Tyler Tennyson had four hits. Jack Waletich and Luke Becker had three each. In all, Fairmont (25-1) pounded out 16 base hits on its way to a shocking five-inning rout of defending champion Kasson-Mantorville (22-5) and set itself up to play St. Cloud Cathedral in Monday’s Class 2A state championship game.

“I never would have believed we could do that to a good team like [Kasson-Mantorville],” said Fairmont senior Luke Becker, who will play baseball for North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City next year. “I was surprised at how loose we were before the game. We felt good.”

Every Fairmont starter scored at least one run and drove in at least one run. Tennyson and Waletich each had four RBI and Becker scored four runs, including the Cardinals final run when he bombed a long home run to right center to cap off a nine-run fifth inning.

“Yeah,” Becker said sheepishly. “I went up there swinging hard.”

When the Cardinals weren’t hitting, they were getting hit. Kasson-Mantorville pitchers hit Fairmont batters seven times. Junior second baseman Matt Lytle was hit three times, giving him four in two tournament games.

“As the number nine hitter, I’m just up there trying to get on base,” Lytle said.

In all, the Cardinals have been hit 11 times in the tournament. No one involved with the tournament knew if that approached any sort of record.

“I don’t know if teams don’t like us or are trying to intimidate us or what, but I’ll take it,” Becker said. “We’re going to Target Field. Holy buckets!”

Fairmont did a lot of hitting and then some en route to a 19-3 pummeling of defending Class 2A champion Kasson-Mantorville to advance to Monday’s championship game.

The game was shortened to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

The Cardinals are used to hitting the ball – they had a .360 team batting average during the season – and broke out the sticks early. They scored six runs in the first inning, two each in the second and third and nine in fifth. Tyler Tennyson went 4-for-5 and pitcher  Luke Becker had three hits, including a two-run homer, for Fairmont, which won its 25th straight game.

Fairmont also benefitted from a spate of wildness from five Kasson-Mantorville (22-5) pitchers. The Cardinals hit by pitches seven times in the game, giving them a two-day total of 11.

NOTE: The Minnesota State High School League announced Friday afternoon that championship games originally scheduled for Saturday at Target Field would take place on Monday instead.