Sitzer Park was a hotbed of baseball activity Sunday night, June 29th as Shoreview Area Youth Baseball (SAYB) held its annual season ending American League tournament Championship Game. The game pitted the regular season champion Bees vs. the 2nd place Red Wings .  The teams split their two regular season encounters against each other and this game was predicted to be another nail biter. Starting pitchers were Jack Nugent for the Red Wings and Jack Paulson for the Bees.

The Bees drew first blood with Owen Gin scoring on a passed ball in the top of the first. The Red Wings answered with 2 runs in the second inning.  In the 4th inning, Nolen Pedersen drove a double to left field, only to have Owen Gin thrown out at home by a perfectly executed throw to the Red Wings catcher. At the end of the 4thinning, the score was knotted at 3-3. The Bees led off the 6th inning by loading the bases with walks to Cooper Kleppe and Will Conlin and a bunt down the 3rd baseline by Levi Dohman. Reid Thurston then drew a full count walk to bring in the Bees 4th run. The Red Wings pinned their hopes in the bottom of the 6th with their #2, 3, and 4 hitters.  Pitching to them was the Bees strikeout king, Owen Gin. Gin brought his heat to strike out the side in an emotionally charged last half inning with the multitude of spectators on their feet cheering wildly. The Bees were victorious in a hard fought battle with the Red Wings, 4-3.

Congratulations to the Red Wings and the Bees for their successful seasons and this hard fought championship game.

Picture attached:

Back Row: Coaches Bill Conlin, Mike Gin, Rick Pedersen, Chris Dohman, Kent Kleppe

Middle Row: AJ Brown, Nolen Pedersen, Reid Thurston, Grant Peltier, Joshua Hubble

Front Row: Will Conlin, Owen Gin, Cooper Kleppe, Jack Paulson, Levi Dohman and Bobby Trapnell