Owatonna competes in New Ulm Junior Upper Midwest Classic

VFW and Legion baseball is a great way for up and coming high school players to get experience during the summer and a good way to see what’s to come for area teams.

For Owatonna, it seems the future is bright.

The Owatonna VFW mix team (9th and 10th grade) played the best of the best in the New Ulm Junior Upper Midwest Classic over the weekend. While Owatonna ended the tournament on a heartbreaker against the New Ulm Jr. Legion team, Owatonna had a lot to be proud of, showing plenty potential for the future.

Owatonna started the tournament with two games Friday, the first against Harrisburg. Jace Ulrich was the starting pitcher and pitched 6⅔ innings, only giving up one run.

With the bases loaded in the seventh with one out and leading 2-1, Will Radel came into pitch and got out of the jam to end the game.

Owatonna then went up against Wayzata and cruised to a 4-0 victory. Jace Feuring pitched six and a third innings with seven strikeouts and Jaxon Gautier pitched the remaining two thirds innings to get the save. Will Radel had a great day offensively to coincide with his pitching performance in the earlier game, driving in two runs.

Owatonna faced a very good Mankato West team on Saturday morning after their two victories to start the tournament. The matchup against Mankato West was the last of the regular games before the elimination rounds of the tournament. The tournament consisted of four pools/divisions, with Owatonna being with Harrisburg, Wayzata, and Mankato East.

As Owatonna was second place in their pool, they went on to face New Ulm in an elimination game to start the bracket portion of the tournament Saturday night.

The quarterfinals game consisted of great pitching from both sides, as Owatonna’s Jaxson Gautier went six and a third innings, giving up only 2 hits and one run.

With the game tied at two after seven innings, the contest went into extra innings. Owatonna scored two runs to take a 4-2 lead, but New Ulm scored three runs and walked it off on a sacrifice bunt.

New Ulm then went on to face Mankato East in the semifinals, having the two teams Owatonna lost two face off. Mankato East won 8-6 over New Ulm, but ultimately lost to the championship game against Maple Grove 8-7.

The Owatonna VFW teams are on a week-long break, with them returning to action against Century on Monday, July 8. The VFW 10 team will play Century at 5:00 while the VFW 9 team will play at 7:00.