboard through three innings, Sartell broke through in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on first and third, Burns delivered an RBI single to put the Muskies in front 1-0. The one run for Sartell looked like it might be enough but Nisswa showed why they are one of the more dangerous offensive teams in the state. A solo home run from Jeremiah Piepkorn in the top of the seventh evened things up but the Muskies had the answer in the bottom half of the eighth.
After a fly ball that was lost in the sun dropped, Sartell got an RBI triple off the wall from Cody Partch to take a 2-1 lead. Burns would add another on a sacrifice fly by Burns for a big insurance run.
“We got kind of lucky,” Burns said with a laugh. “We didn’t have guys on the bases the whole time but we found the big hits when we needed to. We knew they had the potential to hit home runs and they got one but we kept them in check at the right times and it worked out.”
Burns, playing in his 13th state tournament in a row for the Muskies, knows how special the feeling of getting here is even despite it being an annual tradition.
“It never gets old,” he said. “It’s going to be tough when I finally do hang them up but the atmosphere is awesome. It feels great to keep coming here.”
After knocking off one recent state champion (Nisswa – 2022), another one awaits the Muskies next weekend as they’ll take on the Fairmont Martins (2020 champions).
“I don’t think we’ve ever played that team,” Burns said. “It’ll be a good game. It’ll be a little different how we set up our pitching trying to win four games in a row but we’ll set ourselves up as best we can to make a run at it.”
