Photo Gallery: Duluth Marshall vs. Minnehaha Academy
"Everybody knows him because he's the No. 3-ranked pitcher in the state," Brumley said of Pedersen. "But there's no pitcher who's too big, too tall, too strong or too good for us to beat. My job was to give my team a chance to win."
Brumley did his job to help Minnehaha Academy improve its record to 2-1 this season with a 5-4 victory over the Hilltoppers. He put together a strong start on the mound before collecting the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh; his last-second heroics were necessary after Marshall had tied the game in the top of the seventh to deny Brumley the win.
"I think he'll take the win with the game-winning RBI," Redhawks coach Scott Glenn said. "I would expect he's OK with that."
Brumley knew he would have to throw well to match Pederson, who struck out 10 and allowed just five hits in 5 2/3 innings. But Brumley, a senior right-hander, surrendered just five hits until tiring in the seventh.
"Brock's ability to throw what feels like seven or eight pitches for strikes is phenomenal," Marshall coach Joe Wicklund said. "We knew we wouldn't get a lot of good wood on him, and we knew we wouldn't get a lot of chances."
The Hilltoppers (1-1) scored a run in the first on an RBI single by Peter Hansen, but after that Brumley threw scoreless ball until the seventh. He did not walk a batter; Brumley did not even reach a three-ball count until there were two outs in the fifth.
"I've never been an overpowering guy like Ben, so I have to keep mixing speeds to keep the hitters off-balance," Brumley said. "I always like my curve and slider; without those pitches, I wouldn't be able to do what I did today."
Minnehaha Academy tied the game with a two-out RBI double by Conor Johnson in the second, then appeared to break the game open in the sixth.
Pedersen's pitch count reached 107 pitches with a two-out walk in that frame, and after Hilltoppers reliever Matthew Erickson hit the only batter he faced, the Redhawks' Noah Dehne greeted reliever Tyler Johnson by slamming a three-run homer down the left-field line.
"When two teams of this caliber meet, it's easy to think it will come down to one pitch," Wicklund said. "Everyone probably thought that home-run pitch was 'that' pitch. But we've got a lot of fight in us; we're not going to go quietly, and they're not going to go quietly, either."
In the top of the seventh Brumley got one out before surrendering a double, a single and a run-scoring double by Kevin Snyder. "When we got that three-run lead we were really hyped up, but I was gassed," Brumley admitted.
Minnehaha Academy reliever Will Wamre issued two walks to force in a run, then after a strikeout gave up a walk that tied the game before leaving the bases loaded with a strikeout.
"The discussion for us is missed opportunities," Wicklund said. "We talk all the time about, when the call comes, can you answer it? In that instance, we didn't."
The bottom of the seventh also was a wild ride as back-to-back one-out singles followed by a passed ball pushed the game-winning run to third, but the lead baserunner was picked off third after straying too far away on a wild pitch.
That set the table for Brumley, a right-handed batter who singled to right to score Jake McCabe from second base on an extremely close play at the plate.
"I had played travel ball with [Johnson], so I knew he threw hard and had a decent curve," Brumley said. "So when he threw a first-pitch curve for a ball, I had a feeling a fastball was coming. I tried to take it the other way because of how hard he throws, and it found the barrel of the bat."
Glenn was pleased his team, which is pushing for its third Class 2A state title in four years, did not hang its heads after surrendering the three-run lead in the seventh.
"I thought our players battled," Glenn said. "That was our mind-set coming in to this game: We wanted to keep fighting. That's how we beat a really good team and a great pitcher."
And Wicklund felt Marshall can use the contest to get better as it pushes for a return to the state tournament.
"What's fun about this was that it felt like a state playoff game," Wicklund said. "This is a gorgeous day at a gorgeous facility, and it wouldn't be shocking if these two teams played again at a gorgeous facility on a gorgeous day in June. We just want the last pitch to go differently on that day."