The Class A EV-W baseball state championship teams of 2010 and 2011 will be inducted into the EV-W Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony set to take place during halftime of the EV-W/-Kimball boys’ basketball game Friday, Jan. 28. After the game, there will be a short reception for the Hall of Fame Inductees in the Brooks Street Lobby. Family, friends, and fans of the inductees are invited to attend along with previous Hall of Fame inductees.
2010 – 27-0: The perfect season When the 2010 season ended with a 7-4 win over Sebeka in the Class 1A title game, the Eagles put the exclamation mark on their perfect 27-0 season. In the process, the EV-W became only the second team in the multi-class era to finish the season undefeated. Cretin-Derham-Hall finished 29-0 in 1998. Another first worth noting is the Class A championship game was the first state tournament game played at the new Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.
After finishing the regular season undefeated, EV-W came back to edge Kimball 9-8 in the opening playoff game. They went on to defeat Royalton 16-1, Osakis 12-2, Ogilvie 4-0, Osakis 3-0 to qualify for state. EV-W opened the Class A state tournament with a 6-0 win over Minnesota Valley Lutheran. They then downed Mayer-Lutheran 14-3 to advance to the championship game where they found themselves down 4-1 but took the lead in the sixth inning and held on for the 7-4 victory.
2011 – EV-W repeats as champs returning 6 of 9 starters from the 2010 team, the Eagles had high hopes for 2011. After suffering two defeats early in the regular season, the Eagles went on a 20-game win streak. They opened the playoffs with a 9-0 win over Maple Lake followed by a high-scoring 16-13 win over Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa. EV-W wrapped up the section title with a 7-3 victory over East Central to qualify for a return trip to state.
The Eagles took on Providence Academy in the quarter-finals and defeated the Lions 3-0. Next up was Red Lake County Central and the Eagles came out strong, winning the game 16-6.
The championship game, which was delayed a day because of rain, featured EV-W against Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial. The Eagles broke open the game with a six-run third inning to break a 2-2 tie. EV-W then hung on to win 8-4 to bring home a second straight baseball championship. The Eagles finished the season with a record of 23-2.
Rosters – 2010 – Andy Yanish, Kevin Kramer, Derek Streit, Dan Sargent, Brandon Walz, Ryan Tri, Eric Kummet,
Ryan Schmitz, Travis Torborg, Tyler Geislinger, Mitch Geislinger, Hayden Willner, Grant Warren, Peter Stenger, Brendan Ashton, Matt Geislinger, Jake Seherer, Alex Geisligner. Student manager: Blaine Adolph. Head Coach: Mike Tomsche, Assistant coaches Dan Berg, Jeff Haag.
2011 – Cain Renner, Kevin Kramer, Andrew Swenson, Travis Linn, Brandon Walz, Mitch Geislinger, Grant Winter, Zach Schlangen, John Bautch, Alex Geislinger, Derek Streit, Nick Pauly, Grant Warren, Brendan Ashton, Jake Rohrbeck, Matt Geislinger, Hayden Willner, Austin Berg. Student Manager: Matt Unterberger. Head coach: Mike Tomsche and Assistant coaches Dan Berg and Dave Schneider.