By Nick Gerhardt
nickgerhardt@mnbaseball.org
In some ways Plato might’ve been a team of destiny this season.
In 1996, the Blue Jays won their first state championship with Dave Franke and Dean Schwirtz earning all-tournament team honors with Franke garnering tournament MVP honors. Thirty years later, their sons, and the sons of four other members from that team accomplished the same feat as Plato defeated Watertown 13-1 to clinch the Class B state title at Joe Schleper Stadium in Shakopee.
“It’s always been talked about,” Blue Jays manager Nolan Lepel said. “For them to repeat, it’s been amazing. They didn’t shy away from pressure and we played defense all tournament.”
Reece Schwirtz earned tournament MVP honors after going 3-0 with a .93 ERA in 29 innings. He allowed just four runs, three earned, while allowing 21 hits, six walks and striking out 30. His tournament performance included an 11-inning complete-game start in a 2-1 win over Stewartville-Racine, a 5-3 win over Webster and eight shutout innings against Cold Spring Saturday in a 6-0 win. He closed out the championship win with an inning of relief where he struck out two and didn’t allow a hit or walk.
“Reece has been a bulldog,” Lepel said. “He’s been dominant on the mound and then been dominant at the plate. He’s been the sparkplug, kept us running.”
He did it at the plate, too, going 10-for-20 in the tournament with four runs, three RBI and one double. In the last two games he went 7-for-7 with three RBI and scored the game-winning run in a 3-2, 12-inning win over Delano in the semifinals.
“When you’re not pitching you gotta step up somewhere,” Schwirtz said. “I was seeing the ball well, the batter’s eye is huge, being able to see a spin and put the ball in play.”
The Frankes got things going in the last two games as Dayton drove in two runs against the Red Devils and provided the game-winning hit over Delano while Dawson drove in one run against the A’s and in the championship game.
Meanwhile Plato got a stellar start from St. Boni draftee Nick Hubbard, who went eight innings and allowed one run on eight hits, walked one and struck out three. He got the start for St. Boni in the district playoffs when Watertown rallied from a four-run deficit in the eighth inning to secure its first trip to state since 2022.
“I told Hubbard, keep them off-balanced,” Lepel said. “He’s not an over-powering pitcher. He did beat us twice during the year. I said, you keep guys off-balance two to three times through the lineup and we’re going to win. Reece was going to come in at some point. Reece was ready. I think if Reece had to go in the second, he would’ve.”
With Hubbard cruising through eight innings and the bats cooking for the Blue Jays, they didn’t need Schwirtz until the end as they built a big lead.
Plato grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning after Schwirtz singled to score Tate Wischnack, who singled with two outs.
The Blue Jays added three runs in the fifth inning after Beau Lepel got hit by a pitch. After a sacrifice bunt from Schwirtz, Brady Graupmann got hit by a pitch and Bennett Lepel reached on an error to load the bases for Dayton Franke, who singled in a run. Dawson Franke brought in another run on a fielder’s choice and Dane Schwirtz’s single scored Lepel to make it a 4-0 game.
Plato added to the lead in the top of the sixth after Lepel drew a one-out walk and Reece Schwirtz doubled to the gap in left center.
The Blue Jays remained relentless and added two more runs in the seventh after Luke Roepke plated Dawson Franke on a ground out and a wild throw to third base allowed Dane Schwirtz to score to build a 7-0 lead.
In the eighth, Reece Schwirtz hit a lead-off single and scored on a double from Dayton Franke, for his second RBI of the game and made it 8-0.
Watertown finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth when Zach Iten hit a lead-off single and a Ryan Hangartner double brought him in.
Plato tacked on five runs in the top of the ninth with Bennett Lepel knocking in two runs and Beau Lepel driving in a run with a double. An error allowed Beau Lepel to score and wild pitch allowed Reece Schwirtz to score.
Watertown pitchers struggled to get on track. The Red Devils used six different pitchers who hit five batters and walked six.
Watertown had a threat in the fourth inning after Ryan Hangartner hit a lead-off double, but after a fly ball to center field, Jordan Berrios lined into an inning-ending double play.
Plato entered the state tournament as the No. 4 seed from District 7 after Watertown won a seeding game 8-1 over the Blue Jays for the No. 3 slot. Three of the final four teams in Class B came from the Crow River Valley League with Delano making the semifinals. Plato secured its fifth state title in club history after winning the 1996, 2007, 2015 and 2018 titles.
The Red Devils reached the state championship game for the first time since 2021 when they fell 3-0 to Sobieski in 11 innings. The Blue Jays reached the title game for the first time since 2018 when they defeated Sobieski 8-5.
The state tournament drew a total of 29,075, the most since 1953 and eclipsed the latest high total of 2023 when 28,007 fans attended the tournament. The 1953 tournament in New Ulm drew 31,031.
