2009 Gaylord/Arlington
Elrosa 6, Carlos 0 (Randy Olson)
ARLINGTON--Both teams needed a few innings to shake off state tournament jitters, with Carlos gaining the first hit of the game on a single in the second inning. Elrosa left two stranded in the third inning, with Randy Duevel hitting a single and Matt Middendorf drawing a walk before a pop fly for the third out. In the fourth inning, the Saints piled it on to the tune of three runs on three Carlos errors and one hit. Ethan Vogt led off with a single, then stole second and advanced on a throwing error by the catcher. Pat Illies drew a walk, with Steve Mueller reaching on a fielder’s choice.
Vogt crossed home on a throwing error by the pitcher for what would be the game-winning run. Kevin Kuefler reached on an error by the shortstop, a play that allowed Illies to score from third.
Kuefler stole second and then found third on a wild pitch, an error that allowed Steve Mueller to score on a squeeze play. Kuefler was tagged out on a subsequent squeeze play before Carlos got out of the jam with a final strikeout. Zeroes ran across the board up to the sixth inning, when Carlos threatened with two lead off singles. A pop fly to right fielder Weston Wander, an unassisted grounder to Illies at first, and a pop fly to Kuefler in right field ended their chances, though.
Elrosa’s defense shined in the final three innings, taking out the Cougars’ batters in order.
Another key to snuffing out the Cougars’ offense was three straight strikeouts by Vogt in the fifth inning. He found his groove in the second inning, lowering his changeup and frustrating Carlos at every at bat. A furious top of the ninth had the Saints piling on three more runs, all earned, to put an exclamation point on their shutout. Kuefler’s lead off single was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Wander. Another grounder brought two outs, but Duevel then hit an RBI-single through the shortstop to bring in Kuefler. Middendorf’s single was followed by a four-pitch walk to Nate Terres to load the bases. Vogt added insult to injury when he shot a two-RBI single to center field, capping the game’s scoring. Two pop flies in the bottom of the ninth brought Carlos star-hitter Joe Snaza to the plate. The Region 14C M.V.P. hit a hard shot to Middendorf, who turned a 6-3 play for a fitting end to the game.
Pitching line: Vogt (WP) IP-9 H-3 R-0 ER-0 BB-0 K-8. Neil Jenzen (LP) IP-9 H-9 R-6 ER-3 BB-3 K-4.
Cannon Falls 4, Elrosa 2
GAYLORD--Saints first basemen Pat Illies hit the most important homerun in team history with a one out 2-run homerun in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game at 2-2 but the Saints would go on to fall to Cannon Falls 4-2 on a walk-off homerun in a wild 14 inning thrill ride at the second weekend of the Minnesota Amateur State Baseball Tournament.
Nathan Terres led off the 9th with a strikeout. Ethan Vogt started the 9th inning rally with a single to left off of Cannon Falls starter Keith Meyers. Illies then battled Myers to a 2-1 count and Illies hit his dramatic homerun over the right field wall to tie the game at 2. Nearly all of the 423 people in attendance were on their feet screaming and yelling as Illies rounded the bases. Steve Mueller followed with his third hit of the day followed by another hit from rookie Kevin Keufler. Ogdahl popped up to 1st base for the second out and Matt "Gumbi" Bauer hit a hot shot to 1st base which was booted and then kicked but the Cannon Falls pitcher picked up the ball up and threw Mueller out at the plate to end the threat.
The Saints had another chance to go ahead in the 14th. Illies singled to right and then went all the way to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by Mueller. As Illies slid into 3rd the ball skipped past the 3rd basemen into short left field. Keith Myers, who went from the mound to left, alertly picked up the wild throw and gunned out Illies at the plate to preserve the tie. In the bottom of the 14th, Rich Burr hit a 2 run homerun to left to win the game.
Ethan Vogt started on the mound for the Saints and battled hard for 5 2/3 inning as the right hander struck out six and and gave up two runs before giving way to NL-S draftee Darrin Ogdahl. Ogdahl threw 2 1/3 innings scoreless innings and struck out 4 before handing the ball to Aaron Vogt who took the hard luck loss throwing 5 1/3 innings of relief.
The Saints knocked out 11 hits in the loss. Mueller (3), Illies (2), Randy Duevel (2), Keufler (1), Terres (1), Vogt (1), and Bauer (1) collected the hits as the defense only made 1 error.
2006 Red Wing & Miesville
Hampton 2, Elrosa 0 (Sauk Centre Herald)
The Elrosa Saints have relied on pitching to get them to the Class C State Amateur Baseball Tournament, and were hoping the combination of pitching and timely hitting would get them to the final weekend.
But on Thursday the Saints went up against some tough pitching and were shut out 2-0 by Hampton in the opening round of tournament action in Red Wing. Caleb Thiebler struck out 13 and allowed just four hits to out dueled Saints starter Aaron Vogt. Vogt pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He struck out one and walked two. Shawn Schoenberg, a draftee from Spring Hill and Ethan Vogt pitched scoreless relief, but the offense couldn't get anything going against Thiebler, a left-hander who mixed his pitches well to keep Saints hitters off balance.
"He threw about mid 80s, but he hit his spots very well and the ball was always down in the zone," said Ethan Vogt, who played center field until he was called on to pitch. Dustin Breitbach led the Elrosa offense with two hits. The loss eliminated the Saints from tournament action. With the one-two punch of Aaron and Ethan Vogt, as well as the addition of Schoenberg, Elrosa was poised to make a solid run at a high finish at this year's tourney. But like in years past, the offense sputtered at a time when it was needed most.
"It was very frustrating to lose out in the first round when we had a good enough team to play into the final weekend," Vogt said. "A few times we had opportunities to get things going but we couldn't get any clutch hits."
2003 Northfield & Dundas
Essig 6, Elrosa 3 (Sauk Centre Herald)
NORTHFIELD--The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team’s season ended last weekend at the State tournament in Northfield. The Saints suffered a 6-3 defeat coming at the hands of the Essig Blue Jays. The Saints grabbed an early 1-0 lead to start the game on the right foot. With one out in the bottom of the third, Sauk Centre graduate Cory Yarke ripped a double to the wall in left off of Blue Jay starter Terry Helget. Randy Duevel then smashed a single up the middle to move Yarke to third. Duevel then got picked off of first but stayed in a “hot box” long enough for Yarke to make a good read and sprint home from third to give the Saints the early 1-0 lead. Aaron Vogt cruised on the mound until the fifth inning when the Saints defense gift wrapped Essig three runs to give the Blue Jays the lead. With two outs and runners on second and third, Duevel fielded a hard hit ball up the middle, but his throw went wide of first basemen Yarke allowing both runners to score and the batter to reach second base. The next pitch was fouled off down the right field line, but Saints right fielder Mike Illies had the ball pop out of his glove in foul territory. The next pitch was ripped to center allowing the third unearned run of the inning to score giving the Blue Jays momentum and the 3-1 lead. Elrosa, who was out hit 15-8 in the loss, had chances in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the game but couldn’t come up the clutch hit. The Saints loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and failed to put the ball in play the next two batters. In the ninth, Elrosa put runners on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth and failed to push any runs across. Former Streeter Aaron Vogt took the loss on the mound throwing 5 2/3 innings. Vogt gave up four runs, three unearned, while scattering six hits. Kenny Arceneau, a draftee from St. Martin, threw the final 3 1/3 innings of relief giving up six hits and two earned runs. Randy Duevel batted three for four at the plate with two singles to right and one to center. Cory Yarke added a double and a run scored while Ethan Vogt added two hits in a two for four performance. Terry Helget got the pitching win for Essig throwing eight innings, giving up six hits, and striking out five. Mitch Stueber was three for five at the plate to lead the Blue Jays offensively. Essig will now play Monticello on Friday night in Dundas. The Polecats beat Hadley 7-3 to advance to the next round. The Saints end the season with an overall record of 16-9. Elrosa won the Stearns County League North title for first time since 1988 with a record of 9-4 to go along with their second straight Region 15C championship.
2002-St. Cloud & Cold Spring
Elrosa 4, Wilmont 3 (Minnesota Baseball Association website)
ST.CLOUD--Trailing 1-0 in the 4th, Wilmont's Noble singled, Schmidt walked and Appel was hit by a pitch loading the bases. Elrosa forced two runners at home before Sam Baumgartner was hit by a pitch forcing in a run to tie it. Josh Lowe then walked forcing in another run and giving Wilmont a 2-1 lead. Elrosa tied it at 2 on a Cory Yarke single and stolen base followed by Aaron Vogt's rbi single. Elrosa went ahead 3-2 in the 6th on a single by Pat Illies, a wild pitch and an rbi single by Steve Mueller. Wilmont came back and tied it in the 7th on a single by Johnson and an RBI double by Noble. Elrosa countered with the winning run in the bottom of the inning as Aaron Vogt was hit by a pitch, advanced on a wild pitch, moved to third on another wild pitch and scored on a squeeze bunt by Matt Middendorf. Aaron Vogt struck out 12 for the winners, giving up six hits, three runs, and two walks. Ethan Vogt gave up two hits but struck out two as well in the ninth to secure the save and the win for the Saints.
Elrosa 3, Melrose 1 (Minnesota Baseball Association website)
ST. CLOUD--Elrosa scored 2 unearned runs in the first which wound up being the difference. For the Saints in the first, Randy Duevel reached on an error. Pat Illies singled. Pat Nathe singled driving in Duevel. Nathe scored on a fieldier's choice for the 2nd run. Elrosa added another in the 2nd on a double by Cory Yarke and Chad Kampsen's single. Matt Middendorf contributes three hits and Kampsen's delivered an RBI single that proved to be the clincher. Aaron Vogt, with 10 strike outs, gets the win for his 2nd of the tournament. Vogt gave up six hits and one earned run in a complete gave effort.
Grantie Falls 5, Elrosa 2 (Minnesota Baseball Association website)
ST. CLOUD--With the score tied 2-2 in the 6th, Nate Dammann lead off with a single and stole second for Granite. After two were out, Neil Jensen singled just out of the reach of the second baseman and Dammann scored as the throw by the second baseman went into the dugout. Granite added 2 insurance runs in the 8th as Jensen picked up another RBI and Tim Knapper hit a sacrifice fly for the other. Curt Kvam did not allow an earned run and struck out 12 for the Kilowatts. Aaron Vogt pitched 7 2/3 innings while allowing 10 hits, four earned runs, two walks, and six strikeouts. Draftee from Greenwald Keith Frieler throws 1 1/3 innings in releif giving up two hits. Pat Nathe, a draftee from New Munich, provides two hits, including a double and two RBI's as the Saints lose to the eventual state champions.
Watkins 5, Elrosa 0 (Minnesota Baseball Association website)
COLD SPRING--Watkins broke open a 1-0 game in the 7th with 4 runs. For the Clippers in the 7th, Pat Geislinger singled and went to 2nd on a sacrifice. Tim Haines singled in Geislinger. Stan Groskreutz walked and Todd Geislinger doubled off the wall scoring both runners. Jason Schlangen, draftee from Pearl Lake, went the distance for Watkins striking out 14. John Whittemore suffers the loss after pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up three hits, one run, three walks, and three strikeouts. Rick Lieser, a draftee from Spring Hill, throws an inning and a third giving up four runs on four hits and one walk. Ethan Vogt tosses the last inning and a third giving up no runs, no hits, and no walks. Randy Duevel collects half of Elrosa's hits as he bats 2 for 4 with a double to lead the Saints offensively.
1988-Hamburg & Chaska
Elrosa vs. ????
If anybody has any information on the 1988 state tourney game, could you please send it to me. Thanks.
State Tourney Appearances