The Red Lake County Rebel Baseball team came up short in an 11-1 loss in six innings to the Madelia Blackhawks in the Minnesota State Class A State Baseball Championship game at Target Field in Minneapolis on Monday morning.
FIRST INNING-
Red Lake County started the game with a pair of walks as Will Gieseke and Ben Gullingsrud walked. Madelia pitcher Tate Becker settled down and retired the next three batters with a popout on a bunt attempt, a strikeout, and a groundout.
Madelia’s leadoff batter, Tony Zaleski, was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second base with one out. The next batter reached on an error and a run scored on a sacrifice bunt for a 1-0 lead.
SECOND INNING-
Red Lake County’s Riley Broden reached on an error, and Denny Lanctot walked. The next two batters struck out before Gieseke singled to right field to score Broden, and the Rebels tied the game at 1-1.
Madelia struck back in the bottom of the inning with a Brayden Grev walk. Dalton Tatro reached on an error. A run scored on a wild pitch, and Zach Jacobs singled. A run scored on a balk, and another run scored on a Noel Davila single for a 4-1 lead.
THIRD INNING –
The first two Rebel batters struck out before Gunnar Halverson singled. The next batter popped out.
Madelia’s Bryce Borkenhagen led off with a single. After a sacrifice fly, Miah Garza walked, but the next two batters were retired.
FOURTH INNING-
Red Lake County’s Lanctot led off with a walk, and Cain Cardinal singled. After an out, Gieseke reached on a single to right field to load the bases. The next two Rebel batters struck out, and Madelia got out of another jam.
Madelia’s Zach Jacobs was hit by a pitch and stole second base before Tony Zaleski singled to score a run. Another run scored on a sacrifice fly for a 6-1 lead through four innings.
FIFTH INNING-
Red Lake County had another threat in the fifth inning as Kegan Schmitz was hit by a pitch and Gunnar Halvorson walked. After an out, Lanctot walked for the third time, but the next batter hit into a double play.
Madelia’s Garza led off with a single before the next two batters were retired on. a flyout and a groundout. Zach Jacobs singled to score a run for a 7-1 lead through five innings.
SIXTH INNING-
Red Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion in the top of the sixth inning.
Madelia started the bottom of the inning with Noel Davila reaching on an error, Evan Coil walking, and a Borkenhagen double scoring two runs for a 9-1 lead. Tate Becker and Garza singled to score a run for a 10-1 lead and the winning run on third base with nobody out. Braydon Grev was hit by a pitch before Dalton Tatro flew out, and the winning run scored to give Madelia an 11-1 victory in six innings.
Red Lake County ends another amazing season with a record of 27-3 and a state runner-up finish. They say goodbye to the following seniors – Denny Lanctot, Gunnar Halverson, Cain Cardinal, Will Gieseke, Colin Taggart, Riley Broden, and Kegan Schmitz.
Madelia wins its first state baseball championship with a record of 29-3.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E | |
| Red Lake County | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Madelia | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 1 |
OFFENSIVE LEADERS –
Red Lake County-
Will Gieseke – 2 for 3, rbi, walk
Gunnar Halverson – 1 for 2, walk, hit by pitch
Cain Cardinal – 1 for 3
Madelia –
Bryce Borkenhagen – 3 for 4, 3 rbi, run
Zachary Jacobs – 2 for 2, 2 runs, rbi
Jeremiah Garza – 2 for 3, rbi
Tony Zaleski, Noel Davila, Tate Becker with one hit apiece
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | K |
| Will Giesek-RLC | 3.0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Boe Nelson-RLC | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Gunnar Halvorson-RLC | 1.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Colin Taggart-RLC | 0.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tate Becker-Mad | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| Zach Jacobs-Mad | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
