Hansen halts Elko bats, keeps Eagan alive

After last week, the initial seven Section 5B playoff teams were parsed down to four. Today, three teams remain, and after Jon Hansen’s performance last night the fifth-seeded Eagan Bandits (9-8 league record, 16-15 overall) are one of them.

“He pitched his heart out tonight,” said Eagan manager Brandon Paetznick, “that’s the best outing he’s had all year and he couldn’t have picked a better time.”

Staring elimination in the eye and facing the vaunted Elko Express in its home ballyard last night, Hansen led his visiting Bandits to a 3-1 win to give upset-minded Eagan a shot at the State Tournament when they battle the Burnsville Bobcats tonight.

“He did a nice job against us,” said Elko manager Terry Frederickson regarding Hansen, “[he] kept the ball down and had us off-balance all night.”

The Eagan win brings a subtle end to Frederickson’s Express team’s season. After a Class C State Championship in 2008 and a 7th-place finish in Class B last season, Elko - who finished its season with a 31-9 overall record - will not be making the trip to State this season.

Conversely, Paetznick and co-manager Billy Denet’s Bandits have an opportunity to make a miraculous post-season run.

“Coming in as the five seed, we’re definitely the underdogs,” said Denet about his Eagan squad, “but we’ve been playing really good baseball in the second-half [of the season] and I wouldn’t want to face us right now.”

The win was especially sweet coming against Elko's ace lefty, Brian Muell.

Denet said that since Elko became member of Section 5B (last season) the two teams had played each other five or six times and his team faced Muell for two or three of those game, however, his Bandits had yet to defeat either Muell or the Express altogether.

“Going against [Elko’s] tough lefty was a daunting task," said Denet of his team's batters facing Muell, "but I was happy to see us get to him for a few runs and get the win tonight.”

Muell and Hansen each held their opponents scoreless through the first three innings, but the Bandits bats would get to Elko’s starter in the fourth.

Centerfielder Tony Johnson led off Eagan’s big inning with a single to right. Johnson stole second - his second steal of the game - before Trent Anderson followed with a sharp single to center.

Runners on first and third with nobody out, Bandits clean-up hitter Roy Larson bashed a double off Muell to deep right-center. Johnson scored easily for Eagan’s first run and Anderson advanced to third.

From there, Muell was able to get the next two Bandits batters - Ryan Sward and Mark Tatera - to hit seemingly harmless ground balls. However, each would drive in runs as Sward grounded out to second scoring Anderson and Tatera’s dribbler to the left-side hole got through to score Larson.

That would be all Hansen needed as the Eagan starter ironed out some pregame jitters and was dialed in on the mound.

“I was a little nervous tonight for some reason, it’s been awhile since I’ve had to throw in a playoff game like this,” said Hansen of how he felt before the game, but once the game started he was able to get comfortable quick. “I’ve thrown well against Elko two times in the last two years so I knew I had a good shot, [but] I didn’t know I’d be quite so good.”

Scoreless early, Hansen allowed hits to three Express batters in the second inning. But catcher Anderson threw out Elko’s Jason Grimm to erase one base runner and help Hansen evade the possible threat.

After the second, the Eagan righthander did not allow a hit for the next six innings.

Elko hit the ball hard off Hansen a couple times, but some nice defensive plays kept the Express off the scoreboard. The best play being a leaping grab by Tony Johnson in center to snag a hard drive by Grimm.

“He was pretty much roping the ball all game,” said Johnson of Grimm, “but on that [play], I misread it [at first], I ran in a little bit, then brought myself back and had to jump. Luckily I caught it and was able to prevent [Elko] from having a big inning possibly.”

True, Johnson did misread the hit on contact, but Grimm’s shot was hit on a line and appeared to still be rising as Johnson was able to leap up and snag it out of the air. It was a jaw-dropping catch of a ball that was crushed in typical form by Elko’s powerful first baseman (Grimm) who would put a dent the scoreboard with a home run later on that night.



“He’s an amazing centerfielder,” said Paetznick regarding Johnson’s defensive capabilities, “he’s got great range and gets great reads, single-handedly he helps our team ERA go down by a lot.”

Johnson also had a nice night with the bat. The speedy Eagan two-hitter had the single that ignited the Bandits’ three-run fourth and also had a double, walk and two stolen bases, finishing his night 2-for-3.

“Hitting, [Johnson] started off slow this season,” said Paetznick, “but he’s picked it up [of late] and he’s picking the right time to get hot. He’s the spark plug in our offense and when he’s going we’re going.”

Another hero of the game for Eagan was its 6-foot-5-inch shortstop, Larson. The Bandits slugger drove in Eagan’s first run with that double in the fourth and Larson was later shown respect (and/or fear) by being intentionally walked in the fifth. Then, in the ninth, the lanky righthander was summonsed to the mound as a pitcher and he retired the only three Elko batters he faced to end the game.

For Elko, pitcher Josh Roiger kept his team in the game, hurling four scoreless innings in relief of Muell. But the Express bats could not come through.

Elko had brief hope in the ninth when Grimm chased Hansen from the game with his mighty clout that struck the scoreboard in right. However, Eagan’s Larson came in to close things out retiring Express batters Ash Larsen, Kyle Kraska and Dan Ellefson to earn the save.

“[We] played well, Jon pitched well,” said Larson of his team and starter Jon Hansen’s effort, “so when I came in I just wanted to do everything I could to make sure he’d get the win.”

The Bandits extend their season for an important game tonight against Burnsville. Manager Paetznick will take the mound as its starting pitcher against the Bobcats.

Burnsville will try to rebound from a controversial loss to arch-rival Savage on Monday night - when a questionable call was made at first base for the third out in the ninth as the possible tying run was crossing the plate. The Bobcats lost the game 3-2.

Tonight's winner earns a berth in the upcoming Class B State Tournament (which begins August 20) and also advances to the Section 5B championship game Thursday night. The losing team will be eliminated and thus end its 2010 season and postseason hopes.

First pitch is slated for 7:30 at Elko's Frederickson Field.



Notable individual efforts:
Eagan Bandits
~ Jon Hansen: 8 IP, 4 Hs, 1 ER, 3 Ks, 2 BBs
~ Tony Johnson: 2-for-3, 2B, BB, R, 2 SBs
~ Roy Larson: 1-for-3, 2B, IBB, R, RBI / 1 IP, SV, 0 Hs, 1 K
~ Mark Tatera: 2-for-4, RBI

Elko Express:

~ Josh Roiger: 4 IP, 2 Hs, 7 Ks, 0 BBs

~ Jason Grimm: 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI

**Note: I was the PA for this game, thus the game photos are obstructed by the backstop. However, I was able to conduct post-game interviews and take photos of three of the games best players (Eagan's Jon Hansen, Tony Johnson and Roy Larson). The pictures featured in this article are - from top to bottom - Eagan's Jon Hansen, Elko's Brian Muell delivers to Eagan's Jon Bauer, Hansen delivering a called third strike to Elko's Jeremy Chlan, Eagan's Tony Johnson, Eagan's Roy Larson.

Burnsville’s Jacobson, WIens derail Express in Elko

Elko had its hometown fans riveted early, but Burnsville’s Casey Jacobson slammed the brakes on the Express offense en route to a 7-2 Bobcats win.

“Casey’s had it figured out the whole year,” said Burnsville manager Robby Wiens regarding Jacobson’s effort, “throwing complete games in this league when it’s 100 degrees out, nothing compares to that.”

According to AccuWeather.com, the official temperature did not hit 100 degrees, but Wiens was virtually correct with his assertion as RealFeel (which is the accredited weather website’s equivalent to heat index) was charted between 98 and 101 degrees throughout the game.

Besides the scorching heat, Jacobson was also dealing with a 31-7 Elko team he was facing for his first time, and the game was on the Express’ home turf.

Jacobson succeeded the test pitching the whole nine innings for the Bobcats, striking out five Express batters and limiting the host team to just two runs.

His complete-game effort was important for the Bobcats as not only does the win (a second round Section 5B playoff win) give them an opportunity to earn a bid to the Class B State Tournament tonight, but Jacobson was also able to conserve his fellow Burnsville arms for tonight and possibly two or three more games this week.

“We don’t want to burn up a lot of pitchers,” said Bobcats skipper Wiens, “we’ve got to play tomorrow and maybe another game or two, so for him to out and there do that, saving our arms, that was big.”

“He did a nice job,” said Elko manager Terry Frederickson in regards to Jacobson. “he kept throwing right at us, and [Burnsville] played good defense, and that’s what it takes [to win].”

The Bobcats played spotless defense while two Elko errors led to three unearned runs for Frederickson’s squad. Two of those three runs were scored on a hit by Frederickson’s counterpart, Wiens, who was key cog offensively for the Bobcats last night.

“We couldn’t get him out,” remarked Frederickson.

Wiens was 3-for-3 with four RBI on the night, including a clutch two-run hit late in game.

The game began with Jacobson allowing back-to-back doubles to Elko’s Jeremy Chlan and Corey Grisim. However, Grisim was thrown out at third base as the Burnsville defense executed two perfect throws from its rightfielder and shortstop.

Down 1-0, the Bobcats offense responded quickly in the bottom of the first (note: Despite the game being played in Elko, Burnsville was the home team due to having a higher playoff seed).

Scott Lindner led off with a walk, Matt Trocke followed with a bloop single near the foul line in right. Two batters later, Roddy Hjort singled to left to load the bases with one out.

The next Bobcats batter, John Loeffler, worked a walk off Elko starter Glenn Parker to tie the game. Wiens followed with a hit to score Trocke and give Burnsville the lead. Then, the back breaker came as Bocats catcher Chad Eul sent a six-hopper up the middle that was able to scoot by Elko’s shortstop and second baseman for a two-run single.

“I think both of them could have had it,” said Frederickson about his infielders - second baseman Kyle Kalina and shortstop Chlan - on Eul’s seeing eye single, “but they both looked at each other like ‘who’s getting that one.’”

Up 4-1, Jacobson battled through the next three innings - allowing three hits, two walks and a hit batter - as Elko picked up a run to get the score within two; however, the Burnsville ace was able to settle in after conquering a key at-bat in the top of the fifth.

With Elko hoping to rally against Jacobson, Express two-hole hitter Grisim led off the inning and had a 3-0 count.

“That was a key count for me, I was thinking ‘you can’t walk the leadoff hitter, they score about 75% of the time, so I’ve got to give my defense a chance to help me out,’” said Jacobson of the at-bat versus Grisim, “ [On] 3-0 I just went down the middle and hoped he wasn’t swinging, then I was able to hit a couple of my spots and got him to pop it up, that was big.”

After Grisim popped to short, Jacobson was able to retire the next two Elko hitters as well for a clean fifth. Finding his groove, Jacobson proceeded to pitch a clean sixth as well.

Then, with Burnsville up 5-2, Wiens came through with a two-out single down the third base line in the seventh scoring Charlie Dubanoski and Hjort to put the game out of reach.

“Luckily [Elko’s third baseman] was playing a bit off the line and I snuck one by him,” said Wiens of his hit.

Jacobson followed with two more shutout innings to seal up the win for the two-seeded Bobcats (12-5 in Cannon Valley League play, 16-7 overall) and set up a big game tonight versus their bitter rivals - the Cannon Valley League regular season champion Savage Outlaws (13-4 CVL, 30-8 overall).

The winner of tonight’s game earns a spot in the Class B State Tournament (which begins August 20 at Willmar and Bird Island).

2008 Class C champion Elko will need to win its next game - tomorrow night versus Eagan - to prevent its season from coming to a sudden halt.



Notable individual efforts:
Burnsville Bobcats
~ Casey Jacobson: 9 IP, CG, W, 2 ERs, 8 Hs, 5 Ks, 3 BBs
~ Robby Wiens: 3-for-3, 4 RBI, Sac Fly
~ Roddy Hjort: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 Rs
~ Chad Eul: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, HBP

Elko Express
~ Jeremy Chlan: 2-for-3, 2B, 3B, R, BB
~ Dan Ellefson: 2-for-4, RBI

**Note: I was the scoreboard operator for this game. I wasn’t able to take many game photos, but I interviewed three people and took pictures of two of the game’s best players (Burnsville’s Casey Jacobson and Robby Wiens) afterward. However, the Wiens shot did not turn out well - I’m working to find a replacement photo as he should be pictured in this article after playing a key role for Burnsville offensively. The photos seen is this article are - from top to bottom - Burnsville's Casey Jacobson, Burnsville's Roddy Hjort facing Elko pitcher Glenn Parker, Burnsville's Hjort and Charlie Dubanoski after scoring on Wiens' 7th-inning single.

Elko vet pitchers school Lakeville bats, lead Express to second round

Like a fine bottle of wine, baseball players also tend to get better with age.

Last night, Elko veteran pitchers Brian Muell and Rob Brick demonstrated their wisdom and craftiness as they led the Express to a 7-3 win over the Lakeville Athletics at Burnsville’s Alimagnet Park.

“I threw the ball well early and felt pretty good,” said 34-year-old Muell, who pitched a shutout through five innings last night. “The older I get, the less velocity I have so I use my other stuff, [but] the curveball’s my best pitch anyway.”

Muell’s slow, but hard-breaking curve had Lakeville batters off-balance for much of the night. The Athletics strung some hits together against him in the sixth, but overall Muell threw 7 1/3 strong innings before Elko’s 35-year-old reliever - Brick - came in to close things out in the eighth and ninth.

The win sealed up a trip home for the Express this weekend when the second round of the Section 5B playoffs are played at Elko’s Frederickson Field.

For Lakeville, the loss last night - following Sunday night’s 3-2 loss to Elko - means the team was swept in its best-of-three playoff series against the Express and its season is over.

“We were prepared for this,” said Athletics manager Doug Johnson following the loss, “Elko’s tough, we always play good games with them, but they’re better than us right now.”

“Elko’s a really good team,” added Lakeville third baseman Jim Gaylord, “I think they’re going to go pretty far in the playoffs, they’re pretty tough competitors.”

Jim and his brother, Jon Gaylord, did their share of damage last night, in helping Lakeville not go down without a fight, but, most of their Athletics teammates had difficulties hitting Muell and Brick’s pitching.

The game started with Jake Hauck pitching for Lakeville and pitching very well. Hauck made it through the fourth inning having only allowed a pair of singles while striking out Elko’s 2-3-4 hitters his first time through the Express lineup.

However, in the fifth inning, a two-out single by Elko’s nine-hitter, Corey Grisim, led to a meltdown on the mound for Hauck.

Express lead-off hitter Jeremy Chlan followed up Grisim’s single with a double to left-center to put runners at second and third.

Then, still with two outs and a scoreless tie, the same 2-3-4 hitters Hauck struck out earlier were able to hit the Lakeville starter pretty hard this time.

Elko second baseman Kyle Kalina hit single to right to score two, Dylan Thomas creamed a triple to the right-center gap to drive in Kalina, and Jason Grimm laced a solid single to right to score Thomas.

“[Hauck] just got a little tired out there and left a couple of sliders up,” said Johnson of his starting pitcher. “We’re trying to get that nine-guy (Grisim), then they’ve got about three or four hitters in the middle of thier lineup that we have trouble against.”

After Express five-hitter Ash Larsen delivered the key two-run blow with a double in the eighth inning to beat Lakeville on Sunday night, it was the three hitters in front of Larsen who wreaked havoc against Johnson’s Athletics last night.

Elko’s Kalina, Thomas and Grimm combined for 5 hits in 10 at-bats - reaching base 10 times - with 3 runs scored, 3 stolen bases and 5 RBI.

The Express followed up its four runs in the fifth by adding two more in the top of the sixth innning to run its lead to 6-0.

But Lakeville’s Gaylord brothers responded in the bottom of the sixth as the Athletics attempted to creep back into the game.

After a Derek Jacobson single to begin the inning, Jim Gaylord lined a double down the left field line. Jon followed his brother with a solid single to left to score Jacobson, but, on Muell’s very next pitch he was able to induce a double play from Lakeville clean-up hitter Derek Hahn to stymie the Athletics threat as the bases were suddenly empty with two outs.

Jim Gaylord scored from third on the Hahn grounder but Johnson would have liked to have seen his team score a couple more runs there.

“We could’ve used one more good hit that inning,” remarked the Lakeville skipper, “try to get it to 6-to-4 and then it’s a game.”

The Gaylords struck again in the eighth as Jim slashed a single to right, which chased Muell from the game, and Jon hit a sacrifice fly to left off reliever Brick, but that would be all for Lakeville as Brick struck out three of the final five Athletics hitters to preserve Elko’s victory.

Lakeville will take the rest of the summer off and try to regroup for its 2011 campaign while Elko will likely face the Burnsville Bobcats in the second round of the playoffs Sunday at 5:00 p.m.



Notable individual efforts:
ELKO EXPRESS
~ Brian Muell: W, 7.1 IP, 6 Hs, 3 ERs, 6 Ks, 1 BB
~ Rob Brick: 1.2 IP, 0 Rs, 0 Hs, 3 Ks, 1 BB
~ Kyle Kalina: 1-for-2, 2 Rs, 2 RBI, 2 BBs, HBP, SB
~ Dylan Thomas: 2-for-4, 3B, R, RBI, BB, SB
~ Jason Grimm: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, HBP, SB

LAKEVILLE ATHLETICS
~ Jim Gaylord: 2-for-4, 2B, R
~ Jon Gaylord: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB, Sac Fly

**Note: I was the PA for this game and took very few game photos. However, I did conduct postgame interviews and take photos of three of the game’s best players (Brain Muell, Jim and Jon Gaylord). The pictures featured in this story are - from top to bottom - Brian Muell, Corey Grisim high fiving Jeremy Chlan after Kyle Kalina’s two-run single, Jim and Jon Gaylord. The original photo of Grisim and Kalina was shot by Savage Outlaws pitcher / infielder Tony Peterson, the final cut seen in this article is after I cropped the photo by centering it and zooming in.

At plate, on mound, Thomas leads Elko in eking out playoff win

Elko’s Dylan Thomas baffled the Lakeville Athletics bats through six innings but the Express starter was in line for the loss after seven.

However, Thomas’ bat, a ground ball double, and a key clout by teammate Ash Larsen helped the 3-seed Express edge 6th-seeded Lakeville 3-2 on opening day of the Section 5B amateur baseball playoffs last night.

“Dylan looked really good tonight,” said Elko manager Terry Frederickson of his starting pitcher's performance, “he got a little tired in the seventh, but [overall] he did a really nice job.”

Thomas was doing a very nice job, in fact, he had a no-hitter through six innings. Lakeville was finally able to get to Thomas (on the mound) in the seventh, however, the Lakeville native (graduate of Lakeville North High School) helped beat his hometown with his bat as well.

With his team in a scoreless tie after Thomas’ opposing starter - Lakeville’s Trent Larson - tossed a shutout through five innings as well, the 6-foot righthander led off the Elko sixth by blistering an 0-1 Larson offering to deep right-center for a triple.

“He hung me a curveball the first time and I watched it go because I was sitting fastball,” said Thomas about that at-bat, “but [he] threw the same exact thing in the same spot [and] you don’t do that in baseball. I just took the ball the other way and we scored, so that was great for us.”

Thomas scored on the very next pitch as Express first baseman Jason Grimm smacked the first pitch he saw from Larson to the left-center gap for an RBI-double.

Larson evaded further damage by getting a flyout and a pair of rollers to strand Grimm at second. Then, in the seventh, Lakeville responded by breaking through offensively.

Athletics catcher Derek Hahn was plunked by Thomas to begin the inning and Larson followed by sacrificing Hahn to second with a bunt.

The next Lakeville batter, Josh Storm, stroked a single to center to end Thomas’ no-hit bid. Hahn did not score on the play, however, and Thomas was able to get his next batter, Mark Berger, down in an 0-2 hole.

Berger drew the count full, fouled back three more pitches, then took a fastball for a called ball four to load up the bases.

Brent Johnson, Lakeville’s eight-hitter, followed up Berger’s quality at-bat by slicing an 0-2 Thomas pitch to right-center that scored both Hahn and a hustling Storm on a close play at the plate.

Suddenly, the Athletics went from having no hits to having a 2-1 lead.

Lakeville gained momentum as Larson retired Elko in order in the bottom of the seventh and the Athletics offense looked like it would pad its lead in the eighth.

Elko's Josh Roiger relieved Thomas and was able to get the Athletics’ Jim Gaylord to bounce out to short to begin the inning. But, the next three Lakeville hitters would reach as Jim’s brother, Jon Gaylord, smacked a liner to left for a single, Hahn grounded a single to right, and Larson drew a walk.

However, the Athletics could not push in a run as Roiger was able to get Storm on a soft fly to left and then strike out pinch-hitter Justin Hahn to end the threat.

Coming up unsuccessful in that situation was possibly a bad omen for Lakeville as Larson took the mound in the bottom of the eighth.

Thomas led off for the Express by reaching base for his fourth straight time as Lakeville third baseman Berger fielded a grounder by Thomas but was unable to make an accurate throw to first to retire him.

Then, an even more ominous play occurred as Elko’s Grimm chopped a grounder that took an unusually high bounce by Athletics first baseman Storm and sputtered into shallow right field. The ball was perfectly place as the ball trickled toward the line and Grimm was able to reach second base for a ground ball double.

Sure enough, after the first two Elko batters reached without hitting the ball very well, the next batter - centerfielder Ash Larsen - shelled Larson for a double to deep left that easily scored both Thomas and Grimm.

The Express bench rose in excitement as Elko had regained the lead - a one-run advantage that would soon prove enough to win the game.

“It was very unfortunate for [Lakeville],” said winning manager Frederickson regarding the Grimm chopper that led to Larsen's game-winner, “that ball took a hell of a bounce.”

Lakeville's Larson would be lifted after the hit by Elko's Larsen, but the Athletics hurler had a nice night overall and kept his team in the game - scattering seven hits and allowing two earned runs through seven-plus innings of work.

"I just tried to keep the ball low and tried keeping them off-balance," said Larson, regarding his performance. "Unfortunately the last inning there I hung a curve ball and he (Ash Larsen) hit it for a double, that's the way it goes sometimes."

Larson's reliever, Derek Jacobson, came in and mowed down the next three Express batters on consecutive strikeouts, which was good for Lakeville but also perhaps even more frustrating considering how the two Elko batters before Larsen reached.

At the moment, however, Jacobson’s sterling effort kept up his team's hope alive as Lakeville was only down one entering the ninth. But, the Athletics offense could not muster much hope against Roiger in the ninth as Elko held on to earn the win.

The two teams will meet again tonight as they continue to battle out its best-of-three first round playoff series. The game will take place on Alimagnet’s field 2 at 7:30 p.m. with lower-seeded Lakeville playing as the home team this time.



Notable individual efforts:

Elko Express:
~ Dylan Thomas: 7 IP, 2 ERs, 2 Hs, 9 Ks, 2 BBs / 2-for-3, 3B, 2B, BB, 2 Rs
~ Jason Grimm: 2-for-4, 2 2Bs, R, RBI
~ Ash Larsen: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Lakeville Athletics:
~ Trent Larson: 7 IP, 3 Rs (2 ERs), 7 Hs, 2 Ks, 2 BBs
~ Brent Johnson: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
~ Derek Hahn: 1-for-3, HBP, R, SB

**Note: I was the PA for this game, but also took photographs and conducted post-game interviews. I shot some photos from the press box, but also took photos of two of the game's best players on the field afterward. The photos featured in this article are - from top to bottom - Dylan Thomas, Josh Storm sliding in safely at home plate, Elko bench congratulating Thomas and Jason Grimm, and Trent Larson (right).


Other CVL opening night playoff action

The 2-seeded Burnsville Bobcats clobbered 7th-seed Inver Grove Heights 11-0 in seven innings.

The 5-seed Eagan Bandits led 4th-seed Rosemount 10-0 through five innings.