American Legion baseball roundup: Willmar finally gets in a home game

By Joe Brown, Tom Elliott and Michael Lyne

June 17, 2025 at 10:16 PM

WILLMAR — The home opener was a rough one for the Willmar American Legion baseball team on Tuesday.

Post 167 was held without a hit in a 13-0 five-inning loss to the St. Cloud Chutes at Elsie Klemmetson Field. The loss drops Willmar to 0-2 on the season.

St. Cloud pitcher Jack Hamak threw the five-inning no-hitter. The left-hander struck out seven and gave up a walk to Tyler Madsen in the bottom of the first inning. Hamak retired 14 straight batters to end the game.

Willmar shortstop Tyler Madsen lines up a throw to first during an American Legion baseball game against the St. Cloud Chutes on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at Klemmetson Field in Willmar.

“It was nice to have a beautiful night to get in a game,” said Willmar head coach Jordan Steffer, whose squad has had games postponed because of rain. “I thought we played some good defense.”

Henry Schloe was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Chutes, which consists of players from St. Cloud Cathedral High School. Ryan Liebrenz was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Owen Fradette scored three runs and had an RBI in a 2-for-3 effort.

Willmar's Reese Christianson throws a pitch during an American Legion baseball game against the St. Cloud Chutes on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at Klemmetson Field in Willmar.

Starting on Friday, Post 167 plays in the three-day Burnsville Snakepit Legion Tournament at Alimagnet Park. Willmar has two games Friday, facing Superior, Wisconsin at 2:15 p.m. and the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers at 4:30 p.m. Post 167 plays Maple Grove at 2:15 p.m. Saturday. It wraps up Sunday at a time to be determined.

“We should see some pretty good competition,” Steffer said.

Legion

St. Cloud Chutes 13, Willmar 0

St. Cloud 011 56-13 12 0

Willmar 000 00-0 0 3

Hitting - St. Cloud: Jacob Oliver 2-4 2b r-2 rbi-2, Caden Johnson 1-3 r-2 rbi-2 bb sb, Henry Schloe 3-4 r-2 rbi, Nolan Bigauette 1-4 r rbi, Ryan Liebrenz 2-3 rbi-2 bb, Matthew Primus 0-4 rbi, Owen Fradette 2-3 r-3 rbi hbp, Nick Plante 0-1 r-2 bb-3 sb, Jack Hamak 1-2 r hbp … Willmar: no hits

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - St. Cloud: Hamak (W) 5-0-0-0-1-7 … Willmar: Reese Christianson (L) 3.1-6-5-4-3-2, Gavin Evenson 0.2-1-5-3-1-1, Blake Reiman 1-5-3-3-1-0

Holdingford 8, NLS 1

Jaxon Bartkowicz tossed a three-hitter to lead Holdingford past New London-Spicer at Holdingford.

Bartkowicz struck out seven and walked seven, allowing one unearned run.

Luke Bieniek went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and Mavrick Novitzki was 2-for-3 with two walks, three RBIs and a stolen base for Holdingford.

Rylan Shimek was 2-for-3 for NLS.

NLS 100 000 0-1 3 2

Holdingford 104 030 x-8 9 2

Hitting - NLS: Brayden Skindelien 0-4 r sb, Rylan Shimek 2-3, Nolan Johnson 0-1 bb-3 sb, Garret White 0-2 bb, Ethan Nelson 0-1 bb hbp, Caleb Nelson 1-3, Louden Johnson 0-1 bb, Cole Laughlin 0-0 bb … Holdingford: Brodi Huls 1-4 r sb, Dierks Opatz 1-3 r bb, Masyn Patrick 0-1 r-2 bb-2 hbp sb-2, Luke Bieniek 3-4 r-2 rbi-2, Jaxon Bartkowicz 1-3 r-2 bb 2b sb, Mavrick Novitzki 2-2 rbi-3 bb-2 sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - NLS: N. Johnson (L) 3-4-5-4-3-6, Blake Schultz 2-4-3-3-1-1, White 1-1-0-0-2-2 … Holdingford: Bartokowicz (W) 7-3-1-0-7-7

EVW 8, Litchfield 5

Litchfield dropped a game against Eden Valley-Watkins at Optimist Park in Litchfield.

For Post 104, Gideon Boerema, Anthony Estrada, Keagan Kadelbach, Drake Kotzer, Tripp McCann, Alex Medina and Ben Olson each had one hit. Olson’s went for a double.

EVW 201 230 0-8 7 1

Litchfield 300 020 0-5 6 1

Hitting - EVW: n/a … Litchfield: Ben Olson 1-4 r 2b, Alex Medina 1-2 r-2 bb hbp, Anthony Estrada 1-2 r rbi-2 bb, Tripp McCann 1-3 rbi, Drake Kotzer 1-3 rbi-2, Keagan Kadelbach 0-1 bb, Gideon Boerema 1-2 bb sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - EVW: n/a … Litchfield: McCann 3-1-3-2-5-3, Boerema (L) 4-6-5-5-3-3

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Junior Legion

Game 2:

NLS 13, Benson 3

New London-Spicer out-hit Benson 15-3 to cap off a doubleheader sweep at Spicer.

Boston Hemi, Easton Munstermann, Gavin Vick, Kaden Shimek, Teagen Kavanaugh and Zach Lageson each had two hits for NLS.

NLS 170 212-13 15 1

Benson 001 020-3 3 1

Hitting - NLS: Boston Hemi 2-5 r rbi-2, Peyton Kulset 1-4 r rbi bb, Breck Schultz 1-2 r-2 rbi bb-3, Easton Munstermann 2-5 rbi-2, Joey Wosmek 0-0 r bb, Gavin Vick 2-3 r-2, Kaden Shimek 2-4 rbi-3, Blaine Goracke 1-3 r-2 bb, Teagen Kavanaugh 2-2 r-2 rbi bb-2, Zach Lageson 2-4 r-2 rbi… Benson: n/a

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - NLS: Hemi (W) 5-3-3-3-4-5, Kavanaugh 1-0-0-0-3-2 … Benson: n/a

Game 1:

NLS 3, Benson 0

Gavin Vick struck out eight and held Benson to one hit and three walks in a shutout win at Spicer.

Vick also was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases.

Benson 000 000 0-0 1 1

NLS 000 021 x-3 6 0

Hitting - Benson: n/a … NLS: Boston Hemi 1-2 bb, Peyton Kulset 1-3 rbi, Gavin Vick 2-3 r sb-2, Blaine Goracke 1-3, Zach Lageson 0-3 rbi, Kaden Shimek 1-3 2b r, Easton Munstermann 0-1 r rbi sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Benson: n/a … NLS: Vick (W) 7-1-0-0-3-8

Game 2

Tri-Town 18, Kerkhoven 8

Tri-Town put together an eight-run top of the fourth inning in a six-inning victory over Kerkhoven at Kingery Field in Atwater.

Regan Elton finished 4-for-4 with a triple, a double, six RBIs and a run for the Black Sox. Brayden Johnson went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs.

Kason Helgeson was 3-for-4 with four RBIs for Kerkhoven.

Tri-Town 045 801-18 12 2

Kerkhoven 111 050-8 8 1

Hitting - Tri-Town: Rowan Molinaro 2-4 r-2 rbi-3 hbp, Regan Elton 4-4 2b 3b r rbi-6 bb sb, Brody Straumann 0-2 r bb-2 hbp sb, Jaciel Cardenas 0-3 r bb hbp, Brayden Schroeder 1-5 r-2 sb-2, Jayden Gort 1-4 r rbi-2 bb, Brayden Johnson 3-3 2b r-2 rbi-2 bb-2 sb, Kyan Schroeder 1-3 r-2 bb-2 sb, Caden Miller 0-2 r-2 bb-3 sb-2, Peyton Carlson 0-1 r-3 rbi bb hbp-3 … Kerkhoven: Hunter Engelke 1-3 r rbi bb sb, Kason Helgeson 3-4 rbi-4, Kylen Payne 0-3 r hbp sb-2, Jackson Doscher 0-1 r hbp, Brock Lesteberg 2-4 r rbi, Colton Noble 2-3 r rbi, Brady Johnson 0-2 r hbp, Miles Morrison 0-0 r bb, Devin Rudningen 0-1 r bb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Tri-Town: B. Johnson (W) 3-4-3-2-3-4, B. Schroeder 3-4-5-1-1-6 … Kerkhoven: Engelke 2-4-4-4-3-2, Payne (L) 0.2-3-5-0-1-2, Doscher 0.2-1-4-4-5-2, Teagen Diederich 0.1-2-4-4-2-0, Gene Carlson 2.1-2-1-1-2-4

Game 1

Tri-Town 3, Kerkhoven 0

Regan Elton tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the Tri-Town Black Sox past Kerkhoven at Kingery Field in Atwater.

Elton struck out eight and walked three. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate, as did Brayden Johnson.

Brody Straumann was 1-for-2 with a walk, a run, an RBI and a stolen base and Jaciel Cardenas was 1-for-3 with an RBI for Tri-Town. Caden Miller went 1-for-2.

Hunter Engelke was 2-for-3 with a double for Kerkhoven.

Kerkhoven 000 000 0-0 3 0

Tri-Town 001 020 x-3 8 1

Hitting - Kerkhoven: Hunter Engelke 2-3 2b, Kason Helgeson 0-2 bb, Jackson Doscher 0-0 bb-2 hbp, Brock Lesteberg 1-3 … Tri-Town: Rowan Molinaro 0-1 r-2 bb hbp sb, Regan Elton 2-3, Brody Straumann 1-2 r rbi bb sb, Jaciel Cardenas 1-3 rbi, Jayden Gort 1-2 bb, Brayden Johnson 2-3 sb, Kyan Schroeder 0-1 bb-1, Caden Miller 1-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Kerkhoven: Colton Noble (L) 5-7-3-2-4-4, Miles Morrison 1-1-0-0-1-1 … Tri-Town: Elton (W) 7-3-0-0-3-8

By Joe Brown

Joe Brown is a sports reporter for the West Central Tribune.

He can be reached via email at: jbrown@wctrib.com or his office number: 320-214-4332.

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