The defending state champion Red Lake County Rebel Baseball team held off the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs for a 4-3 victory in the first round of the State Class A Baseball tournament at Faber Field in St. Cloud.
FIRST INNING-
Red Lake County’s Will Gieseke, who had two wins in last year’s state tournament, got the start on the mound and the senior retired the first three batters he faced with two flyouts and a strikeout.
The Rebels’ Ben Gullingsrud reached on an error with one out before the next two batters flew out.
SECOND INNING-
The first two JWP batters were retired. The next batter hit a ground ball deep into the hole at shortstop. Kegan Schmitz stopped the ball, but as he planted his right foot, he rolled his ankle and had to come out of the game, and JWP had the first hit of the game. The next batter was retired.
The first Rebel batters struck out before Denny Lanctot, Riley Broden, and Cain Cardinal all walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Will Gieseke hit a line drive to centerfield to score two runs. The centerfielder overran the ball, and another run scored on the error for a 3-0 Red Lake County lead.
THIRD INNING –
JWP was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two strikeouts and a groundout.
Red Lake County’s Colin Taggart led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and a stolen base. Taggart also stole third base and came in to score on a Gunner Broden single for a 4-0 lead. Gunner came in for the injured Schmitz and only had two at-bats during the regular season, and the hit was the first of the year.
FOURTH INNING-
The first two JWP batters struck out looking before Seth Dahlberg doubled. A wild pitch allowed the runner to advance to third base, but the next batter struck out.
Red Lake County’s first two batters were retired before Gieseke singled. The next batter flew out and the inning was over.
FIFTH INNING-
JWP was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two groundouts to the pitcher and a popout to third base.
Red Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with three flyouts.
SIXTH INNING-
JWP’s Caleb Quast singled with one out to get things going for the Bulldogs. Ayden Peterson and Chase Gerdts walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Gavin Bauer singled to left field to score two runs. The Rebel fielder overran the ball, and a third run scored on the error to bring the Bulldogs within a 4-3 deficit, and the tying run was on third base. The Rebels made a pitching change and brought in Riley Broden, who retired the batter on one pitch to get out of the inning.
a atRed Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom of the inning with a strikeout, groundout, and flyout and took a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning.
SEVENTH INNING
JWP’s leadoff batter was hit by a pitch. The Rebels made a pitching change, bringing in Ben Gullingsrud. The first batter was out on a sacrifice bunt for the first out. The next batter was hit by a pitch. After a sacrifice fly the runners were at first and third with two outs. The next batter grounded out to third base and the Rebels held on for a 4-3 victory.
Red Lake County improves to 26-2 on the year and will take on the winner of South Ridge and Brandon-Evansville at 11:00 AM on Friday. KROX will have the game with the RiverView Health pre-game show at 10:30 AM.
Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton drops to 17-7 on the year and will take on the loser of South Ridge and Brandon-Evansville in the consolation semifinals on Friday morning.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| JWP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Red Lake County | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 3 | 1 |
OFFENSIVE LEADERS –
Red Lake County-
Will Gieseke – 2 for 3, 2 rbi
Gunnar Broden – 1 for 3, rbi
Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton
Gavin Bauer – 1 for 3, 2 rbi
Seth Dahlberg – 1 for 3, double
Blayne Wandrie – 1 for 3
Caleb Quast – 1 for 4, run
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | K |
| Will Gieseke-RLC | 5.2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Colin Taggart-RLC | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ben Gullingsrud-RLC | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Chase Gerdts-JWP | 6.0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
