NEW PRAGUE — The New Prague Orioles came into this year’s state tournament as one of two teams that had the potential to win a state championship on their home field. The Glencoe Brewers came into the state tournament with redemption on Labor Day weekend on their mind.
In the end, it was the Brewers getting a chance for that redemption as they put together a complete game in a 5-0 win over New Prague at Memorial Park.
“When we can play good defense, we have guys who can make the plays and make non-routine plays,” Glencoe manager Clark Christianson said. “We made a couple non-routine plays tonight. These guys are trained in the fundamentals. When we can get bunts down, advance runners, and then we get a couple clutch hits, that’s just good baseball.”
A pitching duel throughout, both teams had their fair share of chances, especially early on. The Brewers had runners on first and second to open the bottom of the first inning, but a double play ball for New Prague got the Orioles out of the inning without allowing a run.
After letting one scoring chance slip away, Glencoe wouldn’t let that happen again in the bottom of the second. Nate Litzau opened the inning with a single and, after one pitch, stole second to get into scoring position. New Prague’s Gavin Bergman nearly got out of trouble once again, but a two-out RBI double from Zach Voelz gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
A one-run lead proved to be enough for Glencoe as Nick Hays delivered one of his best outings on the mound for the Brewers at the right time. He went all nine innings on his way to picking up the win while holding New Prague to just four hits and striking out eight and walking none.
With Hays in control on the mound, Glencoe broke things open in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded and nobody out, a bloop hit from Korey Johnson combined with an error allowed a run to score and make it 2-0. Teddy Petersen caught the Orioles napping on the same play as he came around to score as well to make it 3-0. Glencoe wouldn’t stop there. With two outs, Kalin Jochum plated two more runs as the Brewers took a commanding 5-0 lead.
With the win, Glencoe advances to the Class C state quarterfinals for the second year in a row. They will take on the winner of Dumont and Elrosa Friday, Sept. 4 in Shakopee at 7:30 p.m. After coming up short in that round a year ago, the Glencoe Brewers know what it takes to win this time around.
“We’ve got to do what we did last week and this week, which is get bunts down and advance runners,” Christianson said. “We have to do what we didn’t do against Roseau last year. We played from behind that game, and we never really got ahead because we didn’t make the fundamental plays in baseball. We’re doing a better job with all this state tournament.”
