MINDEN – The Minden Junior Legion Baseball team continues their incredible run in the 2024 season, winning the Class B6 Area Tournament at home capped off by two wins over the York Cornerstone Kings Tuesday night.
Minden came into the tournament as the three seed, winning their first game over Doniphan 3-1. After beating Aurora 17-3 on Saturday, Minden would then lose the Sunday winners bracket game 12-2 to the York Cornerstone Kings. Minden worked from the elimination bracket, beating Broken Bow 10-2 in a must win game, setting up a rematch with York for the championship.
York only needed one win Tuesday night, with Minden needing two. In game one, a five run fourth inning would help propel Minden to an 11-8 victory. Mason Bolin went 3-4 in game one with five RBI’s, with both him and Beau Bonifas pitching over three innings helping Minden to the game one victory.
In the nightcap, which was winner take all, the Minden offense dominated, leading them to a 17-9 victory in six innings. Minden scored multiple runs in five of the six innings, and scored in all six innings. Minden held on to a 12-9 lead going into the sixth, but scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to complete the victory. Seven of the nine players in the Minden lineup had at least one RBI, with every player reaching base at least once. Cade Harsin was 2-4 with three RBI’s and two runs and Cael Smith finished 2-4 with four RBI’s.
Minden finished 5-1 in the B6 Area Tournament and is off to the State Tournament in Waterloo Valley which is July 20th to the 24th. The Minden Juniors are now 16-5 overall. It is the first time to State for Minden since 2014. The seeding and brackets are not out, but the list of State teams is included below.
Crete (B1 Area Champions)
Lincoln Christian Brester Const Post 3 (B2 Area Champions)
West Point (B3 Area Champions)
ETC Knights (B4 Area Champions)
Waterloo Valley (Host)
Central City (B5 Area Champions)
Minden (B6 Area Champions)
Alliance (B7 Area Champions)
