VFW takes second at state
Owatonna VFW utility player Connor Wiese makes solid contact with a pitch in the team’s opening-round game against Totino Grace. Wiese’s bat was one of the best in Owatonna’s lineup at state, and nearly helped tie the game against Mankato East in the seventh inning with a clutch two-run double. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Owatonna VFW scored a second-place finish at the state tournament in St. Cloud last week after finishing with a 4-2 record.
The VFW squad was a force to be reckoned with outscoring its opponents 50-34 across the six game stretch, but a close one-run loss to Mankato East in the championship round ended the team’s state championship dreams at the pinnacle of the season.
“I’m very proud of the way the boys played the last couple of weeks. There was really never quit in them… They were an awesome group of young men to work with,” said Owatonna VFW head coach James Dahlgren.
Owatonna’s final game of the season came in a 5-4 loss to Mankato East that saw the opposition take control of the game from the opening innings.
Mankato East’s bats lit up Owatonna for three runs in the first and another in the second to take a 4-0 lead early, but Owatonna answered soon after the start erasing the deficit.
A two-out single from Bently Arvig scored Will Radel from second base to make the score 4-1 through 2.5 innings.
Both teams remained scoreless in the fourth before Mankato East found its game-winning run in the fourth inning on a wild pitch from Owatonna’s Connor Wiese.
Owatonna’s bats found their stride again starting in the sixth inning when a leadoff single from Wiese and a walk for Tayte Berg moved Owatonna into scoring position.
After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, batter Zach Haarstad made Mankato East pay for its mistakes by putting the ball in play and scoring Owatonna courtesy runner Andrew Mitchell from third base.
Owatonna would strand its remaining runner on base and enter the seventh inning trailing 5-2.
With one last chance at bat, Owatonna used a single from Mitchell and walk for Tanner Smith to once again reach scoring position.
Wiese came up big again for Owatonna by hitting a two-RBI double with two outs to make the score 5-4.
However, Owatonna’s late-game magic ran out just shy of tying the game when Berg grounded out to third base to end the game.
Wiese was the team’s leading batter with two hits and two RBIs.
Since Mankato East had entered the championship game from the winners’ bracket, the series was decided in one game.
Outside of its loss to Mankato East, Owatonna went 4-1 on the weekend.
The hometown team beat Forest Lake 17-3, Little Falls 14-11, St. Cloud Red 9-2 and Totino Grace 6-4 en route to the championship game.
With the conclusion of the state tournament, Owatonna VFW’s 2023 season officially came to a close.