Waconia blasts St. Peter 13-3 in state opener

But it’s the Lakers who will have to deal with Muskies, as Waconia bombed St. Peter 13-3 in seven innings.

St. Peter manager Tom Lacina and his Saints seemed a bit shell-shocked after the game, faced with another abrupt halt to an otherwise successful town team season. The Saints finished 18-11, while Waconia – the second seed from Region 7, which is comprised of the 15-team Crow River League – moves on with a 28-8 record.

Lacina acknowledged the tough draw after the loss, but was disappointed in the Saints’ effort.

“I thought we’d at least take ‘em to nine innings,” Lacina said. Asked what the Saints needed to do to take it to the next level, the manager said simply: “Play better.”

Lacina also noted that the Saints’ tough 3-2 upset to Belle Plaine in the Region 6C playoffs proved critical for St. Peter, moving them into a third seed and having to face a talented, experienced Waconia team. And that draw reared its ugly head later in the day, as Belle Plaine (11-19) outlasted the Hadley Buttermakers 3-2 to move into second-round action.

Waconia, Class C runners-up in 2011, have now appeared in four of the past five state tournaments and sport five former Winona State University players, as well as three from St. Thomas, while five more collegiate players dotted the Winona state tourney roster.

Joe Kreger, a MBA state board member and former manager of the Green Isle Irish, another perennial Crow River League powerhouse, marveled at the Waconia offensive attack, laden with .300 hitters and plenty of left-handed sluggers. But he said the Lakers were lucky to even get out of the regional playoffs, missing some key players during one of the tournament weekends.

Next weekend’s Waconia-Sartell game could be one of the dandies of the tourney, especially with defending champion Sobieski losing 1-0 to Spring Hill on Saturday in Cold Spring.

The final scoreboard was every bit as convincing as the game, as Waconia out-hit St. Peter 16-4. The Lakers put together four-run innings in the third and fourth, knocking out Saints starting pitcher Matt Lewis, who entered the game with a 4-1 record and 1.76 ERA.

Veteran Jeremy Salden, one of the few Laker holdovers from its struggling teams during Waconia’s River Valley League days, ripped a two-run homer in the fourth.

Lacina brought in reliever Jesse Anderson with two outs in the fourth, and the veteran right hander got out of the inning and tossed a scoreless fifth. But the Lakers erupted for five more runs in the sixth, thanks in large part to a two-run homer by Cody Strang, who entered the game hitting .458, and a three-run blast by Robbie Smothers.

And it was Lewis and Anderson who carried the Saints into the state tournament, combining for two complete games each and a combined 2.14 ERA.

St. Peter scored its final two runs without the benefit of a hit, tallying one in the sixth and another in the seventh. The Saints final run of the 2015 season started with a CJ Siewert walk, wild pitch, and two ground outs. 

Lefty Josh Lenz picked up the victory on the mound for Waconia, tossing six innings and giving up just four hits.  Dylan Lindner tossed the final inning, giving up a run.

The Saints lone bright spot was an early 1-0 lead with a third-inning run. Sam Wenner recorded St. Peter’s first hit, was sacrificed to second by a Seth Wenner bunt, moved to third on a Tyler Stoffel groundout, then scored on a Ty Kaus RBI single.

It was the Saints' first back-to-back state tournament trips since the 1979-80 seasons, and their 13th overall. And six players from the 2010 state tourney team remain on the Saints roster. But for 32-year-old Ryan Wenner, in his 14th season, there will be no more. He announced his plans to retire after the 2015 season.