ROSEVILLE — After sharing the Suburban East Conference championship, East Ridge was able to prevail with even higher stakes as the Raptors stopped Stillwater 5-2 in the finals of the Section 4AAAA tournament on Wednesday, June 5 at the University of Northwestern.
After losing to East Ridge 7-2 in the winners bracket finals, the top-seeded Ponies (18-7) faced a tall order after eliminating Roseville on Monday, June 3. Stillwater needed to defeat the Raptors (18-6) twice on Wednesday, but the Ponies were unable to force a second game.
East Ridge will have an opportunity to defend its state championship starting with the quarterfinals at CHS Stadium in St. Paul on Thursday, June 13. Since losing three of their first six games to start the season, East Ridge has dropped just three of their last 18 contests since then.
There was an hour-plus rain delay midway through the game, but East Ridge seized control after the restart with a four-run fifth inning. Alex Mazzetti, who finished with three of East Ridge’s four hits, drove a three-run triple to provide the biggest blow.
“I thought Dylan Bloom got off to a real nice start,” Stillwater coach Mike Parker said. “We had that rain delay, but he was ready to come back and we got those first two outs on that fifth inning. Then they put a couple guys on and they happened to be the wrong guys to put so we ended up having to face Mezzetti and he had a big triple that scored three runs.”
East Ridge standout Max Arlich entered in the sixth and he struck out two while not allowing a hit or walk in two innings to preserve the victory.
“If they could get ahead they were going to bring Arlich in,” Parker said. “It’s hard to start over and throw pitchers and having to win two games. It changes your thought process a little bit.”
Bloom walked five, but allowed just four hits in five innings against a dangerous lineup.
“He’s been our No. 1 pitcher all year and we thought he was our best chance to get through the sixth,” Parker said. “He gave us a good opportunity to win that game, but when they can use their full pitching staff it gets pretty tough and getting through the losers bracket becomes a chore.”
Stillwater scored two runs in the third to take a 2-1 lead, but failed to capitalize on an opportunity to tack on a few more.
“We had a great opportunity in the bottom of the second with the bases loaded,” Parker said. “We really wish we could have turned that into a five- or six-run inning. We thought we could do a little more against that, but just hit the ball up in the air a little too much. That was our opportunity there.
“We had to get a lead so that they were forced to save their pitcher for the second game, but that one-run lead wasn’t going to be enough against that lineup.”
The coach said the team can be proud of what it accomplished this season, earning a share of the conference title while competing in a league loaded with top-10 ranked teams. Many of those same teams were also obstacles in the section.
“Just playing in that game in that section meant a lot to us that we had a chance to win it,” Parker said. “You have to look at the season as more of a process than what the results are and our kids bought into everything we were trying to get them to buy into so they succeeded. They won the conference and made it to the finals so that’s quite an achievement for them going against the competition. They held their heads high because they knew they had done everything for their careers and their offseasons and I think it was a really successful season.”
“There’s the disappointment of not winning, but you know the guys played as well as you can play and it was a great season. You feel for the players because they sacrificed so much and worked so hard for it. It helps that they really see what team sports teachers, which is all you can control is your effort and attitude you go through the season with. That’s also a testament to the conference championship that they were able to focus in every game and get it done.”
Still 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 — 2 5 1
E. Ridge 1 0 0 0 4 0 x — 5 4 1
WP: Travis Reck 2 2/3-ip, 2-h, 0-r, 0-er, 0-bb, 0-so
LP: Dylan Bloom 5-ip, 4-h, 5-r, 4-er, 5-bb, 1-so
Leading hitters: St, AJ Levy 1x4, Luke Adams 1x3, Owen Maslowski 1x2 (RBI), Pat Lundgren 1x3 and Jack Runk 1x3; ER, Luke Skinner 1x1 (2B) and Alex Mezzetti 3x3 (2B, 4 RBI).
Stillwater 6, Roseville 4
At Roseville, after eliminating fourth-seeded Woodbury in its previous game, Roseville ran out of steam against Blake Vanek and the Ponies in the losers bracket finals on Monday, June 3 at the University of Northwestern. Vanek drove in four runs to propel the Ponies to a 6-4 victory to keep their season going.
Stillwater took a 2-0 lead in the first before the Raiders (11-14) pushed four runs across in the second. The Ponies added a run in the bottom of the third to set the stage for Vanek’s dramatic three-run homer down the left-field line in the fifth to provide a 6-4 lead. The junior finished with three of Stillwater’s six hits, including an RBI triple in the first.
“Vanek had that big hit when you’re down 4-3 and can’t get anything going,” Ponies coach Mike Parker said. “He also had the big hit for the first two runs of the game. He basically took over at the plate for that game and it was the other guys’ job to get on base ahead of him.”
Alex Oehlke also threw 5 2/3 innings of relief to get the win, allowing just three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
“Oehlke coming in and shutting the door, he really had his best outing of the year so I was very happy with that,” Parker said.
Rose 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 4 4
Still 2 0 1 0 3 0 x — 6 6 2
WP: Alex Oehlke 5 2/3-ip, 3-h, 1-r, 1-er, 2-bb, 7-so
LP: Jack Amundson 6-ip, 6-h, 6-r, 5-er, 3-bb, 2-so
Leading hitters: Ros, Spencer Barta 1x3, Brandon Nguyen 0x2 (RBI), Jack Amundson 1x2 (2B, 2 RBI) and Charlie Arntzen 1x1; St, AJ Levy 1x2, Blake Vanek 2x3 (3B, HR, 4 RBI), Owen Maslowski 1x3, Joe Fredkove 1x2, Henry Mested 1x1.
East Ridge 7, Stillwater 2
At Roseville, the Ponies have had more trouble against left-handers this season and Will Preimesberger was sharp while throwing a complete game as East Ridge prevailed 7-2 in the winners bracket finals on Friday, May 31 at the University of Northwestern.
Karson Foster was solid through six-plus innings for Stillwater, but the Ponies mustered just four hits in the game.
“They brought in a lefty who had beaten us once and we struggled against lefties all year long,” Ponies coach Mike Parker said. “Our lineup is left heavy and our conference has a lot of left-handed pitchers. If we saw a lefty pitching this year it was tough for us.
“Our guys competed, but its hard beause you have to be pitching around three guys in their lineup. Both games (against East Ridge) were a lot alike, our pitchers gave us a chance, but they were just better than us. You tip your cap to East Ridge.”
Blake Vanek delivered two hits and finished with two RBIs for the Ponies, who trailed 5-0 before putting up two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“I thought our two teams going in the finals was the right match-up to determine the best team in our section,” Parker said. “They’re just a better team during that two-week stretch. They went out and beat us. They just beat us that game. They out-pitched us and out-hit us.”
E. Ridge 1 0 0 0 1 3 2 — 7 9 0
Still 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 2 4 3
WP: Will Preimesberger 7-ip, 4-h, 2-r, 2-er, 3-bb, 5-so
LP: Karson Foster 6 1/3-ip, 8-h, 7-r, 3-er, 3-bb, 5-so
Leading hitters: ER, Luke Skinner 2x3 (2B), Joe Blink 1x4 (RBI), Alex Mezzetti 1x4, Will Preimesberger 1x3, Luke Ryerse 1x2 (RBI), Bennett Skinner 1x3 (2B, 3 RBI), Ben Rudser 1x4 (RBI) and Luke Goldsworthy 1x3; St, AJ Levy 1x4, Luke Adams 1x3 and Blake Vanek 2x3 (2 RBI).
Most Popular
Comments / 0