The Minnesota high school sports season is winding down for 2016-17 as the state lacrosse and baseball finals take place Saturday, June 17 and Monday, June 19. Here's a preview of the championships in lacrosse and baseball.
Saturday's state girls lacrosse championship game has a familiar ring as the Blake Bears face the Eden Prairie Eagles who will be going for their third consecutive state title. The two schools played each other in the regular season on May 25 with the Eagles on top 19-13. The only two years that the two schools have not met for the state title were are 2013 and 2015. Can Eden Prairie achieve a three peat or will Blake win their first state title since 2014? Head down Highway 212 to Chanhassen at 3:30 and find out who will take home the championship trophy.
As for the boys lacrosse championship at 6 PM, the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights will be going for their first state title since 2011 as they face the top seeded Eagan Wildcats at 6 PM. The Red Knights held off a valiant comeback by the Wayzata Trojans to advance to the state finals and the Wildcats got an overtime goal from Cole Powell to beat the Mahtomedi Zephyrs.
Head over to Target Field on the 19th for Championship Monday in the state baseball tournament as the title games in the four classes take place. First up at 10 AM is the Class A championship with the top seeded Parkers Prairie Panthers taking on the Legacy Christian Academy Lions. For those of you who never heard of Legacy Christian Academy, it's the former Meadow Creek Christian that switched to its current moniker in 2010 and is going for their first state baseball title against a Panther team that has scored eight runs in both state tournament games. Parkers Prairie shut out Pillager 8-0 in the quarterfinals and beat Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 8-3 in the semifinals. Can the Panthers continue their string of eight run games?
Next up at 1 PM is the Class AA championship with the top seeded and defending Class AA champion Minnehaha Academy Redhawks battling the Pierz Pioneers. The Redhawks have an outstanding offense as the scored 18 runs in two games, beating the Warroad Warriors in the quarterfinals 10-5 and the Maple Lake Irish 8-3 in the semifinals. The Pioneers earned their trip down Highway 10 with a 6-2 quarterfinal win over the New London-Spicer Wildcats and broke a scoreless tie on Mat Tautges walkoff single in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat the Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers in the semifinals.
The Waconia Wildcats could become the first team to go unbeaten since St. Cloud Cathedral in 2015 but first they have to face the Hibbing Bluejackets in the Class AAA final at 4 PM. The Wildcats have given fans plenty of drama at Siebert Field with a couple of walkoff wins. Alex Logelin hit a game winning single in the quarterfinals to beat the Mahtomedi Zephyrs and Robert Smith came through in the semifinals to top the Marshall Tigers. The Bluejackets have returned to the state title game for the first time since 1989 when they lost to the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders. They beat the second seeded St. Cloud Tech in the quarterfinals and battled back from a 7-3 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat the Alexandria Cardinals in the semifinals. It should be an interesting Class AAA final.
There will be a new Class AAAA champion as the Eden Prairie Eagles battle the Forest Lake Rangers at 7 PM. The Eagles ended the Wayzata Trojans championship reign with a 6-1 win in the quarterfinals and got a one hitter from Torben Urdahl to rout the Lakeville North Panthers 14-0 in the semifinals. The Rangers make their first trip to the finals since they lost to the Coon Rapids Cardinals in the Class AA championship. They beat the Maple Grove Crimson 6-5 in eight innings in the quarterfinals and walloped their Suburban East rivals the Woodbury Royals 9-1 in the semifinals.
There's plenty of championship action coming up to close out the 2016-17 high school sports season.
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