By all accounts, last weekend was an extremely tough one for Maple Grove, the metro's top-ranked baseball team. After going unbeaten through the entire regular season, the Crimson took its first major lump last Friday, falling to Coon Rapids in the fourth round of the Class 3A, Section 5 playoffs.
But by Wednesday, the disappointment had translated to fuel and Maple Grove beat Coon Rapids in consecutive games at Midway Stadium to win the section title and gain a state tournament berth.
"This has been our goal from Day 1 of practice and now we're here," said a grinning Karl Sorensen after receiving the section trophy on the field.
Added coach Darby Carlson: "Their experience in the loss ... they got a taste of it and I think it kind of motivated them. We knew we couldn't afford to be messing around."
The Crimson came out with a vengeance in the first inning of the 9-2 victory in the first game, stinging Coon Rapids No. 1 pitcher Logan Shore for five solid hits and converting them into five runs.
Shore had an uncharacteristically bad night, giving up six runs in four innings and grounding into two double plays and leaving the bases loaded with a popup to second base.
The Cardinals' offense floundered against Maple Grove's Mitchell Bauer, who did not give up a hit until the third and shut the Cardinals out until the fifth.
The second game proved to be more of a back-and-forth slugfest as the Crimson again led off but were paced by the Cardinals, who answered each run and tied the score in the bottom of the fourth.
But Maple Grove responded, adding two runs in the fifth to win 6-4.
"Everyone knows we still have some work to do," Sorensen said. "We don't care about section titles -- the state title, that's what we really want."
Class 3A• Section 2: Defending state champion Eden Prairie battled back through the losers' bracket, defeating Chanhassen 7-1 in the deciding game of the double-elimination tournament.
