Red Lake County defeats New Ulm Cathedral 15-7 to win Class 1A baseball championship

The Red Lake County freshman Ben Gullingsrud did a little dance standing on third after sliding into the base Saturday at Target Field.

It was only the top of the first inning but might as well have been construed as a victory celebration.

Gullingsrud ripped a two-run triple when the Rebels scored five times in the first en route to a 15-7 victory over New Ulm Cathedral in the Class 1A baseball state tournament championship.

The title is the first in program history.

“The dugout gets excited when I do the party dance,” Gullingsrud said. “It brings even more energy to our team.”

The Rebels (25-5) had plenty of it, adding four runs in the second inning to build a quick 11-1 lead in the third inning.

“You couldn’t have drawn it up any better,” Rebels coach Mike Gullingsrud said. “It takes a lot of pressure off.”

Junior third baseman Kegan Schmitz did that as well. He went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a state tournament record-tying six RBI and two runs scored.

After a sacrifice fly in the opening frame, Schmitz hit a bases-loaded clearing double in the second and another run-scoring double an inning later. He capped his stellar day with an RBI single in the seventh.

“I felt great, and thought we were going to get it done today,” Schmitz said. “We were very energetic.”

The top four hitters in Red Lake County’s lineup — Will Gieseke, Gunnar Halverson, Gullingsrud and Schmitz —combined for nine hits, 10 RBI and 11 runs scored. Each had at least two runs scored and two RBI.

“I was just doing my job and bringing them in,” Schmitz said.

Gieseke was the beneficiary of all the run support, picking up the win on the mound.

“This is better than anything else that I’ve experienced,” Gieseke said. “It’s special what this group has done.”

Elliot Schabert had a run-scoring single and crushed a bases-loaded clearing double for the Greyhounds (21-3). They also had a five-run inning.

“We couldn’t get too comfortable,” Schmitz said.

A few months ago, Red Lake County finished third in the boys basketball state tournament. The postseason experience a few of the Rebels’ players gained during the winter sports event paid off in key situations.

“We knew never to quit, never stop,” said Gieseke, one of four players on both teams. “That prepared us for this level of competition. Every player stepped up for us.”