Baseball

      The high school baseball season might be over, but the honors keep coming for Gobbler head coach Jeremy Janzen. Last week he was selected to coach the North All-Stars in the 51st. North vs Metro All Star Series in Chaska. His team went on to win two out of three against the Metro teams, winning 6-3 over Metro North and 2-1 over Metro West before falling to Metro South 6-4. He was ecstatic to be selected by a special committee to this unique honor, "It was quite an honor, so many great people involved in Minnesota baseball. There were so many good coaches and players over the weekend, not to mention all the history of baseball players who have played in the All Star series games. Joe Mauer, Glen Perkins, Kent Hrbek, Paul Molitor to name a few, as well as Dave Ditty, one of our Gobbler coaches and former Gobbler Jake Lynn. Every player and coach who has participated in this series gets their name etched in Mn. high school baseball history. I am truly grateful and honored." Janzen got to coach with Mike Gullingsrud from Red Lake County who he described as a "great guy". Players on the North team included Drew Ellingson and Ty Rooney from Perham who the Gobblers played twice this season, Alex Wegworth of Grand Rapids, Noah Asuma from Cherry, and Izaak Kalis of Little Falls along with many other fine players. This is a huge honor for a coach who has become of the most well-respected coaches in the state!

     The Perham Yellowjackets used a six-run first inning to move into the Consolation Championship game with a 13-3 win over the Aitkin Gobblers. on Friday. The loss ends the Gobblers season with a 23-4 record. After Aitkin failed to score in their half of the first Perham took advantage of a couple miscues in the Gobbler infield to grab the lead. Lyam Schumacher singled and Gavin Griffen hit a rocket at third baseman Bo Sanford. He made a great play on it but his throw to second sailed into rightfield putting runners at second and third. A ground ball to shortstop Andy Hanson was mishandled scoring a run and when Brody Blume hit a sacrifice fly it was 2-0. Kade Reser followed with a double, Ty Rooney doubled for two runs, Drew Ellingson singled for a run and Tate Zacharias singled for the final run. The Gobblers made it 6-1 in the second. Owen Spolarich singled, moved up on a groundout and scored when a bad throw on a grounder by Quintin Christy went past the first baseman. Aitkin made it 6-2 in the third when Nolan Dotzler singled and scored on a double down the left-field line by Cole Trotter. The Yellowjackets scored three runs in their half of the third to make it 9-2. Hits by Carson Zeise and Schumacher scored runs and a wild pitch brought the other run across. Spolarich walked to lead off the 4th for Aitkin and after a groundout, Jack Jacobson brought him home for the Gobblers third run. Perham scored a run in the 5th to make it 10-3 and put three runs across in the 6th to end the game. 

     Sanford, Trotter, Spolarich, Jacobson and Dotzler each had one hit for Aitkin with Spolarich scoring two of the three runs and Trotter and Jacobson each recording a run batted in. Dotzler started on the hill and went 2 2/3 innings giving up 9 runs, only 3 of them earned, struck out one and walked two. Brandon Kunz came in and threw the final 2 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs, striking out one and walking two hitters. Five errors by the Gobblers hurt their cause as well.

Gobblers          3 5 5

Perham           13 12 1

WP Michael Lung

LP Nolan Dotzler

     Seven Gobbler seniors played their final game Friday.

     The Glencoe-Silver Lake Panthers broke open a 2-0 game with 11 runs in the third inning and went on to a 13-0 win over the Aitkin Gobblers in quarter-final action at the State Baseball Tournament on Thursday. Karson Hasskamp had the only Gobbler hit off Jackson Wischnaak who went the distance for the Panthers striking out five in the game. The Gobbler pitching staff was uncharacteristically wild as five pitchers walked 9 hitters in the game and had a number of wild pitches in the loss. Aitkin opened up the game with a chance to score. With one out in the first Bo Sanford reached on an error and Cole Trotter reached on a boot as well. After a strikeout, a wild pitch moved the runners up to third and second but Wischnaak enticed Kyler Rikala to bounce out for the third out. The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in their half of the first. Brody Ruschmeier singled and on a groundout, he moved around to third. Sam Brown walked and his hustle got him to second with Ruschmeier scoring on the throw down to second. Wischnaak followed with a single to score the second run of the inning. The Gobbler second started with a walk to Aiden Flanagan but Noah Janzen lined to short and the throw back to first caught Flanagan off the bag completing the double play. Hasskamp followed with a double to right but he was then picked off by Wischnaak to end the inning. The Panther third was a nightmare for the Gobblers.  Dylan Lofgren drove in two with single, three walks in a row loaded the bases, Trevor Englemann singled for two more runs and the rest of the inning included several walks and two wild pitches that scored runs, a steal of home and a two-run single by Jack Graupman. The Gobbler 4th started with Trotter reaching on an error, a double play grounder by Kunz and a fly ball by Rikala and the 5th saw Owen Spolarich pop to second, Noah Janzen reaching on a wild pitch on the third strike and Karson Hpperstad and Noah Farrell both striking out. Jacobson pitched one inning plus and gave up two runs, Andy Hanson followed him and found the going tough giving up seven earned runs, Owen Foday failed to get an out and gave up two runs, Jakob Bollum went 1/3 of an inning giving up a pair of runs and Levi Paulbeck fanned the side in the fifth. The Gobbler pitchers threw 132 pitches in the game, just 65 for strikes but it was a team loss as the Gobbler offense struggled as well.

Gobblers   0 1  0

Panthers  13 9 3

WP Jackson Wischnaak

LP Jack Jacobson

       The Gobblers will meet Perham Friday at 10am at the St. Cloud Orthopedics Field in the semifinals of the Consolation round.

      The Aitkin Gobblers will be making their third trip to the State Baseball Tournament Thursday and their first round opponent is Glencoe-Silver Lake. The Panthers are making their ninth appearance as GSL after reaching the tourney five times as Glencoe. They were the State runner-up last season losing to Pine Island 2-1 in the final. They also appeared in 2021, the last time the Gobblers were there and won the whole thing beating Belle Plaine 10-0 in the title game. Belle Plaine had beaten the Gobblers in the semis that year 4-2. The Panthers are led by Head Coach Dean Schwirtz who knows his team has to depend on pitching and small-ball to reach the final again, "We only have one homerun this season, so we have to do all the little things right and give ourselves a chance to win. We score a little over 7 runs a game and give up under 3 runs a game. We aren't real deep in pitching but can get innings from a number of kids. We lost five starters to graduation after last season, but we have 11 seniors this year that have gained a lot of experience." The Panthers have four losses, two to Central and one each to New London-Spicer and Belle Plaine.      The Gobblers come into this years State Tournament averaging over 10 runs a game and are giving up under 5 runs per game. They are deep in hurlers led by Brandon Kunz at 6-0 with an ERA of 2.82. He has struck out 41 with just 10 walks. He has plenty of company in the Gobblers stable. Nolan Dotzler is 4-0 with an ERA of 3.11 with 22 strikeouts and just 7 walks. Jack Jacobson is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.28 with 17 strikeouts and 6 walks. Andy Hanson is 2-1 with an ERA of 3.19 with 32 whiffs and 6 walks and Karson Hasskamp is 3-0 while fanning 26 hitters. The offense is led by Jacobson who enters the tournament hitting .532 with 36 runs scored and 18 RBI's. Dotzler is next at .453 with 37 runs scored and 27 driven in. Cole Trotter sits at .453 with 30 runs scored and 31 runs batted in while Bo Sanford is at .433 with 34 runs scored and 21 runs batted in. Kunz is hitting .415 with 22 runs batted in, Kyler Rikala is at .351 with 24 RBI's, Owen Spolarich is at .333 and Aiden Flanagan is at .310. Aitkin has stolen 108 bases being caught just 12 times. Dotzler is 26-27, Jacobson is 21-22, Sanford is 15-18 and Trotter is 12-15. Meanwhile the Gobblers have 51 hit by pitches on the season with Sanford and Kunz leading with 8 apiece with Rikala being hit 6 times and Flanagan at 5.     This game shapes up to a low scoring affair as many tournament games are but don't be surprised if both teams come out swinging and trying to get the lead early but also look for both teams to play their game and make adjustments as the innings go by. Both teams exude confidence and they know what they can do. This will be State Tournament Baseball, anything can happen.   

        This is the third trip to the State Baseball Tournament for the Gobblers. In 2014 they lost to Fairmont 7-1, beat Hawley on a walk-off sacrifice fly 5-4 then lost the Consolation final 10-4 to Blake. It was very exciting to finally get the monkey off our back and everyone really enjoyed the experience. One of the stars on that team was Jake Lynn who was a fire balling righthander who could really throw strikes. He remembers well that first trip to State, "Some of the best memories were leading up to the games. The way the community reached out and supported us was something I'll never forget, from the newspapers, to being escorted out of town, everywhere we went we were getting congratulated and given words of encouragement. Starting at the welcoming ceremony it felt special. But the stadiums and quality of the fields made it seem like you weren't playing high school ball. It felt like a whole different level. Even though things didn't go as well as we hoped the memories and teammates we got to share with our teammates will last a lifetime. As we all know the younger generation will be fully documenting this on their phones but I urge them to take time and soak in the moments, not just on the screen but with their own eyes." Nathan Ehnstrom is the Gobblers JV Coach in 2026 but in 2014 he was one of the Gobblers taking in their first State Tournament. He has lots of memories as well, "My memories of the State Tournament included the belief we had in each other as a team. "Ain't Worried about nothin" was our slogan. We went out and trusted the guy next to us. when we stepped on the field for the first time at Putz and saw that sea of red in the stands, well it was something I will never forget. The support from the town was amazing and playing at State was a blast." Logan Quade who was a specialist at throwing runners out trying to steal also remembers the State Tourney with pride, "The State Tourney was awesome. We had this sense of pride as a team. We were so proud that we made it. We had a really tough matchup with Fairmont, but we were just excited to go out and leave it all on the field. We came up short that game but came back to beat Hawley for Aitkin's first State Tournament win. The camaraderie during those moments is what sticks with me. That team brought tears to my eyes at moments but also brought the high hopes when we pulled off that win. Something cool is that I helped coach this group of seniors with Mike Paulbeck when they were in 7th grade."
      That first trip to State in 2014 will be long remembered but it was not going to be the last time, The next trip was just seven years away.

     The 2021 State Tournament was a little different. The Gobblers had been there in 2014, so coaches knew a little more ab out how to prepare for the event even though the roster was entirely different. That team had good pitching, and it had speed that accounted for a lot of runs over the course of the season. One of those 'speed merchants" was Caiden Kjelstrom and he remembers the journey well, "Facing adversity in the Section Championship after losing the first game 13-0 to Eveleth-Gilbert, then rallying back to beat them 14-2 in the final and finishing the job is what sticks with me. Advancing to the State Tourney is a great experience for a kid to have. Most importantly it means playing one more week with your best friends." Zach Ehnstrom was a main cog in the 2021 team that finished 23-6. They opened the State with a 2-0 win over #2 seed Albany, then lost to Belle Plaine 4-2 in the semis before beating Plainview-Elgin-Millville 8-4 to take home the 3rd place trophy. Zach recalls the community support, "These two things are what I remember about the State Tournament. First the overwhelming support from the community. I felt like I couldn't walk anywhere without hearing congrats of go gettem at State. This small community is awesome, and they are going to show up again this year. The second thing I remember was the brotherhood of the team and the leadership of the senior class. Our team was a family and the energy from those seniors was contagious. We all fed off each other and went to work. To this year's team, enjoy every minute of it, it's a special time. Don't forget that it's just the game you've been playing since you were a little kid. Have fun but be laser-focused and go win some games. Play for each other like you have been and everything will come together." Landon Janzen had a crazy tournament in 2021. He caught every pitch in some real heat and never complained. He also loved the experience, "The State Tournament had to have been one of my favorite memories. I started playing baseball with those kids when I was nine years old and getting to grow up all the way through high school and complete the accomplishment of going to the State Tournament was nothing short of amazing. To go from playing in it to coaching in it this season is going to be a great experience. I'm so happy for these boys, they've worked so hard this year." Jake Ince was another member of the Gobblers in 2021, and he couldn't be happier for this years team. :Seeing them make the State Tournament this season brought back memories of our own run and what the opportunity meant to us. For our team getting to State was about much more than baseball. The year before, our junior season was cancelled because of Covid and that group of seniors never got the chance to finish their careers on the field. We carried that with us all season wearing their class number on our bats. We weren't just playing for ourselves we were playing for those seniors, our school and everyone who had built the program before us. Making State meant writing our names in the history books and representing something bigger than ourselves. It was finishing a job we started as kids. To this years team, enjoy every moment. Opportunities like this don't come around too often and the memories will last a lifetime. Good luck guys and we'll be cheering you on."
      What a treat to get all these memories from years past and see how important the State Tournament was for them. The 2026 team will write their own story, but they will have a lot of history and players behind them.

       This weeks State Baseball Tournament is a first and last chance for the Gobbler seniors to leave a final mark on their legacy. They are a great group who has had tons of success leading up to this moment and don't think the experience is lost on them. Here's how they feel about heading to their final destiny this week.

Owen Spolarich-"It's a great accomplishment, something I've never experienced in my baseball career. It'll be something I'll never forget, playing with my buddies/teammates that I've played with since youth baseball."

Karson Hopperstad-"Making it to State as a senior is just a dream come true. These next few days I'm going to have just as much fun as possible. I think we have a good chance in the first round against Glencoe. They are going to be a good team and we're gonna give it all we've got. I couldn't have asked to play with a better bunch of guys that we have right now. That's all that matters to me."

Quinton Christy-"As a senior I am so happy because a lot of people were looking down on us this year and didn't expect much so we had a lot to prove and well, we proved it. I am so proud of every single person on this team and we're ready for this week."

Noah Janzen-"Here's what it means to me going to State as a senior coming up through youth baseball. We were probably the worst team in Aitkin. We never got to experience State baseball as youth players or many wins in general but all we cared about was going out and playing the game. We loved playing with our buddies because that was all that mattered. I'm glad our senior group stuck it out and put in the hard work and dedication it takes to make good players and team. I'm glad it waited until our senior year to be here. I'd rather do it now when I can remember the memories with my buddies because all that matters in the end is the memories you make and the times you had."

Brandon Kunz-"Going to State is going to be awesome. It is what all of us on the team have worked for our whole careers. As a senior this is a great way to end our careers, in a State Tournament. It means so much to finally make it. I couldn't be prouder of our guys!"

Tyler Boyd-"As a senior it means everything to me to be able to go to State my last year of baseball. It is what all of us have worked so hard for over our high school and elementary school days to get to where we are today. It is an amazing feeling, and I wouldn't have wanted to do it with any other team."

Owen Foday-"What it means to make the State Tournament is a surreal but incredible feeling. Moving up here, I never thought for one second that I would be in this amazing situation with this group of guys. I couldn't have asked for better teammates to make this incredible run with. To do it as a senior who hasn't been to State in any sport I've played is amazing. I'm excited to have fun with my friends and teammates as one final run of my high school career."

     Seven seniors playing a game they love and about to cement their legacy at Aitkin High School. It doesn't get any better than that!    

      The Aitkin Gobblers are headed to the State Baseball Tournament for the third time after edging the top seeded Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers 1-0 Thursday in the Championship game of the Section 7AA baseball tournament in Hermantown. Brandon Kunz pitched a complete game three-hitter and knocked in the only run of the game in the 6th inning leading to the win. Both pitchers pitched great with Mason Park also going the distance surrendering only five hits but giving up the double by Kunz after Bo Sanford reached on an error and then raced around to score the games only run. The win moves the Gobblers to 23-2 on the season while the Hilltoppers end the season with a record of 19-8. Kunz scattered three hits and struck out three hitters to pick up the win. He threw 97 pitches, 69 for strikes. He talked about the win, "Well, it was a great team win. We showed an incredible amount of grit and effort. We all believed in each other, and it showed. If someone made a mistake someone else picked them up and it was awesome. Great win for the boys.!!!" Sanford scored the only run of the game, "It was a heck of a game, playoff baseball at its best. Brandon pitched a great game and Aiden Flanagan and Nolan Dotzler made some great plays. I was able to reach base, and Brandon hit a shot to score me. I have never been more excited. We are not done yet, we are ready for State." Nolan Dotzler went 0-3 but knew the difference in this win, "It was an awesome game for everyone. We never went quiet, made the plays and did the little things right. That's what brought us to the win. Kunz had an unbelievable game and everyone else did their part. It was just amazing all around and we are all super hyped." Coach Jeremy Janzen after the win, "We've had that wolfpack mentality all season, there are no lone wolves in the pack, if we stand together as a pack, we can take down the buffalo and that's what we've done. Brandon pitched well and we all stuck together and made the plays we had to."

      The Gobblers who had appearances in 2014 and 2021 will have their first game Thursday in St. Cloud.

Gobblers     1 5 4

Hilltoppers  0 3 1

WP Brandon Kunz

LP Mason Park

      Jack Jacobson pitched a three-hit shutout and struck out five as the Aitkin Gobblers moved into the Section 7AA Championship game with a 10-0 win over the top seeded Hilltoppers of Duluth Marshall. Aitkin moves to 22-2 with the win and is one game away from a third State Tournament appearance. They will play at 5:00 Thursday against Duluth Marshall, a 7-3 winner Tuesday night over Pequot Lakes. The game will be played at Fichtner Field in Hermantown.

     The Gobblers jumped on Hilltoppers ace Alden Marsolek for three runs in the first inning. Nolan Dotzler led off with a hit, Bo Sanford reached on an error, Cole Trotter singled for a run, Brandon Kunz singled for another, and Kyler Rikala doubled to the gap for a run. The Toppers tried to bounce back in their half after a walk, but Jacobson induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Aitkin made it 4-0 in the second as Jacobson walked, Dotzler laid down a sacrifice bunt, Sanford singled and Trotter brought the run home with his second hit. Jacobson ended the second on the mound with a pair of strikeouts, both looking. The Gobblers made it an 8-0 game in the third. Noah Janzen singled, Karson Hasskamp singled, Jacobson reached on an error, Janzen scoring, Dotzler doubled for two runs and Sanford singled to make it 8-0. They scored twice in the fifth to make it 10-0. Dotzler singled and after a wild pitch, Sanford singled to score a run and Trotter followed with a long single to up it to score the second run. Jacobson got the Toppers in order in the fifth on a pop-up, a ground out and a flyball to center to end the game.

      Sanford led the offense with a 4-4 day scoring twice and knocking in two runs. Dotzler was 3-3, scored three times and knocked in a pair and Trotter finished 3-4 with three runs batted in. Aitkin banged out 15 hits against three Hilltopper hurlers. They also took advantage of two errors by Duluth Marshall. Coach Jeremy Janzen after the win, "We got out to a great start, we knew we had to get ahead right away, and we were able to do that. We were so confident, no nerves, ready to play. Jack Pitched great and our hitters backed him up. We had lots of fire and made the plays we had to. It was a big win and puts us in a great spot. Our entire lineup contributed to this one."

Gobblers     10 15 0

Hilltoppers   0  3  2

WP Jack Jacobson

LP Alden Marsolek

      Here's what the players had to say.

Nolan Dotzler-"I mean we just came out from the start and showed them our style of baseball. Then just kept it up throughout the whole game and didn't stop. We kept the momentum on our side the whole game and did what was needed."

Bo Sanford-"I thought we dominated the whole game. We stayed true to our approach. Jack Pitched a great game and we got the job done. Still have to get one more to get to the State Tournament."

Jack Jacobson-"I felt confident on the mound today and trusted my pitches from the start. I was able to get ahead of hitters and work efficiently throughout the game (58 pitches, 40 for strikes). Our defense played really well behind me and made some big plays when we needed them. Overall, it was a great team effort, and I was happy to do my part to help us get the win."

Cole Trotter-"We started out with a ton of energy and like our first six guys barreled up right away and we scored some runs off their number one pitcher and that gave us a lot of confidence. Jack pitched a great game, and this win really put us in the drivers seat in the tournament."