Youth Sports

      Security State Bank and Crosby 2 played to n 8-8 tie in Minor League baseball action Monday. Coach Travis Leiviska after the game, "After a 30-minute rain delay, we played five innings. Tate Dotzler, Sully Sicard and Solomon Strandlund pitched. Tate had 2 runs batted in and Matthias Mehr, Ezra Leiviska, Finn Workman and Aiden Dotzler each drove in one run. With two outs in the bottom of the 5th Aiden knocked in Matthias to tie the game."

     The Majors game Monday between Riverwood and CTC got started but only a couple innings were played before thunder and lightning took over. Lynn Wenzel fills us in, "The score when the game was ended was Riverwood 7, CTC 3. Maybe next week we can get a whole game in. Emma Keil pitched for Riverwood while Alice Edwards, Brooke Ruschmeier and Willow Leiviska pitched for CTC."

     Five Aitkin youth baseball teams played in the Woodbury Classic over the weekend. Let's see how they did.

10U-They finished 3-2, good enough for 3rd place in the event. They lost to Lake Elmo 14-2, then beat Woodbury White 21-11 and East Ridge before losing 5-2 to Shoreview. They bounced back with a 16-10 win over Lake Elmo to capture 3rd place.

11U-They had a great tournament finishing 3-2 and runner-up. They beat River Falls 11-1 and Rogers/Otsego 12-5 before losing to East Ridge Gold 10-9. They beat East Ridge Black 7-5 to reach the title game and lost an exciting 19-17 matchup with Rogers/Otsego.

12U-They had a tough weekend. They scored a ton of runs but came up empty in the win department. They lost to Bloomington Blue 11-8, Woodbury Blue 16-11 and East Ridge Black 25-21.

13U-This team ended up 2-2. They beat Chaska 5-3, lost to Cottage Grove Green 13-3, beat St. Paul Highland Gold 7-5 and lost their final game 13-11 to Woodbury Gray.

14U-These guys won the tournament with a thrilling 8-7 win over Mankato in the Championship game. They finished 4-1 losing only to East Ridge 17-10. They beat the Bloomington Bandits 10-5, Wayzata Gold 13-6 and Woodbury 12-0 to get to the title game.     

      The Flying Gobblers went 1-2 in Championships at the "Rumble at the Roost" Sunday with the 16/18U team winning first place and the 12U team finishing second. The 16/18's won three of four and avenged their only pool play loss by winning the rematch against the Bemidji Titans in the title game. They beat Moose Lake/Willow River in their opener 7-0, then lost to the Titans 12-8. They beat the Rebels again 10-2 setting up the title matchup. This time Aitkin came out on top 5-4. The 12U won three of four beating Pequot Lakes Blue 19-8, Bemidji Blaze 8-0 and the Thunder 6-0 before losing the Championship game to Pequot Lakes Red 11-10. Coach Kevin Wendlandt talked about the day for his 12's, "It was an amazing day executing new advanced defensive strategies, new pitches and improving their relentless attitude toward never giving up. Huge accomplishment for Aubrey and Evie for hitting their first over the fence home runs and doing it back to back. Super proud of this team and constantly striving to improve and execute everything we work on in practice."

     The first two Champions have been crowned at the "Rumble at the Roost" softball tournament in Aitkin. The Flying Gobbler 10's went 4-0 as they beat Pequot Lakes 9-1, Hermantown 8-1, Pequot 3-0 and in the title game they defeated Pierz 6-5. The Flying Gobbler 14's went 3-1 to win their crown as they lost to Esko 10-2, then beat the Bemidji Blaze 21-3, Esko 4-3 and Pequot Lakes 13-4. Coach Emily Kyllonen after a good day, "After losing the first game to Esko our bats really heated up against the Blaze and we went on to win three straight to win the title. Kenzie Klee had an inside the park homerun, Natalie Wenzel had an outstanding catch, and Elsie Kyllonen pitched a gem. Against Esko the second time around we rallied to tie the game at 3-3 and won in extra innings. Evy Olson and Shelby Anderson had clutch hits in win. Then against Pequot Lakes Kenzie pitched a fantastic game with Izzy Spicer and Leah Palm dialed in behind the plate. Bri Ecklund brought a spark to each game with her hitting. It was a real team effort."

       The opening round of the Woodbury Classic got underway Friday with five Aitkin teams in action. The 10A and 14A+ teams were unable to play their late games because of weather, but the other three teams got their games in. The 11A team beat River Falls 11-1, the 13A team beat Chaska 5-3 and the 12A team lost to Bloomington Blue 11-8. All five teams will be back in action Saturday.

      Lundberg Plumbing and Heating picked up a win Tuesday night as they beat Crosby 2 12-7. Hudson Woodrow, Henry Woodrow, Isaiah Janzen, Tucker Janssen and Sawyer Strandlund all pitched as Lundberg was able to mix things up for a fun game.

       The Aitkin Flying 10's had a big day Saturday at the tournament in Hermantown. Coach Sammie Croatt fills us in, "The girls started off pool play with a 6-2 win over MLWR then beat the Duluth Northwaves 5-1. They lost to Hermantown Blue in a close one, 3-2 placing us second in Pool B which allowed us to continue for one more game. That game was for 3rd place against the 2nd seed in Pool A, the Cloquet Lumberjacks. Cloquet took an early 4-1 lead after the first inning. Aitkin held them the next two innings and rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the final inning. The game went to extra innings under international rules. Aitkin held Cloquet to just one run, but we weren't able to get our runner home and we lost 5-4. It was a tough loss but dang are we proud of how hard our girls battled back especially in the heat and blazing sun. They worked hard, played hard and had fun!"

     The John Hellie Tournament in Pierz with five Aitkin teams participating. Let's see how they did.

10U-Beat Royalton 10-8

        Lost to Pierz 18-2

        Lost to Brainerd 6-4

11U   Tied USA 5-5

        Beat Foley 11-1

        Lost to Little Falls 4-1

12U  Beat Pillager 14-4

        Lost to Pierz 20-0

        Lost to Sauk Rapids 8-4

13U Lost to Pierz 3-0

       Lost to Little Falls 7-2

       Lost to Pierz 12-1

14U Lost to Little Falls 4-2

       Lost to Pierz 6-2

       Beat Brainerd/Baxter 6-1

     There was action in the Majors softball Thursday with Riverwood Health Care Center picking up a 6-1 win over Pillager. The Riverwood bats were hot all game as the team collected 11 hits and had contributions throughout the lineup. Everyone was putting the ball in play and keeping the offense moving. Emma Keil, Brooklyn Wenzel and Evie Wendlandt combined to hold Pillager to just one run. Wendlandt finished with an impressive six-strikeout night to help secure the victory. It was a great all-around effort with strong pitching, solid defense and plenty of offense leading Riverwood to the win.