It took nine innings and a game played in two different cities, but the Red Lake County Rebel Baseball team beat #1 seed Parkers Prairie 4-3 in nine innings in a game that was played in St. Cloud for the first eight innings, then moved to Alexandria for the ninth inning in the Minnesota State Class A Baseball semi-finals. It will be the first time in program history that the Rebels are playing in the State Baseball Championship game.
FIRST INNING-
Red Lake County’s first two batters were retired, although leadoff batter Will Gieseke hit the ball well on a line drive to left field, but it was caught with a running catch. With two outs, Ben Gullingsrud singled to left field and stole second base. Kegan Schmitz ripped a pitch to left-center field for a double to score. run for a 1-0 lead.
Parkers Prairie’s Nolan Steidl singled to left field before the next two batters were retired on a line out and a ground out and the Rebels took a 1-0 lead into the second inning.
SECOND INNING-
Red Lake County’s first two batters were retired before Colin Taggart singled up the middle for his fifth hit of the state tournament. Taggart’s courtesy runner, Riley Broden, stole second before the next batter struck out.
Parkers Prairie’s Shane Hanson started the bottom of the inning with a single and stole second base. The next batter flew out to left field. After a couple of pitches, the Rebel pitcher Ben Gullingsrud spun around off the rubber and the shortstop Will Gieseke snuck behind the runner at second and they picked off the Panther for the second out of the game. The next batter struck out and the inning was over.
THIRD INNING –
Red Lake County’s first batter was retired on a fly out to centerfield. Gunnar Halverson struck out but reached on a wild pitch that went to the backstop. He was caught stealing before the next batter was retired.
Parkers Prairie was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a flyout and two ground outs.
FOURTH INNING-
Red Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two ground outs and a strikeout.
Parkers Prairie’s Steidl led off the bottom of the inning with a double to left-center field and scored on a Joe Johnson single to tie the game at 1-1. Trevor Rounds reached on an error and runners were at first and second base with nobody out. Shane Hanson reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed a run to score for a 2-1 Parkers Prairie lead. The next batter hit into a double play and the inning was over.
FIFTH INNING-
Red Lake County’s Taggart singled with one out and Dawson Erickson was hit by a pitch. Will Gieseke singled to score Taggart’s courtesy runner, Riley Broden, to tie the game at 2-2. On the play, a Rebel baserunner was out at second. Halvorson singled before the next batter was retired and the game was tied at 2-2.
Parkers Prairie’s Ben Wagner reached on a walk and after a sacrifice bunt he moved to second base with one out. Gavin Baesl walked and the next batter hit into a fielder’s choice where Red Lake County got the out at third base. The next batter popped out to first base and the Panthers were retired.
SIXTH INNING-
Red Lake County’s Schmitz led off the inning as he crushed a line drive to the right-center field gap for a triple. Brock Seeger followed with a single up the middle to score a run and the Rebels led 3-2. After two strikeouts, Taggart was hit by a pitch and his courtesy runner Broden stole second base as he tried to get in a rundown to allow Seeger to score, but Parkers Prairie threw the ball home and Seeger had to go back to third base, and slid under the tag and everybody was safe with Broden moving to second base. The next batter grounded out.
Parkers Prairie’s Trevor Rounds walked with one out, but the next two batters flew out and Red Lake County took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning.
SEVENTH INNING-
Red Lake County’s Gieseke led off the inning with a walk and Halvorsen singled. Gullingsrud laid down a bunt and the Panther pitcher threw to third base and even though it looked like Gieseke beat the throw to third, he was called out. The next two batters were retired and the Rebel threat was over.
Parkers Prairie’s Chaveous Wendt singled with one out and the next batter was retired for the second out of the inning. Mason Boesl singled and runners were at the corners before Steidl singled to left field to score a run to tie the game at 3-3. The next batter popped out to the pitcher and the game was tied 3-3 and the game was going to be decided in extra innings.
EIGHTH INNING –
The first two Red Lake County batters were retired before Taggart singled to right field. Erickson was hit by a pitch before the next batter struck out.
Parkers Prairie’s Hanson singled with one out, before the next two batters were retired and the game was tied at 3-3 going into the ninth inning.
After the completion of the eighth inning the rain was too much and they put the tarps on the mound and home plate. After a while, it was decided to move the game to Alexandria. The teams loaded the busses and made the trip to Alexandria at a field that had a turf infield.
NINTH INNING –
The first two Red Lake County batters were retired, but that hasn’t stopped the Rebels from scoring. Kegan Schmitz, who had a double and a triple earlier in the game blasted a line drive over the left fielder’s head for a stand up double. Brock Seeger, one of the three seniors on the squad, hit a ground ball to the shortstop and the throw to first was low and Seeger was safe on the throwing error. Schmitz, Red Lake County’s hype man, never quit running and came into score to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead. Seeger was caught stealing at second to end the half-inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Parkers Prairie’s Wendt led off with a walk before Gavin Boesl was out on a sacrifice bunt that moved the runner to second base. A pitch hit Mason Boesl, and the Panthers had runners at first and second base with one out. The next batter hit a ground ball to the Rebel third baseman, Chervestad, who scooped up the ball, stepped on third base, and threw a bullet to first base to turn a double play for the third out of the inning, and the Rebels won the game 4-3.
Red Lake County improves to 24-5 on the year and will play New Ulm Cathedral in the State Class A Championship game on Saturday, June 14 at Target Field (Home of the Minnesota Twins) at 10:00 a.m. KROX will have the game on the radio and will have the RiverView Health pre-game show starting at 9:30. Parkers Prairie ends their season with a 23-4 record.
Full game audio recording is below
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Red Lake County | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
| Parkers Prairie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
OFFENSIVE LEADERS –
Red Lake County-
Colin Taggart – 3 for 3, hbp (7 for 7 at state)
Kegan Schmitz – 3 for 5, 2 runs, rbi
Gunnar Halvorson – 2 for 5
Gieseke, Gullingsrud, and Seeger had one hit each
Parkers Prairie –
Nolan Steidl – 3 for 5, rbi, run
Shane Hanson – 2 for 4, rbi
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | K |
| Ben Gullingsrud-RLC | 8.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Boe Nelson-RLC | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| AJ Woodworth-PP | 6.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Trevor Rounds-PP | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
