RED WING — In a tight pitchers' dual in an important playoff game, Northfield found a way to manufacture one more run than Red Wing.
That's what it took for top-seeded and No. 3-ranked Northfield to move within one victory of a berth in the Class AAA state baseball tournament, and to push the No. 9-ranked and No. 2-seeded Wingers to within one loss of elimination.
Northfield did its damage on Saturday in the fourth inning of its 2-1 victory against Red Wing.
Conner Malecha scored the Raiders' first run when Cameron Gray walked with the bases loaded. Then, Ross Beumer connected on a sacrifice fly that plated Chris Antoine.
That was all the offense Raiders pitcher Hunter Koep needed. He pitched six innings and allowed one run on five hits. He also struck out seven Wingers hitters while walking just two.
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Red Wing (14-9) now will face Albert Lea in a loser-out game today at 5 p.m. in Red Wing. The winner will face Northfield on Tuesday with a berth in the Class AAA state tournament at stake. Northfield will need to win just once on Tuesday to reach state; Red Wing or Albert Lea will have to beat Northfield twice to win the double-elimination section tournament.
The Wingers rallied in the fifth and sixth innings Saturday, but both were stopped by Koep.
They had two runners on with one out in the fifth, but Koep recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat. They had their first two batters reach base in the sixth, but Koep battled back and struck out the final two batters of the inning.
