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Blue-chipper champions

Excelsior captures state legion baseball title

By Travis Rosenau 4 min read

NEW ULM -- Power at the plate, no errors in the field and a complete-game outing from right-hander Adam Perry was more than enough for the Excelsior Blue to finish the Division I Senior Legion State Baseball Tournament as champions.

The Blue downed the Wayzata Wizards 8-2 on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Park to win the 100th annual state tournament, their first title since 2019.

Perry finished the game allowing four hits and five walks for two runs while striking out six. His last strikeout of the game came with a 3-2 count on a called third strike to send Excelsior into a frenzy.

"I felt really comfortable with my pitches, especially through the first five before my arm got a little tired," Perry said. "But my slider was working. I felt like I had good control of my fastball. I wasn't sure coming in. In the bullpen, when I was warming up, I didn't feel amazing, but after I stepped into the game and once there was a batter in front of me, I knew I was gonna be fine.

"And I have the best defense in the world behind me. I've got Division 2 commits all around me and everything, so I felt really comfortable. I was like, 'If you just throw strikes, you'll be good to go.'"

Perry found out he'd be getting the big championship game start on Saturday after Excelsior defeated St. Michael 5-2 in the semifinals.

"I found out right we won our semifinal game," Perry said. "Coach got us in the huddle and said, 'AP, you're starting,' so that's how I found out. I had nerves and everything, but I was ready to go."

Excelsior collected 19 total bases on Sunday, led by Kaelan Newman, who was 2 for 3 with a solo homer and three runs scored, while Jake Musgjerd was 2 for 4 with a two-run homer. Brody Schrupp went 2 for 4 for the Blue, while Alex Fernandez, Carter Storts and Dom Tannuzzo each doubled, with Tannuzzo's double bringing in the first two runs of the game in the top of the second inning.

Wazyata, which defeated Rochester 8-2 on Saturday in the semifinals, started Thomas Stauffenecker on the mound. He went four innings in the loss, allowing five hits and two walks for six runs, four earned.

Brayden Colvin was 2 for 2 to lead the Wizards at the plate, while Broc Kamon added a double.

After Tannuzzo's two-run double, Excelsior jumped ahead 4-0 in the third on a two-run home run from Musgjerd. A sac fly from Fernandez and error and another sac fly off the bat of Sam Friberg made it 6-0 in the fourth.

In the top of the sixth, Newman was able to connect on a slider and send it over the fence in right field for a leadoff solo homer and 7-0 lead.

"I got a slider, good pitch to hit," Newman said. "Shoutout my teammates for telling me kind of what the pitcher was throwing. Got a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it."

During that same inning after a two-out double by Fernandez, Friberg lined an RBI single into center to make it 8-0.

A leadoff walk to Grady Hague and a double by Kamon ended up leading to the Wizards' first run when Maverick Kuhl had a sac fly to left. A walk to Luke Boutwell was then followed with another sac fly, this time off the bat of Max Humann, to make it an 8-2 game.

The Wizards did get another base runner in the seventh after Colvin's one-out single, but Perry forced a popout moments later and got his game-ending strikeout to send the Blue to the Central Plains Region 6 Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Mandan, North Dakota.

"It means a lot [to win state]," Newman said. "All of us seniors, this is kind of our last run together. It's been awesome to kind of experience the state tournament. I'm really grateful to the city of New Ulm for putting on a good tournament. But it's been fun. Shoutout to our coaches for putting us in a good spot, and all my teammates, I love them. Hopefully we keep it going in regionals."

Perry said he's confident heading into the regional tourney and believes the Excelsior pitching staff will shine.

"I feel great going into those regionals," Perry said. "We have some of the best pitchers, I feel, even in the country. I mean, we have juniors throwing 90, everyone's just throwing strikes, and I feel really comfortable. I feel like we have the deepest pitching group there is."

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