State Baseball: Esko swings into AA championship game, Grand Rapids falls in AAA semifinals

Making their first state tournament appearance since 2000 Esko baseball would earn their way to the Class AA state title game Wednesday downing Cannon Falls 7-2 in the semifinals at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.

The Eskomos beat St. Agnes 1-0 in the quarterfinals to earn their spot in round two. Isaak Sertich shined in the semifinals hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning to put Esko up 7-2.

Now riding a seven game winning streak once-beaten, top-seeded Esko will battle unseeded Perham for the Class AA state championship Friday at 1 p.m. at CHS Field in St. Paul.

In Class AAA Grand Rapids would fall in their state semifinal 3-2 to Mahtomedi. Klous Jones tallied the sole RBI for the Thunderhawks at the Mini Met in Jordan. Grand Rapids next battled Monticello for third place but fell 7-2.

In Class A South Ridge won their consolation championship besting Yellow Medicine East 5-1 at Bob Cross Field in St. Cloud. The Panthers first downed Legacy Christian Academy 12-2 in the semifinals, while Hinckley-Finlayson fell 11-0 to Yellow Medicine East.