Giefer lifts Cubs to 4th straight state appearance
Walk-off sac fly carries Courtland by Granite Falls
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau The Courtland Cubs’ Josh Giefer (30) celebrates with teammates after hitting the game-winning sac fly in a Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament semifinals game against Granite Falls on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Park in New Ulm.
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau The Courtland Cubs’ Carter Lang races to third during a Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament semifinals game against Granite Falls on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Park.
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau The Courtland Cubs’ Josh Giefer (30) celebrates with teammates after hitting the game-winning sac fly in a Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament semifinals game against Granite Falls on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Park in New Ulm.
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau The Courtland Cubs’ Carter Lang races to third during a Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament semifinals game against Granite Falls on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Park.
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NEW ULM -- Josh Giefer's bases-loaded sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Courtland Cubs to a 7-6 win over the Granite Falls Kilowatts Saturday afternoon in a Region 2C Amateur Baseball Tournament semifinals game at Johnson Park.
The sac fly scored Jaden Drill and gave the Cubs' their fourth straight Class C Amateur Baseball State Tournament berth.
Right-hander Jackson Bode got the win. He went the final three innings in relief of starter Chase Meyer. Bode allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out five.
Bennett Knapper, the 2026 Corn Belt League Pitcher of the Year, took the loss for the Kilowatts. Knapper allowed two runs in relief.
Teagan Kamm went 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI for the Cubs (21-6). Jaden Drill and Nolan Drill each added two hits for Courtland, with Bode driving in two runs.
Brady Dack and Phil Johnson each collected two hits for the Kilowatts, with Bennett Knapper adding a two-run home run.
The win now moves the Cubs -- ranked fourth in Class C and the No. 2 seed in Region 2C -- to the Region 2C title game at 6 p.m. Saturday in Sleepy Eye.
"This was an awesome win for us," Cubs manager Chase Meyer said. "It had a little bit of everything in it -- a lot of ups and downs -- and luckily we ended up on top."
The Kilowatts will have a second chance at making the state tournament when they play an elimination state qualifier game on Friday night at Mueller Park in New Ulm.
The Cubs jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Teddy Giefer led off with a walk and moved to second on a Maddox Mortensen sacrifice bunt. A Meyer groundout moved Teddy Giefer to third before Teagan Kamm delivered an RBI double to center. Cade Bushard was hit by a pitch and a Bode double plated them both.
But the Kilowatts cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the third before Kamm got his second hit of the game to lead off the bottom of the fourth and later score on a fielder's choice for a 4-2 Cubs lead.
But a walk and a Knapper home run to right field knotted the game at 4-4.
Granite Falls then took advantage of three Cubs errors -- the only errors in the game for Courtland -- to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh.
"That was pretty defeating," Meyer said. "That came right after we had the bases loaded in the sixth and did not score. That took a lot of wind out of ours sails.
"But we got that shutdown inning after and we rallied around each other."
Courtland cut the lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the inning when an Evan Wiltscheck groundout scored a run before tying the game in the eighth on a Carter Lang double and a one-out single from Nolan Drill, setting the stage and finding a way to win in the 10th.
"We found a way to win and Josh had one of the biggest at-bats of the game to win it for us," Meyer said. "It is fun to be a part of a state tournament team again."