The offense, so prominent all season, was largely missing.

For Chanhassen, it simply didn’t matter. The Storm relied on baseball’s two constants, pitching and defense, to slip past Lakeville North 2-0 in the Class 3A championship game Monday at Target Field.

The victory gave Chanhassen, which opened in 2009, a state title in the first state championship game in school history

Senior Jack Schnettler put on a pitching clinic that could serve as a primer for mound efficiency. He threw a complete-game four-hitter, walking three and earning the victory without the benefit of a strikeout.

“Strikeouts are nice and they look cool in the stat line, but if I can keep my stat line down and not go into the bullpen, that’s the goal,” Schnettler said.

The No. 3 starter for Chanhassen all season, Schnettler had a feeling that he might get the chance to pitch on the state’s biggest stage when he looked at the schedule. If things went the way he and his teammates hoped, he would get the call with championship on the line.

“I knew I was going to be the third guy regardless of how it fell and I figured, ‘Third guy, championship game,'” Schnettler said.

Lakeville North starter Brett Herber was nearly Schnettler’s equal. Herber showed no residual effects from pitching 2-1/3 innings in relief in Saturday’s semifinal victory over Northfield, giving up four hits in six innings.

The difference was one mistake Herber made to Chanhassen shortstop Ty Denzer in the third inning, a pitch that Denzer laced to right for a two-run single. Those were all the runs Chanhassen, a team that averaged more than seven runs per game, would get. It was also all they would need.

“I thought there would be a lot of runs scored,” Denzer said. “It was huge getting ahead right away because that was our goal, to get an early lead. But there was no way I thought there wold only be two runs scored in the whole game.

That sentiment was echoed on the Lakeville North bench.

“If somebody would have said we would hold them to two runs and four hits, I would have said that would be a pretty fantastic finish, I would think,” Lakeville North coach Tony Market said. “Schnettler did a good job of moving the ball around and he didn’t give us great pitches to hit.”

The key, Schnettler said, was his confidence in the guys behind him. His teammates had one error, a low throw by Denzer, but more than made up for it with their glove work. “We’re rock solid,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve made an error in a big spot all year.”

Chanhassen coach A.J. Petterson gave credit to his entire defense, highlighting the play of Chad Clute, who turned in two key plays on choppers to third base.

“Typically high school third basemen aren’t making plays like that,” Petterson said. “A tap to third and it’s a knock every time. It makes a huge difference in the game and changes the dynamic.”

Denzer, who will play shortstop at the University of Kansas next year, said that playing behind a pitcher like Schnettler makes the entire defense better.

“He keeps you on your toes because you know that any pitch can come to you,” Denzer said “Everyone loves playing behind a guy who pitches to contact like that.”

Chanhassen finished the season 26-4, while Lakeville North finished 19-8.

Ty Denzer laced a two-run single in the top of the third inning and starting pitcher Jack Schnettler made those runs stand up as Chanhassen, in the school's inaugural appearance in a state championship game, defeating Lakeville North 2-0 to win the Class 3A championship.

Schnettler pitched a complete-game four-hitter, walking three, and leaned heavily on his defense as he did not strike out a batter.

Chanhassen finished the season at 25-4. Lakeville North was 19-8.

Check back later for more on the game.