Reds end 17-year State Tournament Drought

The Reds won yet another dramatic game in the Region 10C playoffs Saturday to reach their nearly two decade long goal of making it back to the Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Tournament with a 3-2 win over Moorhead.  The Reds trailed twice at 1-0 & 2-1 in the game.  Down to their final two outs the Reds Noah Zimmerman scored to tie the game at 2.  In the 10th would get a two-out RBI single from Tanner Reinhart to take a 3-2.  Sean Minder sent the Miners down in order on seven pitches in the bottom of the 10th to clinch the Reds first state tournament berth since the '99.  

In the Region 10C Championship, the Reds fell to Bemidji by a score of 7-3.  The Reds head into the State Tournament with a record of 12-17, and will play the Buffalo Bulldogs at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 19th in Green Isle.  The Bemidji Blue Ox head into the tournament 21-6 and receive a first round bye.  They will play the winner of Fort Ripley and Blue Earth on Sunday, August 27th at 2:30 p.m. 

The Reds have now made 26 state tournament appearances beginning in 1947, including three 3rd place finishes in 1972, '73 & '76.  The recent 17-year state tournament drought was the longest in team history since the Reds 20-year drought between 1948 and 1968.  The Reds have made state muliple times in every decade except the 1950s, 2000s and the current one.