MN State Baseball Tournament Preview

            In the 16th year of a three-class format, all three 2014 champions return to defend their titles. New Life Academy of Woodbury is looking for its second consecutive title in Class A. St. Cloud Cathedral is seeking its second consecutive title in Class AA. Mounds View returns in search of a third consecutive championship in Class AAA.

            Five teams qualified for the first time this year: Lewiston-Altura, Brandon-Evansville, and Kimball Area in Class A; Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in Class AA; and Chanhassen in Class AAA.

            This is the third year that the tournament has been seeded. The eight coaches of the section champions logged onto a special page of the League Web site and each coach ranked the other teams one through seven. The highest and lowest rankings for each team were discarded, leaving five rankings for each team. From those rankings, the teams were seeded one through five. In conference calls with all eight head coaches, League Associate Director Kevin Merkle announced the top five seeds. A representative of the coaches association conducted a blind draw to determine the opponents for the top three seeds. Seeds four and five are automatically paired without a draw.

            The six teams that advance to title games will compete at Target Field in Minneapolis on Saturday, June 13. All three games will be webcast live by GrandStadium on Prep45.com for a fee of $4.97 for the day. The Class A title game will begin at noon, followed by the Class AA championship game at 3 p.m., and the Class AAA title game at 6 p.m.

            The initial rounds of the tournament will be played Thursday and Friday, June 11 and 12, at locations across the state. Class A quarterfinals, championship semifinals and third-place game will be played at the Mini Met in Jordan, and consolation semifinals and consolation championship will be played at Chaska Athletic Park. The Class AA quarterfinals, championship semifinals and third-place game will be played at Dick Putz Field, and consolation semifinals and consolation championship will be played at the adjacent Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. The Class AAA quarterfinals, championship semifinals and third-place game will be played at CHS Field in St. Paul, and consolation semifinals and consolation championship will be played at Dick Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

            Detailed statistics provided by most qualified teams are available on the League’s Web site — www.MSHSL.org — as a Media Guide link under Tournaments > Spring > Baseball.

            Class A Highlights

            (Notes: There is no wireless Internet access nor guaranteed phone lines at Chaska Athletic Park or at the Mini Met in Jordan. New Ulm Cathedral and Springfield were the only two Class A qualifiers to meet this season. They played twice and Springfield won each time: 6-5 and 3-2.)

            (Section 8) Red Lake County (16-9) vs. (No. 1 Seed - Section 1) New Life Academy of Woodbury (19-2) — 10:00 a.m. June 11 at Mini Met, Jordan. Red Lake County, which includes students from Red Lake Falls and Red Lake County Central of Oklee, returns to make it second consecutive and fifth overall appearance under this name. Red Lake Falls made a solo appearance in 1982 and Red Lake County made one in 1994. The Rebels fell in the consolation semifinals in 2014. The defending champions from New Life Academy of Woodbury are making their second consecutive and overall appearance. 

            (No. 5 Seed – Section 1) Lewiston-Altura (15-11) vs. (No. 4 Seed – Section 6) Brandon-Evansville (19-6) — 12:30 p.m. June 11 at Mini Met, Jordan.  The Cardinals of Lewiston-Altura and the Chargers of Brandon-Evansville are both making their debut tournament appearances.

            (Section 5) Kimball Area (13-14) vs. (No. 2 Seed – Section 3) Springfield (21-3) — 3:00 p.m. June 11 at Mini Met, Jordan. The Kimball Area Cubs are making their first tournament appearance. The Tigers of Springfield, who claimed consolation honors last year, are making their second consecutive and ninth overall appearance under this name. They also made one additional appearance as a co-op with Cedar Mountain and Comfrey in 1994.

            (Section 7) Deer River (14-11) vs. (No. 3 Seed – Section 2) New Ulm Cathedral (17-7) — 5:30 p.m. June 11 at Mini Met, Jordan. The Warriors of Deer River return after a three-year absence to make their third appearance. New Ulm Cathedral is making its fourth appearance, but first since 2009. The Greyhounds won one previous championship in 2005. 

            Class AA Highlights

            (Section 7) Cloquet (16-4) vs. (No. 1 Seed - Section 6) St. Cloud Cathedral (22-0) — 10:00 a.m. June 11 at Dick Putz Field, St. Cloud. The Lumberjacks of Cloquet are making their fourth appearance, but first since 2010. They did not face any other qualifiers this season. The defending champions from St. Cloud Cathedral return in search of more hardware. They are making their fifth consecutive and 19th overall appearance, and they defeated Minnehaha Academy 7-2 this year. If the Crusaders win, it would be their ninth title. In addition to last year, St. Cloud Cathedral also won in 1977, 1980, 1988, 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2011.

            (No. 5 Seed – Section 2) Glencoe-Silver Lake (20-4) vs. (No. 4 Seed - Section 3) Marshall (23-4) — 12:30 p.m. June 11 at Dick Putz Field, St. Cloud. The Panthers of Glencoe-Silver Lake return for their second consecutive and fifth overall appearance under this name. Glencoe made five additional appearances between 1947 and 1974. The Panthers are looking to improve on last year’s third-place showing. The Tigers of Marshall are making their fourth appearance, but first since 2005. Neither team faced any other tournament qualifiers this year.

            (Section 8) Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (18-7) vs. (No. 2 Seed - Section 1) Rochester Lourdes (24-0) — 3:00 p.m. June 11 at Dick Putz Field, St. Cloud. The Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Rebels are making their debut appearance. The Eagles of Rochester Lourdes are making their fifth appearance, but first since 2002. They are looking for their third title, having won previously in 1996 and 2002. Neither the Rebels nor the Eagles faced any other Class AA qualifiers this season.

            (Section 5) Providence Academy, Plymouth (17-5) vs. (No. 3 Seed - Section 4) Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis (24-1) — 5:30 p.m. June 11 at Dick Putz Field, St. Cloud. These teams met twice during the regular season with Minnehaha Academy winning both contests, 4-2 and 11-4. Providence Academy is making its second appearance. The Lions made their first in 2011. The Minnehaha Academy Redhawks, who are also making their second appearance, return to tournament action after a one-year absence. In addition to facing Providence Academy, the Redhawks also fell to St. Cloud Cathedral 7-2 during the regular season.

     

            Class AAA Highlights

            (Robbinsdale Armstrong and Anoka were the only two Class AAA qualifiers to meet this season. Robbinsdale Armstrong won that contest 5-4.)

            (Section 1) Northfield (20-4) vs. (No. 1 Seed - Section 5) Mounds View (22-2) — 10:00 a.m. June 11 at CHS Field, St. Paul. The Northfield Raiders are making their fourth appearance, but first since 2002. The two-time defending champions from Mounds View are making their third consecutive and seventh overall appearance.

            (No. 5 Seed – Section 3) Lakeville North (17-7) vs. (No. 4 Seed - Section 7) Anoka (20-5) — 12:30 p.m. June 11 at CHS Field, St. Paul. The Panthers of Lakeville North are making their third consecutive and overall appearance. They placed third in 2014. The Tornadoes of Anoka return for their seventh appearance, but first since 1995.

            (Section 8) St. Michael-Albertville (21-6) vs. (No. 2 Seed - Section 2) Chanhassen (23-4) — 3:00 p.m. June 11 at CHS Field, St. Paul. The Knights of St. Michael-Albertville return to the tournament after a five-year absence. They are in the hunt for their third championship, having won previously in 2000 and 2009. This is St. Michael-Albertville’s fourth appearance overall. The Chanhassen Storm are making their first tournament appearance.

            (Section 6) Robbinsdale Armstrong (16-9) vs. (No. 3 Seed - Section 4) Mahtomedi (21-3) — 5:30 p.m. June 11 at CHS Field, St. Paul.  The Falcons of Robbinsdale Armstrong are returning for their second consecutive and fifth overall appearance. They lost in the consolation semifinals last year. The Mahtomedi Zephyrs, who placed sixth in 2014, are making their second consecutive and overall appearance.