Windom, MCC baseball teams each take third at state tournaments

Two southwest Minnesota baseball teams capped strong runs at state baseball tournaments on Friday.

The Windom Eagles scored three runs in both the second and sixth innings on their way to defeating Winona Cotter 9-7 Friday in the Class AA tourney's third-place game. Hayden Tietz, Soren Nielsen and Jackson Joyce had two hits apiece and scored two runs each in the game for Windom. Stevie Meyer earned the pitching win for the Eagles, who led by just 6-5 heading into the pivotal sixth.

Earlier Friday, Windom was beaten 4-1 by Glencoe-Silver Lake in a semifinal matchup. The Eagles had just two hits in the game — from Tietz and Matthew Voehl — and Tietz scored the only run. Joyce had three hits and Tietz and Nielsen two each as Windom edged Perham 7-6 in the first-round game Thursday.

Murray County Central, meanwhile, placed third in the state Class A tournament. Gabe Tentinger's walk-off RBI single in the eighth inning Thursday scored Carson Lewis and boosted the Rebels past Ogilvie 9-8 in a first-round game. MCC overcame a four-run deficit in that matchup.

In Friday's semifinals, the Rebels got just five hits — two of them from Lewis — as they fell to 9-2 to Madelia. Then, in the third-place showdown, MCC scored four times in the fifth and edged South Ridge 5-4. Dugan Kluis tossed the first six innings for the win and Teague Meyer got the save.

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Austin Gruis, who just completed his junior year at Worthington High School, has been recognized as the Trojan baseball team's Offensive Player of the Year. During the spring, he hit .407 with a .500 on-base percentage, .629 slugging percentage, two home runs, six doubles and 18 RBIs.

Another Trojan player recognized with a team award was Dominic Pavelko, who also just completed his junior year and was named the squad's Player of the Year. Pavelko finished the season with a .343 batting average and .417 on-base percentage while collecting 22 hits.

Other team award-winners included Ethan Anderson; Pitcher of the Year; Wyatt Petersen, Defensive Player of the Year; and Fino Noeno, Trojan Award.

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In American Legion baseball Thursday, visiting Pipestone topped Worthington 7-2. Petersen had a pair of hits for the home team; a Gruis single plated both the Post 5 runs.

In the preceding Junior Legion game, Worthington topped Pipestone 10-3 and Talan Turner allowed just two hits and one earned run in five innings of pitching while walking two and striking out 10. Turner also doubled and drove in two runs, and Raylen Teerink doubled and had an RBI. Dom Larson walked four times and scored three runs.