Trojans get first baseball win of season over Tri-City United

Austin Gruis blasted a three-run homer Saturday and Brayden Raymo had a pair of base hits and an RBI as the Worthington Trojans baseball team earned a home doubleheader split with Tri-City United by winning the second game, 7-4.

Gruis' homer came in the third inning and gave Worthington a 3-2 edge. Talen Turner doubled and scored on a Raymo single to make it 4-2 in the fourth, and the Trojans got an unearned run in the sixth without a hit in the sixth and two more on one hit in the seventh.

WHS got its first win of the season despite committing six fielding errors. Logan Kerkaert pitched the first four innings and allowed just one earned run. Turner tossed the final three innings and earned the win.

In Saturday's opening game, Tri-City United got four runs on just one hit in the top of the eighth to top the Trojans 6-2. Worthington had just two hits in that contest, with one being an RBI double by Turner and the other a Kerkaert single. Turner added another highlight by hustling home from second on a Dom Pavelko sacrifice bunt for the second WHS run,

Ethan Anderson started on the mound and pitched the first five and third innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run. Gruis ended up as the losing pitcher.

The Trojans, who are 1-2, next play Thursday at New Ulm.

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The WHS softball team also played Tri-City United twice on Saturday and lost 25-5 and 16-5.

Breeta Johnson had three of the Trojans' seven hits in the first game and two more hits in the second, going five-for-six on the day, Katy Welch also had a pair of hits in the second game. Worthington is 0-4 and next hosts Fairmont on Tuesday.

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The Trojans' boys golf team hosted their annual invitational meet Friday and wound up placing seventh out of 14 teams. Western Christian won with a team score of 323. Jackson County Central was sxith at 358, followed by WHS at 363 

Gerrit Larson had the lowest 18-hole score for Worthington with an 86. Hunter Heitkamp was next at 87, followed by Cameron Krommendyk (92), Tyson Petersen (98), Blake Vosburgh (99) and Brody Pederson (104).

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The Minnesota West baseball team played at home for the first time in 2026 on Sunday afternoon, but Riverland came away with a doubleheader sweep, 5-1 and 9-1.

In the first game, the Bluejays entered the seventh and final inning with no hits, but Ales Zhao spoiled Riverland pitcher Riley Jax's no-no and shutout with an RBI double. Layke Miller then singled, but the Blue Devils then turned a double play to end the game.

In game two, Riverland starter Melvin Oritz also kept the Minnesota West bats quiet, allowing just one hit in four-plus innings. The Bluejays got their run in the fifth and made it 6-1 thanks to a couple of walks and a bunt hit by Takuto Usami that came with a throwing error. Minnesota West loaded the bases later in the inning, but Zhao — who leads the team in hits and RBIs — grounded out to end the threat.

The Bluejays, now 13-14, play at Riverland, which is 20-9, twice today, as they'll make up a Saturday postponement.

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The Lady Jays' softball team, meanwhile,  slumped this past week, as they were swept in road doubleheaders on three consecutive days.

On Wednesday, it was St. Cloud Tech topping Minnesota West — which collected five total hits in the two games — 8-0 and 14-1. On Thursday, it was Anoka-Ramsey over the Lady Jays 8-0 in the opener and 8-7 in the nightcap.  Payton Riemers had a pair of doubles in the second game and three RBIs, while Gracie Nath had two singles and a double, Hannah McNab a single and triple and three RBIs, and Jayda Hellewell a pair of singles. Anoka-Ramsey scored once in the bottom of the seventh for the game-two victory.

On Friday, it was Ridgewater topping Minnesota West 4-2 and then winning again 13-5. McNab singled, doubled and scored in the first game, and Cassie Boyum doubled and drove in a run. McNab collected three more hits and two RBS to lead the hitting in the second contest; Riemers had two hits and two RBIs.

The Lady Jays (1-7) host Ridgewater for a twinbill at 3 p.m. today.