Apparently, there is no team more dangerous than Zumbrota-Mazeppa down to their last strike.
The third-seeded Cougars twice made comebacks in the two games to decide the Section 1AA championship when one more strike would have ended their season.
In survival mode at the plate Wednesday evening, the Cougars rallied themselves out of a three-run deficit with two outs - down to their final strike three times - to score four runs and claim the section title.
Junior Dane Damson came up with the game-winning hit, knocking a line drive to right field that scored Preston Ohm from third and the winning run, Hunter Streit, from second.
A flood of emotion escaped the third base dugout at Mayo Field in Rochester. Zumbrota-Mazeppa clinched its first ever state bid in program history.
“Greatest game I've ever played in my life,” Damson said. “That was a great team win. Just a great day for the team.”
“This is a great win. A great tradition of baseball finally made it over the hill of getting to state,” added head coach AJ Yusten. “This team held themselves to a high bar of excellence.”
Damson’s approach at the plate never waivered. Although, he did have even more time to think about what he wanted to accomplish as the Bombers had a mound visit before he came to the plate.
“Everything is racing through my mind. All I envisioned was taking the pitch the other way,” Damson said.
Playing from behind didn’t seem to bother the Cougars. They rallied from a near catastrophic loss to No. 11 Lourdes. After trailing 10-0, the Cougars pecked away to come away with a tense 13-12 win in the second round.
Facing a similar scenario, the Cougars tied the game in the fifth inning against No. 2 La Crescent-Hokah, then took the lead in the seventh. It was Damson who had the hit to put them ahead and ultimately defeat the Lancers in a quarterfinal matchup.
“This whole year, we've been a really good two-out hitting team. Never given up on anything,” Damson said. “We just went out there with the same mentality to get something done in that last inning to put up a bunch of runs.”
The Cougars saved the theatrics in the semifinal, winning 3-0 over the Bombers.
Two more matchups with the Bombers and a trip to state on the line, the two teams engaged in some awfully competitive games. The first of the two games was won by Cannon Falls 7-4, as the Bombers scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to win and force a second game in the section final.
Under normal weather conditions, a second game would have followed the first. Heavy rain whisked away any chance of playing again. The section staff and grounds crew determined each team should return Wednesday.
Bombers pitcher Ryan Hjellming limited the Cougars to three baserunners and one hit through four innings. The Cougars strung together enough good at-bats to push across two runs in the fifth.
Jack Krier started the miraculous comeback with a triple to left field on an 0-2 count. Kaleb Lochner grounded a ball to the middle of the field. With a head first slide, he beat the ball to first by a fingertip. He, too, was down to his final strike, fouling a few pitches off. Ohm singled on an 0-2 count. Hunter Streit doubled in a run and set up second and third for Damson.
“We started the year off shakier than we would have liked,” Yusten said of the team’s overall hitting. “We religiously and constantly talked about quality at-bats and two-strike at-bats, two-strike swings, how to approach the plate when we get up there against tough pitchers. Unlike some years where we had good teams that didn't quite peak at the right time, this team peaked right now.”
Streit was able to work in and out of potential big innings for the Bombers. The final two innings were pitched by Owen Hoefs, who spent much of the season on JV. Hoefs appeared in just his second game of the season and threw two scoreless innings to keep the Cougars in a position to rally in the seventh.
Damson came through with the biggest, perhaps most exhilarating, hit of his life. It came after he was charged with three errors in the field. He took full advantage of the opportunity to amend it all.
“You have tough games in the field and good days, too,” he said. “A lot of those errors didn't lead to runs, which is a good thing. You make up for it on the back side. Make another play, get a clutch hit. Makes up for all of it.”
