Minnehaha ‘finishes its business’ in championship

By MATTHEW DAVIS

Jesse Retzlaff and company waited all year for this.

Minnehaha Academy (27-3) rallied in the fifth inning to beat Belle Plaine 5-1 for the Class AA state baseball championship on June 20 at Target Field. It ended that year-long wait for the Redhawks after falling 10-1 to St. Cloud Cathedral in the 2015 championship.

“We had a lot of returners from that team who after that (2015 championship) game made that our goal to get back and to win,” Redhawks coach Scott Glenn said. “It’s amazing what one year will do.”

Photo right: Minnehaha Academy’s baseball team celebrated their first state championship on June 20 following a 5-1 victory over Belle Plaine at Target Field. Front row (l to r): Brady Glenn, Kenny Kiratli, Justin Evenson, Andrew Wolpert, Alex Fedje-Johnson, Jessie Retzlaff, Grant Steinkopf, Ryler McDowall, and Bennett Theisen. Back row  (l to r): Coach Scott Glenn, Simon Huyek, Luke Johnson, Conor Johnson, Ole Roof, James Wong, Alex Jordan, Luke Mahler, Steve Johnson, Johnny Goth, Brock Brumley, Alex Evenson, Coach Joe Protzmann, Noah Dehne, and Coach Tom Konz. (Photo submitted)

Glenn said that the senior captains coined “unfinished business” as their team slogan this season.

“They set that belief they set that tone from the very beginning,” Glenn said.

Particularly, Retzlaff wanted another shot on the mound in the championship following the loss as the starter in the 2015 final. He made the most of his second chance on June 20 with 12 strikeouts, an earned run two hits allowed against Belle Plaine (25-2).

“The morning of, Jesse told me he’d pitch 20 innings if he had to,” Glenn said. “He was on a mission.”

Minnehaha won its first baseball state title in the process, an achievement fulfilled by a group of seniors who had a part in three trips to the state tournament. Several of the seniors played for the Redhawks varsity team when they reached state in 2013.

“I think all three of our state tournament appearances have come in my four years at this school,” senior infielder/pitcher Alex Fedje-Johnson said. “Seeing it all come to this with a state championship, it feels great.”

Both Fedje-Johnson and Retzlaff, among other 2016 returners, played key roles the 2015 run. They led this year’s squad storming out the gate to a 17-1 start with sights set on a return to Target Field.

Only Belle Plaine beat the Redhawks during that stretch, a 9-7 loss on Apr. 9 that Retzlaff did not pitch in. He knew what to expect on June 20 though, and it only helped as he quieted the Tigers’ bats.

“I just knew that I had to go in there and throw my game, attack the outside corner and have them try and hit my fastball,” Retzlaff said.

Belle Plaine had a little success against Retzlaff with a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Wes Sarsland capitalized on Brody Curtiss’ triple with an RBI sac fly for the Tigers’ lead.

Minnehaha’s bats responded with a five-run fifth to claim the lead for good. It started with walks to Kenny Kiratli and Retzlaff. Andrew Wolpert then drove home the first of the five runs on an RBI single to tie the game.

Belle Plaine had some breathing room after that when Noah Dehne grounded out for the second out. Instead, the Redhawks scored runs in a myriad of ways.

John Goth took a hit by a pitch, which sent home Retzlaff. Fedje-Johnson eventually scored after getting walked. Justin Evenson’s walk also put up a run.

“I had a little spark going, and it kind of got our benching going, a little bit more riled up,” Fedje-Johnson said.

Alex Jordan, who led the offense with two hits, drove in a run. Minnehaha had just four hits in the game outside of the five-run inning, but the Redhawks still got to the Tigers in other ways.

“We drove their pitcher’s pitch count really high,” Glenn said. “We had some really long at-bats. By the time we got to the fifth inning, he was up around 90 pitches.”

Minnehaha also used a big inning for the previous round with a four-run third to secure the victory. The Redhawks held on against Pierz 4-2 in a storm-riddled semifinals on June 17 in St. Cloud.

Lightning delays abounded both during both warm-ups and the game itself. Pierz finished warming up before the first strike, and Minnehaha had to wait for an hour for its warm-ups after a couple of lightning flashes. Likewise, interruptions between some innings extended for a while.

“We could have just waited three hours and played the whole thing, but it was a real test,” Glenn said.

Minnehaha passed its share of tests on the way to the title. Minneapolis Washburn ended the Redhawks’ winning streak late in the regular season. New Life Academy put the Redhawks on the brink of elimination for the Section 4 tournament, so it took two wins over NLA on June 9 to even reach state.

Minnehaha also beat Cathedral 7-1 on Apr. 30, the only team to beat the Redhawks last year. The Redhawks took the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press poll for Class AA and never gave it up.

Minnehaha finished its business.