Monticello sports round-up: June 6

Taking the sceneic route

The Monticello baseball team lost the first-round matchup of the double-elimination Section 5AAA Baseball Tournament but battled their way back to the section final through the elimination bracket.

After falling 4-3 to St. Francis, Monticello beat Zimmerman 7-2, Princeton 8-3, Big Lake 7-6 and Becker 10-4 to reach the section championship against Totino-Grace. Monticello will have to win twice to book a ticket to the state tournament for the second straight season.

In the elimination bracket semifinals against the Hornets, Monticello scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off on Big Lake and advance to the elimination finals. Tim Marcus allowed one run in five innings. Koen Schlangen (W) pitched the final two innings.

Of note, Caden King was named to the North Metro All-Star Team. King is hitting .328 this season and has more extra-base hits (11) than singles (nine). He leads Monticello with 10 doubles and has one of two Magic home runs. He’s drawn 31 walks and struck out just eight times. He has 10 stolen bases, 15 RBIs and 28 runs scored.

Boys’ golf 5th in section meet

The Monticello boys’ golf team took fifth as a team during the Section 7AAA Tournament at Grand National last week. The Magic shot 643, 32 strokes behind section champion Elk River.

Sophomore Carter Lemke (160) tied for 16th, senior Tommy Disch (161) tied for 18th, sophomore Brady McGriff (165) was 26th, senior Micah Sieben (166) tied for 27th, senior Lance Ingalls (168) tied for 31st and senior Quinten Haas (172) tied for 34th.

Opatz to state

After a fourth-place finish at the Section 7AAA Girls Golf Tournament last week, sophomore Alayna Opatz (158) earned a spot at the MSHSL Class 3A State Tournament. She was the only Magic player to advance to day two. She was in fifth place after day one after shooting 79.

Other day-one scores for Monticello were eighth-grader Pheobe Figenshau (96), sophomore Madi Moores (99), sophomore Kendall Metso (100), sophomore Alex Andrist (106) and freshman Addie Zigan (112).

The girls played at Grand National Golf Club. The two-day MSHSL Class 3A State Tournament starts on Tuesday, June 11 at Bunker Hills Golf Club. The girls tee off at noon both days.