Eastview defeats Farmington to reach consolation final
The two South Suburban Conference teams to reach the state baseball tournament wound up playing each other, but not where they hoped the game would take place.
Eastview and Farmington met in a consolation semifinal game June 14 at Palm Field in St. Anthony, with Eastview winning 3-1. The Farmington loss ended the Tigers’ 2024 season. Later that day, Minnetonka downed Eastview 13-3 in six innings in the consolation final.
The state tournament is not over yet as rain has disrupted the schedule. The championship games in all four classes scheduled for Monday at Target Field were washed out. They were rescheduled for Friday at Target Field, when the Twins will be on a road trip, but as of Wednesday afternoon the forecast was not promising. The Minnesota State High School League has not announced its contingency plan if the championship games can’t be played Friday.
East Ridge and Mounds View are scheduled to play for the Class 4A championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Forest Lake senior left-hander Keenan Bjork pitched a five-hit shutout as the Rangers upset No. 2 seed Farmington 1-0 in the Class 4A quarterfinals June 13 at CHS Field.
Farmington junior Joe Baldus also pitched a complete game, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out seven.
The game’s only run came in the third inning, when Nolan Dumonceaux’s two-out double scored Tyler Schnabel from first base.
Bjork made the run hold up, although there were some anxious moments. In the sixth, the Tigers’ Tanner Renzy reached third base with two outs, but Bjork struck out the next hitter to get out of the inning.
Brandon Lund opened the bottom of the seventh with a single and advanced to second on Dillon Carlson’s sacrifice. Lund then reached third on a wild pitch. Joseph Larson chopped a pitch off home plate and reached first base when Bjork fielded the ball and had to chase Lund back to third.
Bjork got the next two Farmington hitters to strike out and pop up, and the Rangers escaped.
“We’re a team that can hold them with our defense if we score one or two runs,” Baldus said. “Today, we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
“When you get to this point of the season you’re going to see good pitching and defense, and you’re going to have low-scoring games,” Farmington coach Jon Graff said. “That’s what this was. Joe did a great job. The defense played phenomenal behind him. We had guys on base and chances to drive them in, but we just didn’t get it.”
Defending Class 4A champion East Ridge jumped on Eastview early, scoring five runs in the first two innings of their quarterfinal game and going on to win 7-1. Raptors ace Max Arlich, a Texas A&M recruit, pitched the first five innings, holding Eastview to three hits while striking out seven. He got out of a bases-loaded, no-out problem in the fourth, striking out two and getting the third out on a grounder to first.
Eastview also loaded the bases in the seventh inning and scored its run when Nick Brandt drew a walk. Brandt and Cooper DeSutter each had two hits for the Lightning.
“We made (Arlich) throw a lot of pitches in the third, fourth and fifth innings, and we had chances to score,” Eastview coach Pat Strey said. “We did a good job of staying in the game and not going away. We won six (section tournament) games in a row to get here, and we didn’t lead them all wire to wire. We had a lot of comebacks, particularly in the section finals. You’re never really comfortable when you’re down, but we had been there before and we thought we still had a chance. But that’s how baseball goes.”
DeSutter’s two-run double in the third inning gave Eastview the lead in its consolation bracket game against Farmington. In the fourth, Ryler Kronberg singled with two outs to drive in Charles Novak.
Dalton Kesti’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly drove in Renzy with Farmington’s run.
Vincent Wodele pitched the first four innings for Eastview, allowing one hit and striking out six. Lund pitched the first four innings for South Suburban Conference champion Farmington, which finished 24-5.
Minnetonka scored at least one run in each of the six innings played in the consolation final. DeSutter and Ben Schmitz had two hits each for the Lightning (15-15), and DeSutter and Charlie Riedl drove in runs.
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