The Sacred Heart Eagle Baseball team lost to New York Mills 5-1, but bounced back to beat Kirkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg 13-3 in the Minnesota State High School League third-place game at the Mini-Met stadium in Jordan.
Sacred Heart vs New York Mills
Sacred Heart won the coin toss and elected to be the home team. New York Mills took advantage of getting the first at-bat when Caden Roberts led the game off with a single, stole second base, stole third base and came into score on a throwing error for a quick 1-0 lead.
Sacred Heart didn’t have a hit in the first four innings and were retired in 1-2-3 fashion in three of the four innings. Sacred Heart finally recorded their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Ian Evavold singled. The next batter, Sam Modeen hit a ground ball back to the pitcher who elected to get the out at second base and Modeen was at first base with two outs. Sam Gapp was hit by a pitch and Evan Sczepanski singled to score Modeen and the game was tied at 1-1.
New York Mills’ offense exploded in the top of the sixth inning as they started the inning with back-to-back singles and a hit batter to load the bases. New York Mills’ pitcher, Derin Gaudette, hit a bases-clearing double for a 4-1 lead. Gaudette later scored on an error and New York Mills led 5-1.
Sacred Heart was retired in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Oscar Ortiz led off the inning with a single, but the next three batters were retired and New York Mills won the game 5-1.
Sacred Heart only had three hits in the game. “We never got our bats going,” said Coach Paul Bethke. “It was disappointing, but give credit to their pitcher because he threw a great game.”
| Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| New York Mills | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Sacred Heart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Evan Sczepanski – SH | 7.0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Derin Gaudette – NYM | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
For Sacred Heart
Oscar Ortiz – 1-2, walk
Ian Evavold – 1-2, walk
For New York Mills
Caden Roberts – 2-4, 2 runs
Sacred Heart vs Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (Third place game)
In the third-place game, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (KMS) struck first with a run in the bottom of the second inning after a walk, hit and an error for a 1-0 lead.
Sacred Heart responded two runs in the top of the third inning. Evan Sczepanski walked and Brenden Bethke singled before the next two batters struck out. With two outs, Gage Wavra tripled to score two runs and the Eagles led 2-1.
Sacred Heart added two more runs in the fourth inning. Brady Klein, a senior, got a rare start and took advantage of the opportunity with a one-out single. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead. Sam Gapp singled and later scored on a Brenden Bethke hit and the Eagles led 4-1.
KMS added a run in the bottom of the fourth after a double and single and Sacred Heart led 4-2 through four innings.
KMS added another run in the fifth inning after two errors and a wild pitch to cut the Sacred Heart lead to 4-3.
Sacred Heart answered in a big way with a seven-run sixth inning. The inning started with Brady Klein walking, Sam Gapp doubled and Evan Sczepanski hit a sacrifice fly to score a run. Brenden Bethke singled to score another run, Will Rohrich followed with a two-run home run, Cullen Rohrich singled, Gage Wavra walked, Oscar Ortiz was hit by a pitch and Ian Evavold singled in a run for a 9-3 lead. Brady Klein singled to score two more runs (his second and third rbi of the season and second hit of the season!) and the Eagles led 11-3.
Sacred Heart added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning when Evan Sczepanski singled, and with two outs, Cullen Rohrich singled and Gage Wavra blasted a line drive to the gap for a double, scoring two more runs for a 13-3 lead. Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning when KMS loaded the bases with nobody out, but Sam Gapp retired the next three batters and Sacred Heart won the game 13-3 to finish third place. The finish was the highest finish at the state baseball tournament and it also ties the best finish for a Sacred Heart team at a state tournament.
Sacred Heart wraps up the season with a 15-9 record and they say goodbye to six seniors – Evan Sczepanski, Brenden Bethke, Ian Evavold, Will Rohrich, Brady Klein, and Oscar Ortiz. “We lose some great players and some great guys,” said an emotional Coach Paul Bethke after the game. “It will be hard to replace them, but we have a good group of younger guys and hopefully we will get back here again soon.” KMS ends the season with a 21-4 record.
| Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Sacred Heart | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 16 | 3 |
| KMS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Oscar Ortiz – SH | 5.1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Sam Gapp – SH | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Dylan Rudningen – KMS | 3.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Levi Sweere – KMS | 1.2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Weston Gjerde – KMS | 1.2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
For Sacred Heart
Brenden Bethke – 3-5, 2 runs, 2 rbi’s
Brady Klein – 2-3, 2 runs, 2 rbi’s
Gage Wavra – 2-3, 4 rbi’s
Sam Gapp – 2-4, 2 runs
Ian Evavold – 2-4, run, rbi
For Hayfield
Weston Gjerde – 2-4, rbi
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