Triton, W-K, K-W all lose in first roundat state baseball
By Donny Henn
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
A long day at the Minnesota High School Class AA Baseball State Tournament was made a bit shorter by way of three 10-run-rule games involving two entrants from southeastern Minnesota.
Triton was on the losing end, and then the winning end of two 10-run rule outcomes, and Kenyon-Wanamingo saw its season end that way in the consolation semifinals.
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Triton (20-9) is still alive in its first state baseball tournament and plays for fifth place against Park Rapids (21-5) at noon Friday at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Triton bounced back from a dismal performance in the opener, where it managed no hits and lost 14-1 in five innings to Jordan.
Triton responded with an 10-0, five-inning win against Hinckley-Finlayson in the consolation semifinals. Triton pitcher Riley Kispert allowed a single to start the game, and then sent down 15 batters in order and finished with a one-hitter.
"Of course that was our main point — we wanted to play Friday," said Kispert, a junior right-hander. "After that (loss to Jordan) I was pretty determined to go out and pitch a good game."
- Wabasha-Kellogg absorbed a heart-breaking 7-6 loss to Wabasso in its opening game of the state Class A tournament at Chaska, then bounced back with a 7-3 win over Babbit-Embarrass/Tower-Sudan in the losers bracket.
It was the Falcons’ first trip to state since 1982. This latest trip started off well, with W-K building a 2-0 first-inning lead. But it didn’t hold up as Wabasso scored a run in the sixth which turned into the game-winner.
The close final score had many wondering, "what could have been?" The Falcons stranded seven base runners in the game, a fact that coach Chris Gove considered the difference.
W-K plays Maranatha Christian Academy at noon Friday for the consolation championship.
- Kenyon-Wanamingo opened the tournament with an 8-7 loss to Pipestone Area. The Knights came back from deficits of 4-0 and 7-4 and tied the score at 7-7 with three runs in the sixth inning, only to see the Arrows score the game-winning run in the top of the seventh.
K-W’s season was brought to an abrupt end in the consolation round with an 11-0 loss in five innings to Park Rapids. The Knights managed only one hit, a one-out single in the fifth by Adam Langr.
"That was a little bit hard to take; you never want to get 10-runned," said Noah Grove, one of eight K-W seniors.
"But it was fun to play at state," he added. "We could have played better, but at least we got here and they can’t take that way."
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- State baseball, C3, C4
