Amateur baseball: Elrosa Saints brace for No. 1 Delano

Aug. 30—DELANO — It's not like Ashton Dingmann can't hit the ball.

The Elrosa Saints first baseman was an outstanding hitter at Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School and has done the job with the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team.

But, Dingmann struggled in Region 15C.

"Ashton had a lot of unlucky breaks," Elrosa manager Hadley said. "He had a lot of at-'em balls."

Last week at the 100th annual state Class C tournament, Dingmann did just fine, thank you. He went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles in the Saints' 2-0 win over the Minneota Mudhens at Optimist Park in Litchfield.

Things were going so well that when he came up in the seventh inning with a couple runners on base, Minneota elected to give him an intentional walk.

"He saw the ball very well lately," Hadley said. "He's always had good patience."

When told what his manager said, Dingmann, who plays basketball at Gustavus Adolphus College, smiled.

"Unlucky breaks?" he said. "I'm not so sure about that.

"It was nice to get some hits."

The Saints hope Dingmann and his teammates have a lot more hits in store as they head to the final weekend of the state tournament. Elrosa (22-4-1) plays host Delano (32-2) at 7:30 Friday. Also alive in the state tournament's final weekend of the 48-team, single elimination affair is the Bird Island Bulldogs. Bird Island plays the Waconia Lakers at 11 a.m. Saturday in Dassel.

Teams continue play Sunday, with the Class C state championship game set for 1 p.m. Monday in Delano.

The Athletics are No. 1 in Class C by the Minnesota Baseball Association rankings and coming off a 4-0 victory last Friday against the Spring Hill Chargers. The game was played in Delano before more than 1,300 fans and many of the Saints, including Hadley, were there.

The team is loaded with current and former college players, including former Minnesota Gopher Toby Hanson, who bats third in the lineup. Marcus Riewer (Minnesota-Duluth), Trevor Jaunich (North Dakota State), Jack Paulson (Northern State), Brady Miller (Gustavus Adolphus), Hunter Hart (St. Thomas), Jake Nelson (St. Thomas) and Tanner Kroells and Adam Schleper made up the lineup against Spring Hill.

One the mound was Max Otto. The right-hander will be a senior at Northern State University, a Division II school in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Otto tossed a three-hitter against Spring Hill, striking out 12 with no walks.

Hadley said last Saturday that he hoped Payton VanBeck could start against Delano. The St. Cloud State left-hander has had a blister that has limited his throwing at state to one inning. The Saints also have veteran right-hander Ethan Vogt, the former Minnesota Gopher, as well as draftees Brett Engelmeyer of the Greenwald Cubs, Cole Fuchs of the Cold Spring Rockies and Jim Thull of the New Munich Silverstreaks.

Delano's draftees are Avery Liestman and Joey Hyde of the Litchfield Blues and Ethan Hansen of the Buffalo Bulldogs.

Hadley said that Kirby Hemmesch, who handles play-by-play announcing duties with Randy Rothstein at KASM-AM Radio in Albany, called Dingmann's breakout against Minneota.

"We were super aggressive early," Hadley said of the Saints' offense against Minneota. "We play a lot better when we get a lead."

That'll be the hope against the Athletics. Delano won the Region 12C tournament by outscoring its opponents 20-0. That includes a 10-0 win over the Dassel-Cokato Saints, a 6-0 victory over Buffalo and a 4-0 win over Maple Lake to claim the 12C title.

Games Friday

* Elrosa Saints at Delano Athletics, 7:30 p.m.

* Jordan Brewers vs. Fergus Falls Hurricanes, 7:30 p.m. at Litchfield

* St. Martin Martins vs. Avon Lakers, 7:30 p.m. at Dassel

Games Saturday

* Bluffton Braves vs. Luverne Redbirds, 1:30 p.m. at Dassel

* Sartell Muskies vs. Maple Lake Lakers, 4:30 p.m. at Delano

* Nisswa Lightning vs. New Ulm Brewers, 4:30 p.m. at Litchfield

* Hutchinson Huskies vs. Buckman Billygoats, 4:30 p.m. at Dassel

* Waconia Lakers vs. Bird Island Bullfrogs, 11 a.m. at Dassel