Montevideo’s Gannon Reidinger struck out 14 Lakers during a 3-2 win in the championship game of the Section 3AA Baseball Tournament, Thursday at Marshall.

Minnewaska Area, which lost its first section tourney game to NLS before winning four-straight elimination games, ends the season with a 20-4-1 overall record.

The Lakers just missed out on a third trip to the state tourney after Minnewaska Area had qualified in 1992 and 2000, losing twice both times.

Minnewaska Area, coached by Joe Alexander, also finished the WCC schedule with a 13-0-1 record to claim its 11th conference title.

In addition to the great success of the Lakers this spring, the team also set a number of school records including:  tied the 2015 team for the most wins in a season with 20 (2015 team went 20-4); Noah Jensen set records with his 11th career homerun (Brant Swenson had 10), eighth homerun this season (Swenson had five) and 35th RBI this year (breaking Austin Ver Steeg’s old record of 34); and Jack Majerus scored his 33rd run (breaking the old season record of 30 by Matt Hammer).

Seniors lost to graduation from this year’s team are seniors Dylan Alexander, Jack Majerus, Alex Panitzke, Nathan Dell, Austin Ballhagen, Ryland Martin, Thomas Poegel and Austin Weber.

Waska 7, Paynesville 4

The Lakers stayed alive in the Section 3AA Tourney with a 7-4 victory over Paynesville in a game played last Saturday at Regal.

Minnewaska trailed 1-0 through two innings before plating five runs in the third, keyed by Noah Jensen’s grandslam homerun.

Riley Dell also had a solo homer for the Lakers, while Jack Majerus was 2-for-4 with two runs to key a six-hit offensive attack.

Ryland Martin earned the pitching victory.  He pitched four innings, giving up five hits, four runs and four walks with one strikeout to improve to 4-0 for the season.

Nathan Dell pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the save.

Two players combined for five of Paynesville’s eight hits for the game, while another player walked all four times he batted.  The Bulldogs left seven runners on base and the Lakers left six.

Adding one hit each for the Lakers were Alex Panitzke, and Austin Weber, while Austin Ballhagen walked twice and scored two runs and Dylan Alexander walked twice, scored a run and stole a base.

Waska 5, NLS 4

The Lakers moved into the top four with a 5-4 victory over NLS last Monday night at Granite Falls.  The win not only moved Minnewaska into the next round of the Section 3AA Tourney but also avenged a pair of losses to the Wildcats this spring.

Minnewaska went up 1-0 after two innings, but NLS scored three in the fourth to claim a temporary 3-1 lead.

A three-run homerun by Noah Jensen in the fifth inning gave the Lakers the lead again, but NLS tied it up with a run in the bottom-half of the sixth.

The Lakers scored the winning run in the seventh and Nathan Dell pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the save and preserve the win for starting pitcher, Marc Gruber.

The Lakers set up the three-run fifth with one-out singles by Alex Panitzke and Dylan Alexander coming before Jensen uncorked a 2-2 pitch over the centerfield fence for a three-run blast.

In the seventh, Alexander walked to open up the inning, went to second on a groundout and came home on a single by Riley Dell.

In the bottom-half of the inning, NLS had its leadoff runner hit a double, but the Lakers got out of the jam with three-straight groundouts, one to third and two to short.

Panitzke was 2-for-4 with a run and Jensen was 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI to lead the offense, while Alexander, Riley Dell and Austin Weber also had hits.

Gruber pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the victory.  He gave up four hits, four runs (only one earned) and six walks with one strikeout.  Both teams left nine runners on base.

Waska 9, Fairmont 7

The Lakers survived another elimination game with a 9-7 victory over Fairmont in a game played last Wednesday afternoon at Marshall.

Minnewaska took an early 4-0 lead after two innings, but Fairmont tied it up with a four-run third.  The Lakers went back on top with three runs in the fourth, but Fairmont tied it up again with three runs in the top-half of the sixth.

The Lakers took the lead for good with two more runs in the sixth on a two-run homer by Noah Jensen and Nathan Dell pitched four innings of relief to earn the pitching win.

Jack Majerus went 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI, stolen base and two doubles in his first two at-bats to lead the Laker offense.

Alex Panitzke and Dylan Alexander had two hits each with Alexander also scoring twice and adding four RBI, while Noah Jensen was 1-for-2 with a run, two RBI, a walk, hit-by-pitch and two-run homer in the fourth.

Also registering a hit was Riley Dell, while Austin Ballhagen had a walk and hit-by-pitch and scored twice.  The top five Laker batters went a combined 9-for-16 with six runs, nine RBI, three doubles and a homer.  

Panitzke started on the mound, but left after three innings with the game tied at 4-4.

Waska 12, Windom 0

The Lakers reached the championship game after routing Windom in another elimination game last Wednesday night, 12-0.

Nathan Dell won his second-straight pitching victory with relief help from Alex Panitzke and Austin Ballhagen, while Noah Jensen hit a homerun for the fourth-straight game and Austin Weber, Austin Ballhagen and Marc Gruber all had two hits to lead the offense.

Minnewaska Area scored two in  the second and five in the third, including two on a two-run homer by Jensen, for an early 7-0 lead and then added a single run in the fifth and four more in the seventh for good measure.

Weber was 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and double, while Gruber was 2-for-2 with a run, two RBI and walk, and Ballhagen was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Ten different Lakers had at least one hit each, including Jack Majerus and Dylan Alexander, who both had two RBI, along with Riley Dell, Nathan Dell, Thomas Poegel and Connor Erickson.

Dell allowed just four hits and three walks over five innings with two strikeouts.  Panitzke and Ballhagen pitched in relief and preserved the shutout for Dell.

Montevideo 3, Waska 2

The Lakers’ season came to a screeching halt with a 3-2 loss to Montevideo, Thursday night at Marshall.  Minnewaska Area beat the Thunderhawks twice during the regular season, 4-0 and 4-3, although the second game took about a month to complete after being suspended earlier due to a storm.

Last year, Montevideo and Waska tied for the WCC title with 13-1 records.

Montevideo allowed just six runs over its five tournament wins, including a 1-0 win over Luverne, a 2-1 victory over Windom and the 3-2 win over Minnewaska to close out the section tourney.

Montevideo went up 1-0 after one inning, but the Lakers tied it in the third when Austin Ballhagen doubled with one out, moved to second on a single by Jack Majerus and came home on a double-steal attempt with Majerus called out at second.

Montevideo went ahead with another run in the bottom-half of the inning, but the Lakers tied it up again in the fifth when Ballhagen singled with two outs, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and came home on a double by Majerus.

Reidinger struck out 14 Lakers during the game, including eight of the final nine outs and a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

The game didn’t start out the way the Lakers had hoped as Montevideo earned a walk, single and another single in its first three batters before scoring the game’s first run on a double-play grounder.

The winning run came home in the fifth on a squeeze bunt when the leadoff hitter reached base after being hit-by-a-pitch.

Majerus went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI and Ballhagen was 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and two stolen bases to lead the Lakers, while Riley Dell also had a hit and Noah Jensen was 0-for-1 with a walk and hit-by-pitch.

Ryland Martin took the loss.  He pitched six innings, giving up six hits, two earned runs and one walk with two strikeouts.

Waska 7, Paynesville 4

Waska (17-3-1) 0 0 5 2 0 0 0 — 7 6 0

Paynesville 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 — 4 8 1

HITTING:  WASKA-Jack Majerus 2-for-4, 2 runs; Alex Panitzke 1-for-4, 2 RBI; Noah Jensen 1-for-4, run, 4 RBI, grand slam HR; Riley Dell 1-for-2, run, RBI, 2 bb, HR; Austin Weber 1-for-4; Austin Ballhagen 2 runs, 2 bb; Dylan Alexander 0-for-2, run, 2 bb, sb. . . PAY-R. Johnson 3-for-4, 2 runs, RBI; B. VanderBeek 2-for-4, 2 RBI

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Ryland Martin (W, 4-0)  4-5-4-4-4-1; Nathan Dell (Sv) 3-3-0-0-2-0 . . PAY-J. Utsch (L)  3-3-5-5-3-5; E. Nelson 4-3-2-2-3-6

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Waska 5, NLS 4

Waska (18-3-1) 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 — 5 7 3

NLS 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 — 4 5 1

HITTING:  WASKA-Alex Panitzke 2-for-4, run; Noah Jensen 2-for-4, run, 3 RBI, HR; Dylan Alexander 1-for-3, 2 runs, bb; Riley Dell 1-for-3, RBI, bb; Austin Weber 1-for-3, run, bb, double; Austin Ballhagen 0-for-1, sac, hbp  . . . NLS-G. White 2-for-2, 3 RBI, double

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Marc Gruber (W, 1-0)  5 2/3-4-4-1-6-1; Nathan Dell (Sv) 1 1/3-1-0-0-0-1 . . . NLS-C. McCain 4 1/3-6-4-4-3-4; G. Radabaugh (L)  2 2/3-1-1-1-2-1

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Waska 9, Fairmont 7

Fairmont 0 0 4 0 0 3 0 — 7 10 3

Waska (19-3-1) 3 1 0 3 0 2 0 — 9 9 3

HITTING:  WASKA-Jack Majerus 3-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, 2 doubles, sb; Alex Panitzke 2-for-4, run; Dylan Alexander 2-for-4, 2 runs, 4 RBI, double, sb; Noah Jensen 1-for-2, run, 2 RBI, bb, HR, hbp; Riley Dell 1-for-2, 2 RBI, hbp; Austin Ballhagen 0-for-1, 2 runs, bb, hbp, sb  . . . FAIR-J. Soelter 2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, bb, double; B. Williamson 2-for-4, run, double

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Alex Panitzke 3-5-4-1-4-3; Nathan Dell (W, 4-1)  4-5-3-3-0-1 . . . FAIR-N. Soelter 1-3-4-2-1-2; B. Moeller (L) 4 1/3-3-5-2-0-3; B. Williamson 2/3-2-0-0-1-0

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Waska 12, Windom Area 0

Waska (20-3-1) 0 2 5 0 1 0 4 — 12 13 1

Windom 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 3

HITTING:  WASKA-Austin Weber 2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, double; Marc Gruber 2-for-2, run, 2 RBI, bb; Austin Ballhagen 2-for-3, RBI; Noah Jensen 1-for-3, run, 2 RBI, 2 bb, HR; Jack Majerus 1-for-5, run, 2 RBI; Dylan Alexander 1-for-5, 2 RBI; Riley Dell 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2 bb; Nathan Dell 1-for-3; Thomas Poegel 1-for-1, run; Alex Panitzke 0-for-4, run, RBI, bb; Connor Erickson 1-for-1, run; Caden Larson 0-for-0, run, bb; Miles Wildman 0-for-0, run  . . . WIN-A. Perrizo 2-for-4

PITCHING:  WASKA-Nathan Dell (W, 5-1)  5-4-0-0-3-2; Alex Panitzke 2/3-1-0-0-1-1; Austin Ballhagen 1 1/3-0-0-0-0-0 . . . WIN-J. Joyce 2 1/3-8-7-7-2-1; D. Rothenberger (L)  1 1/2-1-0-0-2-3; S. Meyer 1-0-1-0-1-0; C. Erickson 2-4-4-4-2-3

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Montevideo 3, Waska 2

Waska (20-4-1) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 — 2 5 2

Montevideo 1 0 1 0 1 0 x — 3 6 0

HITTING:  WASKA-Jack Majerus 2-for-3, RBI, double; Austin Ballhagen 2-for-3, 2 runs, double, 2 sb; Riley Dell 1-for-3; Noah Jensen 0-for-1, bb, hbp . . . MONTE-C. Dack 2-for-3

PITCHING:  (ip-h-r-er-bb-so):  WASKA-Ryland Martin (L, 4-1)  6-6-3-2-1-2. . . MONTE-G. Reidinger (W)  7-5-2-2-1-14

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