Photo by Samantha Davis. Minnesota’s Ryan Dalager throws a pitch during pregame warmups in Madison. Dalager spent eight innings on the mound and threw six strikeouts as the Mudhens lost 7-0 to Morris in a state qualifier on Saturday afternoon, ending the season.
MADISON – The No. 1 Minneota Mudhens fell to the second-seeded Morris Eagles 7-0 in a state qualifier Saturday afternoon.
The Region 9C double-elimination tournament will see three teams advance to the state championship. The Mudhens finished the regular season as the Land O’ Ducks champions, earning first place. The top four received an automatic bye to the first round. Minneota won the first game 2-1 against the No. 8 Chokio Coyotes, but lost to the No. 5 Madison Mallards 8-0 to fall to the elimination round. They responded, however, with a 10-0 win over the No. 11 Hancock Orphans in eight innings to get back in position to compete for a ticket to the state championship for the second consecutive year.
Ryan Dalager pitched eight innings for the Mudhens, allowing seven runs, four earned, seven walks and throwing six strikeouts. Danny Hennen pitched the final inning and allowed one hit. Brandon Jergenson pitched the entire game for Morris, allowing eight hits, no runs and throwing four strikeouts. Ben Skorczewski and Hennen each had two doubles on the day, leading Minneota’s offense, and Tate Walerius had another. The Eagles were powered by a three-run second inning. Mac Beyer had two hits and three RBIs, including a home run.
“We had a few difficult innings at the beginning of the game and it was difficult to get out of it,” Said Minneota manager Tyson Sonnenburg. “Quick check of your own emotions at the beginning, just try to get them going again and get the guys excited. We never had any luck. The balls were hit hard and landed right in people’s gloves… It just didn’t go the way we wanted today.”
The match between the two top seeds was a hard-fought affair. The last time they faced each other on July 7, the Mudhens came away with a 2-0 victory, helped by a nine-inning shutout from Dalager with 14 strikeouts.
Morris took advantage early in the game, which gave them power all afternoon. Their first run came right at the start of the first inning when a runner on second base came home on a single line drive to right field.
The Eagles quickly returned to bat in the second inning after limiting Minneota to just one runner on base and getting three outs, scoring three more runs and taking the lead with a runner on third base on a sacrifice fly to center field and two fielding errors in center field and at home plate.
“‘It’s four runs. It’s nothing, guys, we’re almost there.'” Sonnenburg commented on what he told the team. “‘We can still do this. Try to hang on, keep fighting and get through it.'”
Dalager threw three strikeouts in the third inning to help stall the Eagles’ offense. The returning offense got three Mudhens on base, but Morris thwarted their chances with two flyball catches and a strikeout.
The third through seventh innings remained scoreless for both teams.
Minneota got going in the fifth inning with a double from Hennen to left field. Skorczewski hit a ground ball to second base and Hennen got to third with two outs. A pop out at first ended the chance for runs.
By the start of the sixth round, the score remained 4-0 for Morris.
As time ran out for the Mudhens early in the seventh inning, a solid defense continued to stop Morris’ offense. In addition to a strikeout and a fly ball catch by Dalager in the infield, Sonnenburg also caught a deep fly ball in center field. Minneota needed answers at the plate. With two outs, Walerius hit a deep double to left field, but a ground out to the pitcher ended the inning.
Morris scored another run in the eighth inning. While a player was advancing to third base on a passed ball, he also ran to the mound after a throw from Walerius, making the score 5-0.
Hennen relieved Dalager on the mound in the ninth inning after the Eagles hit a two-run home run, increasing the deficit to 7-0.
“He (Dalager) gave us eight strong innings, we can’t ask for more from him,” said Sonnenburg. “We just have to defend better behind him.”
In Minneota’s last chance to bat in the bottom half of the ninth inning, two forced outs at first base and a fly ball to left field decided the game.
As the season comes to a close for Minneota, there are several qualities the team is proud of.
“I think we’ve had to deal with a lot of adversity all season. We’ve been missing a lot of people all year, but a lot of people have stepped in and filled gaps,” said Sonnenburg. “We like to say, ‘Next man up.’ That’s the next person up, and we expect them to do a job for us. Whether someone has played one game or 10 all season, we expect them to do a job for us.”
This was Mudhen’s 16th season since becoming a franchise in 2009. They were the 2023 Region 9C champions and secured their first state tournament berth. They finished this season as the region’s top seed and with an overall record of 15-8.
“I hope that everyone sticks together, comes back strong next season, wants to keep playing and keep things going,” said Sonnenburg. “We’ve had some good seasons lately and have put ourselves in a good position for the state championship. We were there last year and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can stick together next year and compete at the state championship again.”
