Varsity Game Recaps – 2014
Tuesday, June 17 vs. Eden Prairie
MSHSL State Tournament Summary
ByHoward Voigt
The Mounds View Mustangs exploded for 8 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to ice their second consecutive state title in a 9-0 win over Eden Prairie. The scoring began on a bases-loaded walk with no outs, continued on an errant throw to home by the Eagles’ third baseman, and went on and on through three pitchers. The Mustangs sent 12 players to the plate before they were retired. Mounds View, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, scored once in the bottom of the first and that’s how it lasted until the sixth. After Mustangs senior pitcher Sam Hentges doubled, junior first baseman Charlie Callahan drove him in with a triple to left field. Callahan finished with 2 RBI on 2-for-4 hitting. In the sixth, the Mustangs scored their 8 runs on 6 hits and 2 errors. Hentges pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just 5 hits, walking three and striking out eight. Mounds View junior shortstop Joe Fredrickson went 3-for-4, Hentges went 3-for-3, and junior catcher Wyatt Meyer was 2-for-3 to lead the Mustangs. Senior shortstop Ryan Zimmerman was the only Eden Prairie player to collect more than one hit. He went 2-for-4 at the plate and was also the last pitcher to leave the mound for the Eagles, striking out the only batter he faced. Senior Corey Binger took the loss, went 5-and-one-third innings and was charged with 6 earned runs.
Friday, June 13 vs. Lakeville North
The #4 seeded Mustangs and the #1 seeded Panthers played an outstanding high school baseball game on a beautiful day at Midway Stadium. Both teams played a very competitive game in which the Mustangs made one more play than Lakeville North.
The Mustangs won 2-1 with a bottom of the 7th walk-off single to RF by Ryan Plasencia that scored Joe Janey from 2B with the winning run. Janey was running for Wyatt Meyer who led off the inning with a base hit to LF. Chance Carnahan executed a sacrifice bunt to advance Janey to 2B to set-up the game winner.
Kellen Rholl followed up his Section Championship shutout with another great performance today. He scattered 3 hits and one walk with 0 K’s. Nick Dorfman also pitched very well for Lakeville North; he scattered 4 hits and 3 walks with 2 K’s..
The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead when Ethan Madsen walked and was sacrifice bunted to 2B by Plasencia. Tucker Gran chopped an IF hit that also produced an overthrow at 1B which scored Madsen.
Lakeville North tied the game in the top of the 6th with a leadoff double by Kyle Sticha, a sacrifice bunt to advance Sticha to 3B, and a sacrifice fly.
Offensively, Gran had another multi-hit day; accounting for 2 of the 4 Mustangs hits.
There were some excellent defensive plays in the game. Ryan Plasencia saved a run with a diving catch of a shallow fly ball to RF. The Mustangs turned 2 double plays; one a Sam Hentges to Joe Fredrickson and back to Hentges, and the other a Fredrickson to Plasencia to Hentges. Kellen Rholl made two fine plays on sacrifice bunts to get the out at 1B. Lakeville North’s SS Angelo Altavilla also made a diving stab of a ground ball in the hole to save a run for Lakeville North.
The victory sends the Mustangs to the State Championship game against Eden Prairie which will be Monday at 6:00PM at Target Field.
Thursday, June 12 vs. Elk River
The #4 seeded Mustangs and the #5 seeded Elks played in the first round of the State Tournament at Midway Stadium. The Mustangs prevailed 4-0.
Mustangs Senior pitcher Sam Hentges threw his best game of the season to earn a complete game shutout victory. Hentges struck out 11, walked 2 and gave up 2 hits.
The Mustangs opened the scoring in bottom of the 2nd when Alec Abercrombie and Wyatt Meyer had back to back hits. Abercrombie scored on a Sac Fly by Chance Carnahan, and Joe Janey (running for Meyer) scored on a base hit by Ethan Madsen.
The Mustangs completed the scoring with 2 more in the 3rd. Leadoff hitter Tucker Gran singled and scored when Sam Hentges tripled off the wall to right-center field. Jeff LeMay ran for Hentges and scored on a Sac Fly by Charlie Callahan.
Offensively, multi-hit games were turned in by Tucker Gran and Alec Abercrombie, both 2 for 3 with a run scored.
The Mustangs continued to play solid defense, led this day by Chance Carnahan who had 4 assists including starting a nice double play to Plasencia and on to Callahan to end an inning. Callahan ended the game by spearing a high line drive that was headed into right field with a runner on 2B.
The Mustangs take on #1 seed Lakeville North in the first semi-final game of the day on Friday at 12:00 at Midway Stadium.
Wednesday, June 4 vs. Champlin Park
The Mustangs and the Rebels played at Midway Stadium for the Section 5AAA Championship.
It was a repeat of the pitching matchups when the 2 teams faced each other earlier in the Section Tournament: Kellen Rholl for the Mustangs and Trevor Kiminski for the Rebels. As in the earlier game, both pitchers performed well. Rholl and the Mustangs won 3-0, sending the Mustangs to the State Tournament for the 2nd year in a row. Pitching and defense were the main story; throw in a couple of really timely hits, and that provided the margin of victory for the Mustangs.
Rholl went all 7 for the shutout victory, scattering 7 hits, striking out 2 and walking 1. Rholl was very efficient; throwing 83 pitches.
The Mustangs made some excellent plays in the field that included a diving catch in RF by Tucker Gran, a relay from Alec Abercrombie to Ryan Plasencia to Chance Canahan to throw out a runner trying to stretch a double into a triple, a throw from Plasencia to Wyatt Meyer at the plate to throw out a runner trying to score on a ground ball up the middle, and several very nice plays by SS Joe Fredrickson on ground balls to record outs at 1B (one of them a nice scoop at 1B by Sam Hentges).
The Mustangs got on the board in the 3rd when Fredrickson doubled with 2 outs, and Hentges singled him home. Hentges advanced to 3B on a ground ball error off the bat of Charlie Callahan. Hentges then scored on a wild pitch. The 2-0 score held up until the bottom of the 6th when the Mustangs added an insurance run – Alec Abercrombie singled and scored on a double by Wyatt Meyer.
It has been a total team effort for the Mustangs to earn a berth in the State Tournament, and this game was no different as many players contributed significantly. Congratulations to the players!
The State Tournament will be played Thursday, June 12 – Saturday, June 14.
The Class AAA State Tournament Teams:
· Section 1: Lakeville South (#12 Seed)
· Section 2: Eden Prairie (#3 Seed)
· Section 3: Lakeville North (#1 Seed)
· Section 4: Mahtomedi (#1 Seed)
· Section 5: Mounds View (#2 Seed)
· Section 6: Robbinsdale Armstrong (#3 Seed)
· Section 7: Elk River (#3 Seed) vs. Duluth East (#4) play on June 5
· Section 8: Brainerd (#1 Seed)
Seeding for the state tournament will take place on Saturday morning. Teams 1 through 5 are seeded. Seed 4 will play Seed 5. The 3 teams not seeded will be drawn out of a hat to determine who plays the teams seeded 1, 2, and 3.
A link to the State Tournament brackets: http://mshsl.org/mshsl/showXMLbrackets.asp?tournid=2752&bracket=6585
Friday, May 30 vs. Maple Grove
In a game where there were no earned runs and no RBI’s recorded, the Mustangs prevailed 4-2. It was a beautiful night under the lights at Midway Stadium.
The Crimson threatened in the top of the 1st, but the Mustangs executed against the aggressive baserunning of the Crimson to get out of the inning with no runs - Catcher Wyatt Meyer threw out a baserunner at 3B with Chance Carnahan applying the tag.
In the 2nd inning, the Crimson got on the board to take a 1-0 lead. The Mustangs answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st, Charlie Callahan and Alec Abercrombie opening the inning with a walk and a single. After the baserunners advanced on a wild pitch, Ethan Madsen then put the ball in play that the Crimson mis-played allowing the 2 runs to score.
After taking the 2-1 lead in the 2nd, starting pitcher Sam Hentges did his job in putting down the Crimson 1-2-3 in the top of the 3rd. The Mustangs threatened in the bottom of the 3rd, bringing 5 to the plate, but were unable to score.
Some solid defense in the top of the 4th was turned in by the Mustangs. The Crimson lead-off hitter grounded hard towards the line at 1B; 1st baseman Charlie Callahan dove to knock the ball down and hold it to a single instead of a double. Thus, creating a sacrifice bunt situation with the next batter that Sam Hentges made a nice play on to throw out the lead runner at 2B. Building on that momentum, Hentges struck out the final two batters in the inning. The Crimson put down the Mustangs 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 4th.
The 5th inning provided the final scoring on the night. The Crimson again put some baserunning pressure on the Mustangs defense and this time they were able to score the tying run. As in the 2nd inning, the Mustangs doubled up the Crimson’s run total scoring 2 runs, all starting with 2 out and no one on – Callahan and Abercrombie again getting things going, this time with a base hit and a walk. Some defensive miscues by the Crimson allowed both runners to ultimately score. The inning ended with pitcher Henry DeCaster lining out to right field in his first at-bat of the season.
The 4-2 score held up through the 6th and 7th innings.
Sam Hentges started and went 4 and 2/3 for the Mustangs. Henry DeCaster came in the game in the top of the 5th with 2 outs and runners on base. DeCaster retired the batter to keep the game at 2-2 at the time. DeCaster, who was closing out the 3rd straight Section playoff victory for the Mustangs, retired all 7 batters he faced in the game and earned the victory.
Offensively, 3 players recorded 2 hits apiece to account for the 6 hits for the Mustangs – Abercrombie, Callahan and Ryan Plasencia. Abercrombie and Callahan also each had a walk to be perfect at the plate on the day.
The Mustangs advance to the Section Championship on Wednesday, June 4 at Midway Stadium at 6:00PM. Champlin Park has come through the losers bracket after the Mustangs defeated them earlier this week, and they play Maple Grove on Monday, June 2 for the opportunity to play in the section championship against the Mustangs.
Monday, May 26 vs. Champlin Park @ Wintercrest Park
The Mound View Mustangs (2nd Seed) and the Champlin Park Rebels (3rd Seed) are two good baseball teams that squared off today in the 2nd round of the winners bracket of the Section 5AAA Playoffs. The Mustangs executed better on this day, and prevailed 6-2.
The Mustangs got on the board in the 1st inning with a pair of runs when Joe Fredrickson singled and Sam Hentges reached on an error to start things. A wild pitch, an error, and a ground ball, and the Mustangs took a 2-0 lead. The Mustangs added 2 more in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Ethan Madsen and Tucker Gran each walked and stole a base, and Joe Fredrickson’s clutch 2-out single scored them to give the Mustangs an early 4-0 advantage. The Mustangs scored for the 3rd inning in a row in the bottom of the 3rd when Charlie Callahan led off with a walk, advanced to 2B on a wild pitch, and eventually scored on an error – giving the Mustangs a 5-0 lead. The Rebels scored a run in both the 4th and 5th innings to climb back into the game; making it 5-2. The Mustangs responded in the bottom of the 5th to add an insurance run when Alec Abercrombie singled, stole 2B, and eventually scored on another 2-out RBI single, this time by Wyatt Meyer.
Kellen Rholl started and earned the victory with 6 hard fought innings; allowing the 2 earned runs, scattering 6 hits and 3 walks, and striking out 5. His counterpart for the Rebels, Trevor Kiminski, also pitched well, allowing only 4 hits and walking 3. The Rebels loaded the bases in the top of the 6th on a double and 2 hit-by-pitches with 2 outs. Rholl and Rebel lead-off hitter Tom Munn then had a long battle with a 3-2 count that eventually was won by Rholl; inducing a ground ball to 2B. Henry DeCaster came in to close things out for the second game in a row; working the 7th, facing the minimum, and striking out 2.
Offensively, the Mustangs were led by Joe Fredrickson who was 2 for 3, with a run and the 2 RBI’s. Six different players scored for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs played solid defense, with no errors on the day; that’s 7 of the last 9 games with no errors. Tucker Gran made a diving catch of a fly ball in the top of the 2nd inning.
The Mustangs advance in the winners bracket to play Maple Grove on Friday, May 30 at 8:00PM at Midway Stadium. Maple Grove advanced by defeating Totino-Grace 4-2 earlier in the day.
Friday, May 23 vs. Rogers @ Wintercrest Park
The Mustangs opened the Section 5AAA playoffs with a 6-1 victory over Rogers at Wintercrest Park in Coon Rapids.
The Mustangs got out of a jam in the top of the 1st, and in the bottom of the 1st, the first 4 Mustangs batters (Tucker Gran, Joe Fredrickson, Sam Hentges and Charlie Callahan) reached on a base hit which eventually led to 3 runs to give the Mustangs an early 3-0 lead. The Mustangs added 2 in the 3rd when Sam Hentges led off the inning with a double to get things going. In the 6th, Alec Abercrombie led off with a bunt hit, eventually stealing 3B and scoring on a throwing error on the steal attempt. The game ended on a great diving catch of a soft liner by Joe Fredrickson with 2 men on for Rogers.
Hentges started and completed 5 innings to get his 6th win on the season: 1 run, 0 earned runs, 10 K’s, 2 BB’s, and scattering 3 hits. Henry DeCaster closed things out by pitching the final 2 innings: 0 runs, 3 K’s, 0 BB’s, 3 hits.