Jul. 27—EAST GRAND FORKS — Parker Erickson and the other seniors on the East Grand Forks Legion baseball team left Stauss Park on Saturday afternoon with mixed emotions.
On one hand, it was the last time the tight-knit group played together on their home turf, capping off years of memories. On the other hand, they left with some hardware and a ticket to the Legion state tournament.
On a sweltering summer afternoon, third-seeded East Grand Forks clinched a berth to the American Legion state tournament for the first time since 2019 with an 8-3 win over second-seeded Bemidji in the Sub-State 12 elimination bracket final.
East Grand Forks put a cherry on top immediately afterward by defeating first-seeded Alexandria 4-2, capturing the Sub-State 12 tournament crown.
“We were just talking, this is the last time we’ll be playing on our field, so let’s make it a day that we don’t forget,” Erickson said. “We did that. No better feeling than to be a champion with your guys and the people that you’ve been hanging out and playing ball with for however many years it’s been. It’s awesome to share this moment with them.”
The state tournament will be hosted in St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota, from July 31-Aug. 3.
Coming off a tournament performance that illustrated pitching depth, flashes of red-hot batting and some excellent small ball, East Grand Forks will enter state with some swagger.
“We’re playing our best ball right now,” Nick Satterlund said. “Hitting, pitching, defense; I don’t think many teams could beat us right now.”
Though East Grand Forks’ seniors played key roles in the batter’s box in Saturday’s two wins, it was up to a couple of younger teammates to deliver on the mound.
Jake Stassen, who is entering his junior year of high school, started against Bemidji and allowed three earned runs through six innings. He gave up six hits, issued five walks and tallied six strikeouts.
Stassen showed ice in his veins in an especially pivotal at-bat in the fifth inning. Bemidji had runners on the corners with two outs and Max Bahr at the plate, looking to come back from a slight 4-3 deficit.
Bemidji’s Peyton Neadeau made multiple attempts to steal second, baiting a throw to get the game-tying run at third to home plate. Eventually, Stassen let Neadeau take second, focusing instead on notching the final out of the inning.
“I was thinking just get after the batter,” Stassen said. “They’re gonna do all those tricks behind me — my minds set on getting the batter.”
He delivered, recording a strikeout that electrified the East Grand Forks dugout.
The tournament hosts added three insurance runs in the next inning. Noah Frize bunted with Hunter Varnson and Jordan Nowacki on base and Bemidji committed an error on the throw to third. Varnson and Nowacki each reached home plate, and Frize took second base.
A sacrifice bunt from Erickson sent Frize to third base, and he was able to score on the ensuing at-bat thanks to a wild pitch, handing East Grand Forks a 7-3 lead. Carson McDonald’s RBI groundout in the seventh inning tacked on the final run of the game.
“Bemidji has a good pitching staff, so we knew we were going to have to play perfect baseball today,” EGF head coach Michael Lukkason said. “Execute small ball and try to find a way to get runs here and there, and that’s what we did.”
Satterlund, who will be a sophomore this year, got the start against Alexandria. He gave up a pair of earned runs in the first inning, but it was the last time the opposing batters crossed home plate. Satterlund closed out the game by recording six scoreless innings, collecting four strikeouts while giving up seven hits and a walk.
“I was a little nervous after the first inning, giving up two runs,” Satterlund said. “Going down 2-0 is not fun, but having my offense get some runs back builds up my confidence and the rest of the team’s confidence to get a win.”
After Alexandria’s 2-0 start, East Grand Forks began chipping away at its deficit. After notching a run in the third inning, East Grand Forks stormed ahead in the fifth.
Cole Schmiedeberg reached first base on a throwing error, and Varnson followed it up with a single to the left-field gap. Nowacki cracked an RBI double to left field to tie things up at 2-2.
Frize executed a picture-perfect suicide squeeze to send Varnson home and hand East Grand Forks a 3-2 lead. Erickson knocked in one final run with an RBI single to left field, and the 4-2 lead stuck.