The Red Lake County Rebels‘ Ben Gullingsrud and Boe Nelson combined to pitch 12 three-hit innings behind stellar defense and the offense wasn’t too shabby with 19 hits and 19 runs on their way to an 8-0 victory in game one and an 11-1 five-inning victory in game two to win the Section 8A Championship over the Win-E-Mac Patriots at Bemidji State University. It is the first Section Championship for the Rebels since 2015 and the eighth overall (7 as Red Lake County – 1994, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2025. Red Lake Falls won a title in 1982). The 11-1 five inning victory duplicated the Red Lake Falls 1982 team’s 11-1 five-inning victory over Lake of the Woods in the Section Championship!
FIRST INNING-
Red Lake County’s Will Gieseke walked to lead off the game before he was caught stealing. Gunnar Halverson walked and was caught stealing. The next batter struck out.
Win-E-Mac was retried in 1-2-3 fashion with two ground outs and a fly out.
SECOND INNING-
Red Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a ground out, line out, and a strikeout.
Win-E-Mac was retired in order with a ground out and two strikeouts.
THIRD INNING –
Brock Knott led off the inning with an infield single. The next batter grounded out and the Rebel baserunner fell down rounding second base and was thrown out for the second out of the inning. Dawson Erickson was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a balk. The next batter grounded out.
Win-E-Mac was retired in 1-2-3 fashion again with a strikeout, groundout, and a fly out and the game was scoreless after three innings.
FOURTH INNING-
Red Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a strikeout, line out, and a ground out.
Win-E-Mac’s Nick Schow walked to lead off the inning before he was out on a fielder’s choice at second base. The next batter flew out to center field before a ground out retired the Patriots.
FIFTH INNING-
Red Lake County had a huge fifth inning and it all started with a beautifully placed bunt from Seeger for a single and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Owen Chervestad had an excellent sacrifice bunt to move the runner over to third base. Brock Knott singled to score the first run of the game. Collin Taggart singled before the next batter grounded out for the second out of the inning. The Rebels’ Gieseke singled to score two runs, Halvorson singled to score a run for a 4-0 lead. Gullingsrud walked and Kegan Schmitz singled to score two runs for a 6-0 lead and chasing the Patriots pitcher out of the game. The next batter singled, but a Rebel was thrown out trying to score for the third out of the inning.
Red Lake County’s Gullingsrud finally gave up the first hit of the game when Win-E-Mac’s Kolten Schow singled up the middle. Gullingsrud bounced back by striking out the next two batters.
SIXTH INNING-
Red Lake County’s first two batters were retired before Colin Taggart tripled. Dawson Erickson singled to score a run for a 7-0 lead.
Red Lake County brought in Boe Nelson to pitch the final two innings and he retired the first two batters. After the tthird batter reached on an error, he retired the next batter to get out of the inning.
SEVENTH INNING-
Red Lake County added another run in the seventh inning as Seeger doubled with one out and moved to third base on a wild pitch and scored on an error for an 8-0 lead.
Win-E-Mac was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a ground out, flyout, and a strikeout and Red Lake County won 8-0 to force a true Championship game.
Red Lake County improves to 22-5 on the year. Win-E-Mac drops to 17-5 on the year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Red Lake County | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| Win-E-Mac | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
OFFENSIVE LEADERS –
Red Lake County-
Brock Seeger – 3 for 4, 2 runs, double
Colin Taggart – 2 for 3, 2 runs
Brock Knott – 2 for 4, rbi, run
Win-E-Mac –
Kolten Schow – 1 for 3
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | K |
| Ben Gullingsrud-RLC | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Boe Nelson-RLC | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Braylon Hamre-WEM | 4.2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Hayden Johnson-WEM | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Kale Smeby-WEM | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Game 2 – Championship
FIRST INNING–
Win-E-Mac was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a groundout, lineout, and a strikeout.
Red Lake County’s Will Gieseke and Gunnar Halverson walked to start the bottom of the inning. Ben Gullingsrud grounded out to first, but it allowed the runners to move to second and third. Kegan Schmitz hit the ball deep the centerfield and was out, but it was deep enough to allow a run to score for a 1-0 Rebel lead.
SECOND INNING-
Win-E-Mac was retired in 1-2-3 fashion on three strikeouts.
Red Lake County’s Owen CHervestad started the bottom of the inning with a single, stolen base, and scored on a Colin Taggart single. The next batter struck out before Gieseke reached on an error on the centerfielder, Halvorson singled to score a run. Gullingsrud tripled on a line drive over the centerfielder’s head to score two more runs. Kegan Schmitz doubled to score a run and Brock Seeger singled to score a run for a 7-0 Red Lake County Lead after two innings.
THIRD INNING-
Win-E-Mac’s Clay Below led off the third inning with a walk to become the first Patriot baserunner. The next batter struck out before Jayden Haugen singled for the first hit of the game. The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice and Haugen was out at second base. The next batter grounded out and the half-inning was over.
Red Lake County’s Knott led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, Taggart singled and after an out, Gieseke walked to load the bases. Halvorson doubled to score two runs. Gullingsrud knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly and Schmitz singled to score another run for an 11-0 lead.
FOURTH INNING-
Win-E-Mac’s Braylen Hamre walked and advanced to second on an error. He moved to third base on a fielder’s choice and scored on a Kolten Schow single to get within an 11-1 deficit.
Red Lake County was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a lineout, groundout, and a strikeout.
FIFTH INNING
Red Lake County brought Gullingsrud to pitch the fifth inning and he retired the Patriots in 1-2-3 fashion with two groundouts and a strikeout and Red Lake County won the game 11-1 in five innings.
Red Lake County improves to 23-5 on the year and will advance to the Minnesota State Class A State Baseball Tournament in St. Cloud on Wednesday, June 11. Win-E-Mac’s season ends with a 17-6 record.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E | |
| Win-E-Mac | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Red Lake County | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | – | 11 | 9 | 1 |
For Red Lake County-
Gunnar Halvorson – 2 for 2, 3 rbi, 2 runs, double
Kegan Schmitz – 2 for 3, 3 rbi, run
Colin Taggart – 2 for 3, 2 runs, rbi
For Win-E-Mac
Kolten Schow – 1 for 2, rbi
Jayden Haugen – 1 for 2
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | K |
| Boe Nelson-RLC | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Ben Gullingsrud-RLC | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bergan Howard-WEM | 2.0 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Owen Strom-WEM | 2.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
