Elk River VFW baseball wins first state title

Elk River defeated Marshall 11-1 in the championship game on Sunday, Aug. 4

by Erik Nelson

Sports Reporter

After scoring the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning, Elk River Post 5518 players showered teammates with water as the Elks captured the 2024 Minnesota VFW State Baseball title on Sunday, Aug. 4, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud. Elk River won the championship game 11-1 over Marshall Post 742 in five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

It was Elk River’s second win over Marshall during the tournament, as it defeated Marshall 6-1 on Friday, Aug. 2.

This is Elk River’s first state title in VFW program history. The team is made up of 16U players who are heading into their sophomore and junior years at Elk River High School.

For Elk River, this state title run served as redemption after losing the District 7 championship game to Champlin Park last month.

Elk River head coach Paul Olson said winning the state VFW championship is an amazing accomplishment for this group of young men.

“It’s something that they should be proud of as they represent Elk River and our VFW Post 5518,” Olson said. “I told them during the state tourney that it will be a bond that they will always have together, just those 12 guys. They started to bond together after our Alexandria out-of-town tournament the weekend before our district playoffs started. I started to see them playing as a team versus sometimes playing for themselves.

“It was after the first district playoff loss to Spring Lake Park that we decided as a team to take on a different approach to hitting and the way we were going to try and generate runs. It was something that a few of them have done with me in the past, but for others, they were not accustomed to that method of play.

“We wanted to start taking longer at bats, seeing more pitches before swinging and play more small ball with some sacrifice bunts and stealing [instead of] just waiting for the big hit to come.

“We immediately started noticing more excitement in the dugouts and we starting generating more baserunners and more runs. As we kept winning this way, more kids bought into the method and the team concept came around. I’m proud of how each kid on the team accepted their role, and everyone played big parts in winning this state tournament.”

Elk River won thanks in part to eight runs in the fourth inning. Joey Robeck hit an RBI single, scoring three runs; David Mulcahy singled, scoring one run; Lincoln Trushenski singled, scoring two runs; and Owen Stockman singled, scoring two runs.

Elk River got on the board in the first inning after Trushenski hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run.

Marshall’s Jackson Sirovy grounded out, but their runner at third base scored to tie the game 1-1 in the top of the third. Then the Elks’ offense took over in the fourth inning.

Tommy Olson earned the win for Elk River. Olson allowed four hits and one run over five innings, striking out seven and had only one walk.

Trushenski drove the middle of the lineup, leading Elk River with three RBIs. Stockman went 2-for-3 at the plate. Elk River had patience at the plate, accumulating seven walks for the game. Mulcahy, Robeck and Cooper Hanson led the team with two walks each.

Elk River outscored its state tournament opponents 36-4 over five games for a run differential of +32. The Elks averaged 7.2 runs per game while allowing on average 0.8 runs per game.

“It means a lot bringing a championship to this town,” Stockman said. “We started winning together. We’re strong together. It wasn’t an individual effort at all.”

The Minnesota VFW State Baseball Tournament began in 1955 and celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2024. Following a postgame handshake with Marshall and Marshall receiving its silver medals and runner-up plaque, the Elks received gold medals, the championship plaque and the State traveling trophy. The players received their medals from VFW Post 5518 Commander David Boily. In addition to Olson, Elk River’s assistant coaches are Colin Lea and Josh Juntunen.

Elks dominate and advance to championship game

The Elks defeated Rochester Spartans Post 1215 4-2 on Thursday, Aug. 1, at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, advancing to the next round of the state tournament.

After defeating Marshall on Friday, Aug. 2, Elk River beat Willmar Post 1639 8-0 in the quarterfinal on Saturday, Aug. 3. Pitcher Bennett Masey threw 11 strikeouts and allowed only three hits as Masey threw a complete-game shutout in Elk River’s 7-0 semifinal win over Rock Ridge Post 1172.

Elk River finished the season with a record of 29-9-1.

What’s next

Some of these Elk River VFW players may play for the Elk River High School varsity team in 2025 under Juntunen.

Regardless of what happens next year, Olson said the future is bright for Elk River baseball.

“In my opinion, I think a lot of these VFW players will be vying for spots on the JV and varsity squad next year,” he said. “Come next summer, I would expect a handful of them to be playing on the [American] Legion team as well. This summer’s team was a bright spot — I don’t think a lot of people saw this coming, and as I told the boys after the game last night, the way they played this summer opened up a lot of conversations and opportunities in the future if they keep working hard and putting the time into getting better. There is a great core group of kids that will contribute over the next few years.”