Baseball: Bombers one game away from state

Cannon Falls took two steps toward securing its first state tournament appearance since 1997 with a pair of rousing victories in the Section 1AA tournament Saturday in Austin, Minn.

The third-seeded Bombers (19-5) won the 1AA West subsection title with a 7-4 come-from-behind victory over top-seeded and 14th-ranked Stewartville (18-5) at Riverland Community College. Cannon Falls went on crush Caledonia/Spring Grove 19-4 in five innings to lock up a spot in the section title game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Austin.

The Bombers trailed 4-2 heading into the fifth inning but went ahead 6-4 with a four-run inning. Cannon Falls senior Tyler Boyle-Hoban knocked in one run to tie the game at four. Senior Cedric Dicke and Trevor Sullivan scored on an error to give the Bombers the lead.

Cannon Falls senior Matthew Hernke hit a one-out double in the sixth and Paul Rolfes followed with a double to score Hernke and give the Bombers some breathing room heading into the final inning.

Boyle-Hoban finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Ian Althoff went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs and Michael Growette was 2-for-4.

Growette got the win after throwing five innings. Growette allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits, walked three and struck out one. Junior Noah Callister pitched the final two innings and did not allow a hit. Callister walked three and struck out two.

Cannon Falls took a 2-0 lead after the second inning on a RBI single by Sullivan in the first inning and a squeeze bunt by Hernke scored Austin Jacobs to make it 2-0.

The Tigers came back in the third to take a 3-2 lead and added a run in the fourth for a 4-2 lead.

The Bombers overwhelmed Caledonia/Spring Grove in the section semifinals with a seven-run first inning and later a nine-run fourth inning.

Cannon Falls finished with 16 hits and had Dicke finish 2-for-4 with three RBI. Growette went 2-for-3 with two RBI, Noah Callister knocked in four runs and went 3-for-4 and Braxton Lindow was 1-for-2 with two RBI.

“I was really proud of our boys for the way they played,” Bombers head coach Bucky Lindow said. “They had high energy all day and really played hard. We got gutsy pitching performances, played solid D, and we got good swings at good pitches.”

Callister threw four innings to pick up the victory. Callister allowed four runs, one earned, on six hits, walked one and struck out six.

Cannon Falls will face the winner of Stewartville and Caledonia/Spring Grove Tuesday for the section title.

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