Woodpeckers avoid the smoke, dominate Alexandria Red to start Sub-State F Tournament
· Yahoo Sports
Jul. 17—BEMIDJI — The Woodpeckers have only four losses in the 2026 season. Half of them came to Alexandria Red.
The Cardinals swept the Bemidji Junior Legion baseball team in two one-run games, 2-1 and 3-2 in late June. It was a rare day in which Bemidji's bats were dormant, head coach Travis Carruth explained.
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"We just couldn't hit, and that happens in baseball," he said.
So when the Woodpeckers had a first-round bye in the Sub-State F Tournament, their first opponent was, of course, Alexandria Red.
It's the only team this season that truly had Bemidji's number at the plate. But this time, the Post 14'soffense came alive early.
In the first inning, Jack Zellmann hit a towering two-run home run into left field, emphatically flipping his bat towards Bemidji's dugout to quickly get a 2-0 lead. Brody Roscoe hit an RBI single to take a 3-0 lead into the second inning.
The message was clear: Bemidji's bats weren't going to be silent against Alexandria Red's pitching. The Woodpeckers added five more to defeat the Cardinals 8-5 on Friday at the BSU Baseball Field, moving on to the semifinals in the double-elimination tournament.
"I was telling the guys after the game, no lead is safe, especially in playoff baseball," Carruth said. "So the more runs you can get, it's always the best thing for you. And we preach it all year that we can't start slow, and when we get off to a fast start like that, we tend to win ball games. So it was really good to see."
Slotted third in the order on Friday, Zellmann has proved to be one of Bemidji's best bats. His home run in the first inning was his third of the year, a team high — Zellmann also has a team-high five home runs for the Senior Legion team. He's also tied with Owen Geerdes as the Woopeckers' leader in RBIs with 19.
Zellmann finished the day 1-for-2 with a walk and a team-high four RBIs.
"He's a huge bat in our lineup and he does a really good job," Carruth said. "He takes really mature at-bats, and he's our offensive leader, for sure."
While Bemidji scored six runs in the first three innings, the game could've turned into a slugfest if it weren't for Bemidji pitcher Conner Shanahan. When the Cardinals threatened, Shanahan kept his composure and got out of tough situations.
No maneuver was tougher than the fifth inning. With Post 14 leading 6-0, Shanahan gave up a single and three straight walks to bring in Alexandria Red's first run. He was staring down the barrel of bases loaded with nobody out, knowing one swing could completely shift the momentum of the game.
Shanahan went on to produce a pop-up, a fielder's choice and a strikeout to miraculously end the inning with only one run across the plate.
So how did he get out of such a nerve-racking inning?
"Carter Weidemann, our catcher," Shanahan said bluntly. "He talked to me out there, calmed me down with a couple jokes. It's like, 'You're doing great. This guy's not really a good hitter. Just get a ground ball and get him out.'"
Weidemann and Shanahan have a good relationship with each other, as every catcher and pitcher should. But even in the dugout, they're always talking about the game, what strategy they want to use against hitters.
It helped Shanahan keep Alexandria Red at bay. He finished the day on the mound with four hits, one run, three walks allowed, along with seven strikeouts in six innings.
"I know he's put in a lot of work, and we have so much faith and confidence in Conner when he has the ball on the mound," Carruth said. "He's one of our top pitchers for a reason, and he pitched like it today, minus one bad inning. He does have an uncanny ability of getting himself out of jams he puts himself in."
Post 14 added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Weidemann secured an RBI double and then scored on Zellmann's sacrifice fly.
Bemidji took an 8-1 lead into the final seventh inning, but Geerdes and Roscoe both came in relief of Shanahan, who threw 104 pitches in six innings. The Cardinals scored four runs off of Geerdes and Roscoe before Roscoe struck out Dylan Skarka to end the game.
Post 14 ended the day with only one recorded strikeout at the plate.
The Woodpeckers (15-4) will play their semifinal game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the BSU.
Getting a first-round bye is important in any tournament, but it proved to be vital for Bemidji on Friday. Thanks to wildfire smoke, the opening games on Thursday proved difficult to play in.
The Woodpeckers were just happy to have the day off, especially Shanahan.
"I got asthma, so it's pretty bad," he said. "That would have been even worse (to play in)."
Bemidji 8, Alexandria Red 5
ALX 000 010 4 — 5-6-1
BEM 321 020 X — 8-9-1
WP: Shanahan (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K)
LP: Christensen (4.1 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 0 K)