Perham, New York Mills both fall on opening day of state baseball tournament

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – Two of Otter Tail County’s flagship baseball programs opened the state tournament the same way Thursday in St. Cloud, on the wrong end of the final score.

No. 2-seeded Perham dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker to No. 7 Windom Area in a Class AA quarterfinal at Dick Putz Field, while No. 8 New York Mills ran into a buzzsaw in top-seeded Madelia, falling 8-2 in a Class A quarterfinal across town at Joe Faber Field.

Perham (23-5) spent the afternoon chasing. Windom Area struck for three runs in the first inning and never trailed, though the Yellowjackets clawed back with single runs in the second and third. One rally died at the plate when Windom Area left fielder Matthew Redman gunned down a runner trying to score, with catcher Steven Meyer applying the tag.

The Eagles pushed the lead to 7-2 with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, the latter pair coming on a home run. Perham answered with its best inning of the day — a four-run sixth that pulled the Yellowjackets within a run. Brody Blume did the heavy lifting, launching two home runs in back-to-back at-bats, including a leadoff blast off the scoreboard to open the sixth.

It wasn’t quite enough. Perham put the tying run on base in both the sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t bring it home. Kade Raser had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and Lyam Schumacher added two hits. Even Windom Area coach Alex Fink tipped his cap afterward, calling Perham one of the best programs in the state.

New York Mills (16-11) gave the tournament’s No. 1 seed a fight for a while. The Eagles were tied with Madelia 2-2 through the early innings before the Blackhawks broke it open with a four-run fourth — RBIs from Noel Davila, Tate Becker and Miah Garza built a 6-2 cushion — and pulled away for the 8-2 win.

Becker was the difference on the mound, going the distance for Madelia with 11 strikeouts and allowing just one earned run on two hits. New York Mills managed only two hits in the game, from Kolston Lofgren and Grady Roberts. Finn Roder took the loss after starting on the mound for the Eagles.

Neither season is over. Minnesota’s state tournament runs a consolation bracket, and both teams were slated to keep playing Friday — Perham in the Class AA consolation round at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field, and New York Mills in the Class A consolation round at Cold Spring Baseball Park.