LOCAL SPORTS August 25, 2025

Saturday Scores:

Amateur Baseball:

Cold Spring 4 Red Wing 1-It was another heartbreaking loss for the Aces in the Sweet 16 Round of the Class B State Amateur Baseball Tournament at Veteran's Memorial Field in Hutchinson.

The game was scoreless through seven innings with both teams missing early chances to break out on top. Brady Schafer hit a wind blown solo home run to the short porch in right field off the Aces second pitcher of the day, Aaron Johnson, to put the Springers up 1-0 in the top of the eighth inning. Johnson came on in the top of the sixth for starter Drew Ball and retired a Springers batter for the final out after they had loaded the bases against Ball. Drew Ball went 5 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits. He struck out 10, walked one and hit three batters.

The Aces tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning against Springers starting pitcher Phil Bray, a draftee from Isanti. Reid Hartmann was hit by a pitch with one out, Zach Harding singled and Marcus Walm was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dixon Irwin's fielder's choice ground ball scored Hartmann to tie the game. Reese Tripp struck out looking to end the eighth inning.

The fateful 10th inning saw Brad Olson single to center for Cold Spring. Drew Bulson hit a line drive to center that Brodie Smith couldn't track down as it sailed over his head for a double to score Olson. Brady Schafer came up against Johnson and again hit a shot to right for a two run homer to make it 4-1.

The Aces were outhit 10-4 in the game. Zach Harding had two hits for Red Wing. The Aces end the year at 18-16.

The bottom line: It was another solid year for the Aces. They played well in CCVL games, sweeping Class A state teams Dundas and Northfield and splitting with Class A powerhouse Miesville and the Rochester Royals. The Aces struggled with Class A Twin Cities teams. I would like to see the Aces change up the schedule a bit and play more regular season games against District 2B teams. The shoulder injury to pitcher Ben Keuhni hurt the Aces pitching depth. Drew Ball had a break out year on the mound. Aidan O' Brien was a swiss army knife for the pitching staff. Reid Hartmann, Dixon Irwin and Zach Harding were the Aces top offensive threats while Tyler Rodgers was effective at the bottom of the order.

The Aces have a solid core of young players coming into their prime. They should be in the mix for many more trips to state in the future. The key is putting it all together once they get there: pitching, defense and timely hitting.