New York Mills junior Damon Tumberg hit a walk-off double to center field with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete a comeback 4-3 victory over Ely.

Tumberg, who drove in Nick Kupfer from second base, said, “That was special. I’m going to remember that forever.”

Ely (21-3) led 3-0 through five innings and had held New York Mills to one hit. But the Eagles tied the game with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to set up Tumberg’s heroics.

New York Mills (24-0) is appearing in its fourth consecutive state tournament and sixth overall. The Eagles finished third last season. 

“Four years in a row is pretty remarkable,” New York Mills coach Chris Bushinger said. “It’s something we’re very proud of.”

NOTE: To see game statistics, click on "FINAL" under the line score for the game below.

PATRICK JOHNSON

Chatfield advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament for the first time with a 6-3 victory over Royalton in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Thursday at Chaska Athletic Park.

“It’s been a long time coming, so it’s exciting for us to get that monkey off our back,” said Chatfield coach Brian Baum, in his 24th year with the team and 14th as head coach. “It feels very good.”

Chatfield senior Jake Neis threw a complete game for the victory, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six.

“It wasn’t my strongest outing, but I got the job done,” Neis said. 

Chatfield, the Section 1 champion, is in the state tournament for a sixth time, and first since 2006.

Up 3-1 and with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Chatfield (22-3) scored three runs on three consecutive two-out singles to blow the game open. 

The first was by junior center fielder Ethan Woltz who scored leadoff hitter Dan Narveson to make it a 4-1 game. After the next batter, Noah Grant, reached with a single, junior third baseman Drew Hurley hit another one to drive in Woltz and Grant to give the Gophers a 6-1 lead.

“It was definitely a lot easier after we got those three runs,” Neis said. “That gave me some breathing room.”

Royalton (12-11), the Section 5 champion, battled back, cutting the deficit to 6-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning. Royalton freshman second baseman Michael Petron provided the big hit - a two-run single scoring sophomore Parker Brezinka and freshman Ryan Fussy, who reached base with walks. 

Royalton is making its fourth appearance at the state tournament, and first since 2007.

Petron was 2-for-4 in the game and junior shortstop Brady Moulzolf was 3-for-3 with a run scored for the Royals. 

Chatfield took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Woltz drove in leadoff hitter Zach Eggers with a sacrifice fly for the game’s first run and Neis made it 2-0 scoring on a groundout by Noah Grant. 

Eggers was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, Woltz went 1-for-2 with a run and two RBIs and Hurley was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.

“We were very fortunate to win this game,” Baum said. “We got the clutch hits we needed to.”

NOTE: To see game statistics, click on "FINAL" under the line score for the game below.

PATRICK JOHNSON

New Life Academy senior Alex Busch grounded out on a curveball in his first at bat in Thursday’s Class 1A quarterfinals.

He had no trouble with the curve his next time up.

Busch turned a 1-0 curve ball into a three-run double in the third inning, helping New Life Academy (23-4) to an 8-2 victory over Springfield (21-3) at Chaska Athletic Park.

“That’s a senior stepping up,” New Life Academy coach Dave Darr said. “Alex actually the last few weeks has started to hit the ball pretty well for us and do some things. Something just clicked.”

Busch’s hit gave the Eagles a 6-2 lead. Pitcher John Horner led the way from there, holding Springfield scoreless over the final five innings.

Horner was playing with a bruised check, the result of a foul ball to the face in last week’s section championship. He used a mixture of fastballs and curveballs to stifle Springfield’s offense Thursday, though he struggled at times with his control.

“He just throws strikes a lot, and he just gets comfortable really fast,” Busch said. “He’s just a great pitcher.”

Horner also reached based on three of his four plate appearances and scored three runs on offense. Sam Mazon, Simon Killeen and Thomas Gunderson added RBIs for New Life Academy, which is making its first state appearance.

The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the first on doubles from Killeen and Mazon, the team’s No. 4 and No.5 hitters. Springfield tied the game in the second, thanks in part to a pair of New Life Academy errors, but the Eagles scored the game’s final six runs.

The Tigers struggled on offense most of the afternoon, managing just five hits and one extra base hit. New Life Academy had 12 hits, including four for extra bases.

Despite his team's inexperience at the state tournament, Darr said the New Life Academy players were relaxed Thursday, especially after their strenuous run to the section championship.

That run included two comeback victories over Heritage Christian Academy last Thursday and a blown seven-run lead against St. Agnes that the team eventual reclaimed.

“We’ve been through this. We know what to do,’” Darr said. “We learned how to win those games, which is what we needed to do, and so I didn’t sense too many nerves today.”

The Eagles will now prepare for top-seeded BOLD in the semifinals Friday. The new opponent, however, won’t change the Eagle’s approach, Darr said.

“When we get hittable pitches, we need to drive it,” he said. “We need to take good swings to drive the ball and not just to hit it, and if they give us something, we’ve got to take it. It’s going to be fun tomorrow. They’re a very good team, and we’ll just see what we can do.”

NOTE: To see game statistics, click on "FINAL" under the line score for the game below.

NATE GOTLIEB

BOLD senior Logan Sandgren pitched six innings and struck out 14, first baseman Riley Kramer added three RBIs and the top-seeded Warriors defeated Red Lake County 8-0 in the Class 1A quarterfinals Thursday morning at Chaska Athletic Park.

Sandgren struck out the first six batters he faced and 13 of his first 16. He got all the support he needed in the first inning, when BOLD (22-3), the reigning state champion, scored three runs, including two on a single from Kramer. 

"We were aggressive offensively and the thing is we just had great AB's throughout the lineup," BOLD coach Brian Kingery said. "You can't ask for a better start in the state tournament."

Sandgren limited Red Lake County (20-6) to one hit, a single in the sixth inning by Jake Magnell. He retired his first 14 batters before hitting a batter in the fifth.

Sandgren used his curveball more than usual and wasn’t throwing as hard as normal Thursday, Kingery said, adding that he threw the curve about 20 times.

“That’s the best I’ve ever thrown it and the most it’s ever broke,” Sandgren said. “They weren’t really touching anything. It felt like we were in control the entire time.”

BOLD’s offense, on the other hand, seemed to be hitting everything. The Warriors notched 14 hits and didn’t strikeout once. The damage started early, when BOLD used two hits and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs in the first.

Kramer, the cleanup hitter, then hit an 0-2 curveball down the third baseline for a single, scoring two runners. He added another RBI single in the second.

Kramer was one of the team’s top pitchers last season but didn’t pitch this year after having arm surgery in October. The senior pitched his first inning of the season Thursday, throwing a one-two-three seventh inning in relief of Sandgren.

“Riley wanted to get out there, and he deserved it,” Kingery said. “He’s a senior, he’s a great kid, loves baseball, so we let him go.”

NOTE: To see game statistics, click on "FINAL" under the line score for the game below.

NATE GOTLIEB