One base after another
Having reached the postseason, the Bombers baseball team is fighting to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.
Matthew Giese takes a throw from the infield in a recent game at John Burch Park.
The Cannon Falls baseball team has finished their regular season with a record of 11-8, allowing them to obtain the number two seed in the West Sub-Section of Section 1AA. Cannon Falls is hosting Sub-Sections this year, giving the Bombers the ability to play at their own home field, John Burch Park.
Moving through the postseason, the Bombers have already beat the GEMLOCK (Grand Meadow, Leroy-Ostrander, Kingland), with a stunning shutout of 7-0. They then went on to a victory against the Pine Island Panthers, conquering them 6-2. Both of these key wins sent the Bombers to the Sub-Section Championship against the number-one-seeded Lourdes Eagles— a team they previously lost to in one game during regular season, but won against in another. The winner would then go on to play PEM (Plainview-Elgin-Millville).
Unfortunately, the Bombers fell to the Eagles 0-4 with two hits with one error. Tyler Johnston, a junior on the team who plays at second base, claimed that, as a team, “we needed to put the ball in play more.” With a mere two hits, the Bombers were unable to score throughout the seven innings. Johnston also stated that the team needed to force and pressure Lourdes’ defense to make critical plays.
Their loss against Lourdes meant that the Bombers took second place in their Sub-Section. However, the postseason is double elimination, so the Bombers luckily will still have a shot at advancing to the state tournament. The baseball team will now face Pine Island once again on Tuesday, May 31. In order to beat Pine Island again, the team needs to “pitch well, have quality at bats, and play good defense,” Johnston confirms. The Bombers cannot overlook Pine Island, as a loss against the Panthers would eliminate Cannon Falls from the tournament.
If the Bombers win, the team will play Saturday, June 4 in Rochester for a chance to advance to state. The state tournament is June 14-15 in St. Cloud and the championship is June 17 at Target Field. Nevertheless, win or lose, the Cannon Falls Bombers have had an overall successful 2022 season.
Hi, my name is Kyra and I am a senior editor for the sports category! I play volleyball, basketball, and softball outside of school. I am also involved...