Big Nine Baseball Showdown at State Class AAA Tournament

The Big Nine Conference has two teams participating in the MSHSL Class AAA State Baseball Tournament.  Unfortunately for Mankato West and Northfield they play each other in quarterfinal action Thursday, june 11, 2022 in Chaska.

Game time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.  POWER 96 Radio, 95.9 FM, FREE POWER 96 app will be there to broadcast and I will be on the call.

This appears to be a Tournament filled with Cinderella stories.

The only team in the field with over 20 wins is #2 seed, defending State Champion Mahtomedi (21-5).

All other teams have similar records.

The #6 seed Northfield Raiders (17-6) opened their season 0-4, had a 10 game winning streak just before the end of the regular season and then played the minimum number of games required to win Section 1AAA.

The seven team section required just three wins.  The Raiders blanked Austin 5-0, defeated Kasson-Mantorville 4-1 and beat the KoMets in the Championship Round 13-8.

#3 seed Mankato West (17-5) was Co-Champion of the Big Nine Conference with Owatonna, started their season with four wins, and is riding a seven game winning streak/

The Scarlets also lost no games in the double-elimination Section 2AAA Tournament.  Opened with an 11-1 win over Jordan, edged then state ranked Mankato East 5-4 before getting by state ranked Marshall 4-3 then beat Mankato East again 6-1.

In their only regular season meeting in April Mankato West won 6-0.

Both teams have scored a lot of runs with Northfield collecting double digit runs in seven games and Mankato West six games this season.

The Minnesota Baseball Coaches Association final rankings of the regular season show how much parity there is in Class AAA.

Seven teams in those rankings including #1 Orono did not qualify for State.

Below are the Quality Results Formula (QRF) rankings and records of each team.

• 10:00 a.m.  #2 seed Mahtomedi Zephyrs (21-5) with #2 QRF vs. #7 Grand Rapids Thunderhawks (15-10) #15 QRF
• 12:30 p.m. #3 Mankato West Scarlets (17-5) #5QRF vs #6 Northfield Raiders (17 -6) #16 QRF
• 3:00 p.m.  #1 seed Totino-Grace (17-8) #1QRF vs #8 Rocori (16-10) #8 QRF
• 5:30 p.m. #4 seed Delano (19-7) #6 QRF vs St. Thomas Academy (16-9) #10 QRF

Win or lose Northfield will play Noon Friday.  If in Semifinals the game is in Chaska.  If in Consolation Bracket they go to the Mini Met in Jordan where a victory would place them in the Consolation Championship game at 5:00 p.m. Friday in Jordan.

The Third Place game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Friday in Chaska.

The Class AAA Champonship is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday, June 15, 2026 at Target Field in Minneapolis.