Baseball State Tournament 2022: Day 3 Recap

Class AAAA semifinals

Farmington 7 Maple Grove 5

Farmington used the long ball to rally for a 7-5 win over Maple Grove in the Class AAAA semifinals of the Minnesota State High School League’s Baseball State Tournament at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul and ensure a return to the championship game. Luke Walton’s grand slam home run in the bottom of the sixth inning provided the winning runs for the defending champions.

The game resumed where rain had halted things on Wednesday, with Maple Grove batting in a scoreless game in the second inning. The Crimson went to work right away, plating four runs with Hunter Gerber’s two-run RBI single the key hit. Maple Grove added a third inning run for a 5-0 advantage, but Tyler Borlik, a senior right-hander, took over and allowed just two singles the rest of the way to earn the win.

In the fourth inning, Tyler Bombardier’s solo home run to left field jumpstarted a three-run inning for the Tigers.

It remained 5-3 until the sixth. Ethan Coyer led off the inning with a walk. One out later, Dominic Vogel and Drew Conrad singled to load the bases. Walton, the No. 9 hitter, who had driven home a run earlier with a sacrifice fly, then drilled a 3-1 pitch over the scoreboard in right field to give the Tigers *23-3), the lead for good.

Borlik, who threw 4 1/3 innings in relief of starter Hunter Frost, earned the win. Mason South and Aiden McMahon had two hits apiece for the Crimson (20-5).

Stillwater 5, Chanhassen 3

For the second consecutive game, Stillwater used a big inning to find the way to the League’s Class AAAA championship game. The Ponies (22-4) scored four runs after two were out in the fifth inning and held off a late rally for a 5-3 victory over Chanhassen on Thursday at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul. Stillwater will be making its first appearance in a championship game since 2018 when it won the Class AAAA title. In 2009, they lost to St. Michael-Albertville in the Class AAA final. The Ponies won their first baseball state crown in 1991 at the AA level.

Brayden Hellum, a senior lefthander, went the distance to earn the win. Hellum scattered four hits, walking three batters while striking out just one. Maddon Johnson led the Storm offense with a pair of hits and a RBI.

The Storm (17-10) scored an unearned run in the first inning, a lead that held up until the fifth. Hellum kickstarted the decisive rally with an RBI single. Mason McCurdy, his batterymate, plated a run to move Stillwater into the lead. Mason Buck followed with a two-run single to make it 4-1. The Storm struck back for a pair in the sixth to cut the margin to 4-3. Buck singled home an insurance run in the seventh.

Hellum had a few anxious moments in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on second and two outs, it took nine pitches before Maple Grove’s Blake Eiden was retired on a fly ball to deep center field.

Chanhassen 6, Maple Grove 3

Blake Eiden’s two-run single proved to be the difference as Chanhassen defeated Maple Grove, 6-3, in the Class AAAA third place game at CHS Field. Trailing 3-2 entering the fifth inning, Josh Kirchoff and Josh Och opened with singles. A double steal moved them up a base and both rode home on Eiden’s single to right center. One out later, Maddox Johnson singled home a run. The Storm added an insurance tally in the top of the seventh inning.

Eiden replaced Mason Windschitl, the eventual winning pitcher, and tossed two innings of relief to earn the save for the Storm, who finished the season 18-10.

Maple Grove (20-6) scored all its runs in the fourth inning on a pair of singles and a pair of wild pitches.