Red Wing, Lakeville North Rally From Behind for Section Baseball Titles

The Wingers and Panthers each fell behind early, but rallied for title-clinching victories in Section 1AAA and Section 1AAAA Tuesday to advance to the state tournament.

Red Wing fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first against Northfield due to several errors, according to the Red Wing Republican Eagle. The Wingers scored three runs each in the fourth and sixth innings for the 6-4 win at the Athletic Field in Red Wing for the 1AAA title. It was the third win over the defending section champion Raiders for Red Wing this season, including the winner's bracket final on Saturday.

Lakeville North also had a tough start to their game in Dundas against upset-minded New Prague, who was the seventh seed in the 1AAAA tournament. The game was tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the second when North loaded the bases, but hit into a 6-4-3-2 triple play, as reported by the New Prague Times. The Trojans then went ahead on a Lakeville fielding error and built a 4-1 advantage. The Panthers tied the game in the fifth and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded, a sacrifice pop foul out gave North the walk-off victory and their fifth straight section title.

In Section 2AAA top-seed Mankato West won the loser's bracket final 9-4 over New Ulm and plays No. 2 seed Marshall on Wednesday at Johnson Park in New Ulm. The Scarlets need to win twice to reach the state tournament.

Kenyon-Wanamingo built a 10-0 lead over Le Sueur-Henderson in the Section 2AA elimination round, but the Giants stormed back for a 12-11 win. St. Peter blanked LH 10-0 in the next game and will face Belle Plaine in the championship game Thursday in St. Peter.

The Section 1AA title went to Rochester Lourdes who beat LaCrescent twice Tuesday, 14-1 in five innings and 5-4 in eight innings. Wabasha-Kellog captured the Section 1A crown 3-2 over Hayfield. The state tournament is June 15-19 with the title games at Target Field.

Owatonna baseball announced their captains for 2018 via Twitter on Tuesday. Nolan Malo, Noah Budach, Abe Havelka and Zach Mensink will lead the team. "Four guys that love the game and their teammates," stated @OTownBaseball.