State Baseball: Grand Rapids & Esko advance, South Ridge & Hinckley-Finlayson fall in quarterfinals

The Minnesota state high school baseball tournament began on Tuesday and two Northland teams would earn quarterfinal wins.

In Class AAA Grand Rapids shut out No. 2 St. Thomas Academy 5-0 at the Mini Met in Jordan. Rapids’ pitcher Easton Sjostrand threw a three-hit game over seven innings including four strikeouts, while batting in one runner himself. The Thunderhawks (17-10) advance to the semifinals against No. 3 Mahtomedi at noon Wednesday.

In Class AA top-seeded Esko held off St. Agnes 1-0 at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud. Esko improves to 24-1 overall. They’ll next face the winner of Cannon Falls and Holy Family Catholic in the semifinals Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

In Class A top-seeded South Ridge suffered a 2-1 loss to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. The Panthers (22-5) will next play in the consolation semifinals Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. against the loser of Fosston and Legacy Christian Academy.

Also in the Class A quarterfinals Hinckley-Finlayson fell 4-3 to No. 3 Lyle-Pacelli. The Jaguars will next battle Yellow Medicine East in the other consolation semifinal Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Bob Cross Field in St. Cloud.