Blaine continued its quest for a second state tournament appearance in three years with a 4-2 win over Anoka in the third round of the Class 4A, Section 7 baseball playoffs Monday afternoon in Princeton.
Logan McDonald pitched a complete game with five strikeouts. The Tornadoes scored two unearned runs after errors by the Bengals in the sixth inning.
McDonald also kicked off Blaine's third-inning rally with a leadoff single on an 0-2 pitch.
The Bengals had all five of their hits in the third inning.
Mike Gottschalk and Jake Dorff each had one RBI. Dorff later scored on an attempted double steal.
This was Blaine's 13th consecutive victory dating to May 15. The Bengals are 20-3 on the season.
In other section playoff action:
Eastview 1, Burnsville 0: Tommy Springer pitched a no-hitter to lead the Lighting past the Blaze and into the Class 4, Section 3 championship. The senior righthander pitched a two-hit shutout Thursday against East Ridge. Zach Selchow scored the game's only run on a throwing error.
Big Lake 5, Sauk Rapids-Rice 4: Zeus Schlegel's pinch-hit, two-run single gave the Hornets the walk-off victory in the Class 3A, Section 5 playoffs. Matthew Chuba and Alex VanderHeyden added two more RBI. Big Lake led 3-1 after the first inning then the Storm added one run in the third, seventh and eighth innings before Big Lake's big eighth inning. Tyler Hemker went 3-for-5 for Sauk Rapids-Rice.
Irondale 9, Champlin Park 5: The Rebels got out to a 5-0 lead after three innings before the Knights scored nine unanswered. Nate Foley led the way, going 3-for-4 with three RBI. His older brother Dan also went 3-for-4, scoring twice with a double, a triple and two RBI. Eric Ososki also knocked in two and hit a double.
Litchfield 4, Holy Family 0: Owen Boerema allowed just two hits and struck out 10 to lead the Dragons past the Fire. The junior also went 2-for-3 and scored a run.
Mounds View 10, Irondale 3: Ben Jepko went 3-for-3 with two RBI to lead Mounds View. The Mustangs will play Totino-Grace in the Class 4A, Section 5 championship Wednesday.
North Branch 7, Hibbing 2: Dawson Linkert led the Vikings offense with three RBI. Dylan Ramberg pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts, allowed four hits and one earned run.
BOYS' GOLF
Class 3, Section 7: Elk River captured the section title at Grand National Golf Course in Hinckley. Heading into Day 2, the Elks had a seven-stroke lead over St. Michael-Albertville and won by 31 strokes. They shot a section-record two-day total of 566 (285-281). Sophomore Ihle Majeres led the way, shooting a section scoring record of 135 (69-66). Grand National is a par-72 course.
STAFF REPORTS
