Saturday was a remarkable day of baseball in Edgerton as the Section 3A tournament got underway.
A lot of people came and left the field throughout the day, but three people were on their feet the whole time and watched more than nine hours of baseball and 800-plus pitches unfold.
The three-man umpiring crew of Tom Schuller and Corey Christopher of Jackson and Joe Sohn of Lake Park saw it all.
Schuller was behind the plate for the first game matching host Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian and Adrian/Ellsworth. That game started at 11 a.m. and was a quick one, at least for the regulation seven innings, which were completed in about one hour and 10 minutes.
However, the score was tied 1-1 and that required more baseball. And then more baseball, more baseball and a lot more baseball after that.
The Flying Dutchmen and Dragons would play nine extra innings of baseball with neither team scoring so play went on.
AE scored a run in the top of the 16th to take lead, doing it after two were out. The Dragons got a single, a stolen base and another single to score their first run in 12 innings, having scored in the fourth inning.
ESWC scored a run in the bottom of the inning and the Flying Dutchmen also did all of their work after two were out. Their first run since the sixth inning came on a walk, wild pitch and a base hit.
Adrian/Ellsworth was retired in order in the top of the 17th inning.
The Flying Dutchmen started the bottom of the inning with a walk and a base hit. The runner on second advanced to third on a fly ball to left field with the other runner remaining on first. The next batter was walked to load the bases and set up a force out anywhere.
On a 3-0 count, the next batter was hit by a pitch and the game was over after four hours and 480 pitches.
The daily maximum number of pitches for a varsity pitcher is 105. Each team had two pitchers who exceeded their daily limit.
For ESWC, Trevin Prins threw 119 pitches (88 for strikes) in 9.2 innings. Pitchers may finish pitching to a batter once they’ve reached the limit. Blake Schultz would get the win as he threw 109 pitches (68 for strikes) in 7.1 innings. Prins struck out 12 and Schultz 10.
For AE, Travis Weiss threw 115 pitches (80 for strikes) in 9 innings and Garrett Penning also threw 115 pitches (71 for strikes). The Dragons used two other pitchers for one-third of an inning apiece.
Adrian/Ellsworth pitchers threw 252 pitches and Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian pitchers threw 228 for a total of
According to state records on the Minnesota Baseball Coaches Association website through the 2024 season, the 24 strikeouts for the Dragons would rank sixth all-time and the 22 for the Flying Dutchmen would rank eighth.
The second game of the day, which was scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, got underway at about 3:30. That game would go 12 innings, with Russell-Tyler-Ruthton winning 2-1 over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.
One pitcher reached his limit in that game as TMB starter Trevor Smith threw 115 pitches (79 strikes) in 9.1 innings. Panthers pitchers threw a total of 164 pitches. RTR’s two pitchers threw 74 pitches in seven innings and 58 in five for 132 total pitches.
That made for a combined 296 pitches, bringing the two-game total to 776.
From there it was on to the third game of the day, a winner’s bracket game between Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton. That game had been scheduled for a 3 p.m. start but instead started at about 7:10 on a field with no lights.
That game was scoreless in the third inning when Christopher, now umping behind the plate, visited with an RTR batter after both had some difficulty seeing a pitch. After a brief discussion between the umpires and coaches it was decided to halt play.
The game was completed on Tuesday at the Irish Yard in Milroy with Nolan Schuller and Al Baloun of Windom umping. RTR picked up a 7-4 win.