ST. CLOUD — There will be no Class AA state baseball championship for Rochester Lourdes. In fact the Eagles had to settle for fourth place.
The second-seeded Eagles saw their perfect season and quest for a state title end with a 6-2 loss to No. 3 Minnehaha Academy in the state semifinals on Friday at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud. Later in the day the Eagles lost 9-6 to No. 4 Marshall in the third-place game.
"It's kind of sad it had to end like this," said Zach Hillman, one of 13 seniors on the Lourdes roster.
"Overall you can't complain," Hillman said, "99 percent of the teams in the state would love to be in our position."
With the two losses, their only two of the season, the Eagles finish 25-2.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I'm so proud of these guys," Lourdes coach Dan Herold said. "It was a pleasure to coach this team."
The Eagles were held to six hits and tied a season low with the two runs in the crucial semifinal game against Minnehaha (26-1).
"We might have lost here, but we're winners off the field," Lourdes senior Nick Hanson said.
The Lourdes roster contained a number of players that rolled through the football season unbeaten to claim a Class AAA championship. The baseball squad came up one game short of playing for a state title.
"It's a great feeling to be here and just to get here," Hanson said.
"That was our goal to get here and it was our goal to get to Target Field (for the state championship game)," Hanson said. "But it just didn't happen."
Minnehaha Academy now advances to the state title game against No. 1 St. Cloud Cathedral on Monday at Target Field.
• Lewiston-Altura was also sent to the losers bracket Friday, dropping its Class A tournament-opening game to Brandon-Evansville, 5-0.
ADVERTISEMENT
The contest, at the Mini Met in Jordan, featured just nine hits. But the No. 4-seeded Chargers had seven of them as they took advantage of precise pitching by Thomas Bosek. The senior — beautifully mixing speeds — got in trouble just once all seven innings. That came in the fourth when L-A had both of its hits. Bosek ended that rally with a strikeout and a flyout.
Cullen Neeck took the loss for L-A (15-12).
The Cardinals are in the state tournament for the first time. They play Red Lake County at 10 a.m. today at Chaska Athletic Park.
