Record Setting Night for Mahtomedi Zephyrs

 For baseball fans who like plenty of offense, the Mahtomedi Zephyrs put on a display of hitting and taking advantage of 13 walks that included seven in a ten run sixth inning which would result in a 20-3 win over the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks in the Class AAA championship game Friday at Target Field in Minneapolis.  

It was the second state title for Mahtomedi in their sixth trip to state.  The last state title for the Zephyrs was 2018.  

Mahtomedi burst out of the starting gate with two first inning runs.  The first came when Tony Neubeck reached first base on an error by Grand Rapids second baseman Andrew Sundberg.  Their second run came on a bases loaded walk by Wyatt Miller.  

Neubeck would come through again in the top of the second with a two run single that scored Ethan Loss and Jordan Hull.  

Neither team would tally in the third inning.  But in the the top of the fourth, the Zephyrs would begin a streak of three innings where nine or more batters came to the plate.  They would bat around in the fourth and add three runs to their ledger, including a ground rule double over the left field wall by Luke Loughlin.  He would go on to have four hits and drive in four runs.  

Mahtomedi would also bat around in the top of the fifth as the first five batters would reach base and three would cross the plate.  They were Loss, Oswald and Neubeck.  Could the Zephyrs wrap up the state title due to the ten run rule in the fifth?  Grand Rapids would force them to wait another inning when they ended the shutout with three runs.  Kodi Miller's RBI double scored Ren Morque and RBI singles from Kyle Henke and Sundberg.  

Then the Zephyrs would double their run total in the top of the sixth with 10.  The Thunderhawks pitchers had trouble finding the plate as seven Mahtomedi players would reach base on a walk that helped them account for more runs.  Loughlin would pick up his fourth hit of the game with an RBI double and pinch hitter Sam Ruzynski would also drill a two bagger.  According to the blogger's scorebook, a total of 15 Zephyrs would step into the batters box in the sixth inning.  

There were no innings where a team retired the side in order.  

Mahtomedi concluded their season with a record of 20-5 and Grand Rapids ended the 2021 campaign at 19-8.  It was the 19th state tournament appearance for Grand Rapids.