Star Tribune reporters Joe Gunther and Jim Paulsen will spent the day at Target Field and send regular updates about the Class 3A and Class 4A state championship games and the scene around them. Class 3A coverage is from Gunther, Class 4A from Paulsen. We’ll keep you up to date so check back often.
Friday’s coverage of the Class 1A and 2A finals is here.
. . .
Already, a Totino-Grace run
10:36 a.m.
Totino-Grace gets on the board with a two-out single to left by Noah Hill. Adam Molitor, who drew a one-out walk, scored from second.
No waiting at Target Field; the 3A game started early
10:30 a.m.
Everybody must have shown up early. The Class 3A game is under way, 30 minutes ahead of its scheduled time.
Totino-Grace’s Kellen Westphal swung at and missed the first pitch, but he took the count full before grounding out to the Zephyrs pitcher Ethan Felling to start the game.
After a week of postponements, delays and rescheduled games, starting early sounds just fine.
We checked the forecast: It predicts high-level baseball today
10:15 a.m.
Maybe we need a little rain Saturday at Target Field, just to complete the set.
Mahtomedi and Totino-Grace play for the Class 3A baseball championship starting at 11 a.m., and East Ridge and Mounds View will begin tussling for the Class 4A title 45 minutes after the 3A teams finish.
Unless …
The rain that’s at least a threat to arrive about the time that 4A game would start causes a delay. That would make a sweep of this week, with every attempt to play the finals impacted by weather. Friday’s Class 2A and 1A finals were separated by 40 minutes more than planned when rain led to the tarp being rolled onto the field. The week began with all four finals scheduled for Monday. It was clear they couldn’t be played that day, and the Twins were playing Tuesday through Thursday, so all four games were rescheduled for Friday. And then Thursday the two big-class games were moved to Saturday.
We see a consistent pattern in weather forecasts for Saturday: 60 percent chance of rain in the form of afternoon showers. Given the flooding going on north, south, east and west of Minneapolis, afternoon showers sounds like baseball weather.
Simply put: Play ball, twice.
Championship game schedule and results
Tap on the game for live scoring if it’s in progress and for game details if it’s over
SATURDAY
Class 3A: Totino-Grace vs. Mahtomedi, 11 a.m.
Class 4A: Mounds View vs. East Ridge, 45 minutes after the first game ends
FRIDAY
Class 1A: Springfield 5, Parkers Prairie 1
Class 2A: Rockford 6, Foley 0
. . .
Tickets
Costs range from $8 to $13. Tickets must be purchased online at mshsl.org/tickets.
. . .
Streaming
The Neighborhood Sports Network will stream state tournament games. A subscription is required. Link to the streams here.
. . .
More coverage
The Star Tribune will publish stories and other content related to these state championships and more. Keep up by checking startribune.com/preps. Thank you for reading and subscribing.
. . .