By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

With the regular season behind them, the Riverland baseball and softball teams headed north this afternoon to compete in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference State Tournaments.

The Riverland baseball team will open play at state on Friday morning in St. Cloud. The Lady Blue Devils softball team also starts play tomorrow in Sauk Rapids.

Finishing tied for first-place in the MCAC, South Division, the Blue Devils were then awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the state baseball tournament. The Lady Devils finished tied for third-place in the MCAC South, but then won a coin flip to get the third seed from the division at state.

Top overall seed

The Riverland baseball team opens play against Ridgewater, the eighth-seed, tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Faber Field in St. Cloud. Other games in the state tournament will also be played at the adjacent Dick Putz Field.

Brandon Huhn will start the opener on the pitching mound for the Blue Devils. Win or lose in the opening game, Riverland will then play another game on Friday at 5 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

This is the first time in six years the Blue Devils have qualified for state. This is the first time they go in as the top seed in the tourney.

"It's a little bit of a relief to finally be back at state, but we're hoping for bigger and better things," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "The top three finishers at state then advance to the regional tournament in Willmar. Our goal is to get to the region, win that tournament, and move on to the JUCO World Series in New York."

In the late game tomorrow, the Blue Devils have their other ace pitcher, Brady Banse, ready to go. If the top two starters falter, then Koenigs can turn to a well-stocked mound corps. Brian Voigt finished his freshman season on the hill with a 4-0 record and a minuscule .027 ERA.

Riverland moved up to sixth in the nation in the final regular season poll for NJCAA Division III teams. The last time the Blue Devils advanced to the JUCO World Series was back in 1998.

Lillemon's last hurrah

Riverland softball coach Dave Lillemon is retiring at the end of the season, but he hopes to still have a few weeks left in the Lady Devils dugout. Rochester has already secured a spot in the regional tournament, so there are two berths left for teams from the MCAC South.

The Lady Devils open state tournament play at 10 a.m. on Friday at the Bob Cross Athletic Fields in Sauk Rapids. After winning the coin flip for the third seed, Riverland drew Northland in the first round.

"They're the number two team from the MCAC North, and we didn't play them in the regular season," Lillemon said of the opener. "They're 21-7 and can hit the ball. We'll have to play good defense, if we want to advance to the region."

Riverland pitchers Kaylee Newman and Anna Breault both had solid seasons and have an ERA under 3.0 heading to state. Newman, along with fellow sophomores Carmen Smith and Jill Radke, played at state last year.

Win or lose in the opening game, the Lady Devils play again at noon in the double-elimination tournament. It's possible they might play three games on Friday.

"We're playing to finish in the top two from the South Division and advance to the region," Lillemon said. "There's a lot on the line and it will be fun to see how they respond at state."

Individual honors

For the third time this season, the Lady Devils had one of their own chosen as the MCAC South player-of-the-week. Thenedra Corey earned that honor with her play last week.

Corey went 12-for-19 in six games last week. She had two triples, scored six runs, and recorded eight stolen bases during that span of games. Smith and Laura Meyer also received player-of-the-week honors this season.

Meyer finished the regular season hitting .544 and is riding a 26-game hitting streak. Meyer has a total of 49 hits on the season. Smith leads the team with 21 RBIs, and Justine Sanvick has driven home 20 runs on the season.

"We have good balance with nine girls having at least 10 RBIs," Lillemon said. "We have 139 stolen bases as a team, so we will definitely run as it's been the key to our success all season. The games will be a lot lower scoring at state because of better pitching, so defense will be critical."

A state tournament banquet will be held for the ladies this evening, and then the games begin for real on Friday morning.