Saints face Waconia in the first round at state
Posted August 20, 2015
By CJ Siewert
For the first time since 1979-80, the St. Peter town team is making consecutive appearances at the state tournament. After defeating Gaylord 2-1 last Friday, the Saints clinched the third seed out of Region 6, punching a ticket to the state tourney hosted by Cold Spring and Watkins. The Saints are also looking for their first win at state since 1980, having lost in the first round in their last two tries.
St. Peter’s first round matchup is at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Watkins against the Waconia Lakers, who took second place in Region 7. The Saints enter with an 18-10 overall record, while the Lakers are 27-8.
By looking at the Waconia pitching staff, it is tough to gauge who start on the mound Sunday. The Lakers have a deep pitching staff, led by Ryan Naughton (5-0, 1.10 ERA), Kodey Simon (5-3, 1.42 ERA) and Dylan Linder (6-0, 2.01 ERA). They could also go with their first draft pick, Pat Tschida of Watertown.
St. Peter will counter with Matt Lewis (4-1, 1.76 ERA) and Jesse Anderson (6-3, 3.26 ERA) next in line.
The winner faces the Sartell Muskies - who are ranked as the top team in Class C with a 29-1 overall record. That second round game is 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 30 in Cold Spring.
St. Peter’s history
1933 Class A state champions
1955 Class A state champions
1932 Class A third place
1959 Class A third place
State appearances in 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 2010, 2014 and 2015
