Photo by Zachary Mortland, SMSU athletic communications: SMSU head baseball coach Paul Blanchard was honored for his 27 years as the Mustangs’ head coach at SMSU’s final home game of the season Saturday afternoon.

MARSHALL — The final Home Game of Southwest Minnesota State’s 2023 regular season was played at Legion Field on Saturday afternoon. But it wasn’t so much of the game being the story, although each team wanted to finish the season with a win to have momentum going into the League Tournament on Wednesday. The real story was the last regular season game for four Seniors and the retiring Head Coach Paul Blanchard. Both teams knew going into the game that SMSU would be the fifth seed and Minnesota-Crookston would be the third seed. So there wasn’t much at stake as far as positioning, but the Seniors certainly wanted to win this game as a tribute to their coach. Unfortunately, Crookston was able to come away with an 11-6 victory.

“When we recruited this class 4-5 years ago, we thought that we would have some good seasons down the road,” Blanchard said. “That came to be this year, making the NSIC Tournament for the first time since 2014.”

Before the game, the Seniors had nothing but good things to say about playing baseball at SMSU.

“It has been kind of a roller coaster last few years, with COVID and being a young team,” Craig Lasley, a senior from Alexandria, S.D., said. “This year, we came together and won a lot of games, which made it a fun way to end my Senior Year.”

Waconia native Robbie Smith said, “This is my fifth year here, and obviously this is our best year. Some of these guys haven’t had to deal with it, but the COVID thing set us back a year or two. We bought in a lot of players in the last couple years that have really helped us. This was a really good way to end our careers by getting to the Tournament.”

Keenan Wenzel, a senior from Rosemount, echoed those sentiments, “It has been quite the rollercoaster ride in my five years here. Obviously, our first couple of years weren’t that good. But Robbie and I being pitchers, we had the goal of making the Tournament. This year, we got it done with a great group of guys. It has been a really fun year, and I can’t wait to get to Bismarck for the conference championship.”

Century College transfer Jackson Bates, Saturday’s starting pitcher, reflected on his two years playing for the Mustangs, “I have seen the good and the bad, and making the conference tournament made the hard work pay off. We are trying to finish off a winner.”

They all agreed that playing for Coach Blanchard was an honor, especially to be here for his last season.

“The community has provided my wife and I with so much. We are very blessed to live in a great place to raise a family. The college has been great to us, but it’s just time to move on, time to be done,” Blanchard said. “We are going to enjoy our retirement, and we are going to spend a lot to time with our newborn grandson. We have some other things that we want to try to do, especially with our Maggie Jean Foundation we started a couple years ago for people who have experienced a lost pregnancy.

“I want to continue the Rookie Coaches program that was started about 10 years ago. At our National Convention, we had about 200 guys there last year. I want to continue to do mentorship for colleges and coaches around the area. I really enjoy doing that, so that is what I have in store for the future. We are still going to help in the community, and help with the High School next year. We have plenty of things to do.”

Crookston Head Coach Steve Gust said this about his long-time rival, “Paul Blanchard is a legend, that’s for sure. I remember coaching Legion baseball at the tournament here in Marshall, and he was trying to recruit some of my players! We go back a long time, and the thing about him is that he is very knowledgeable and passionate, and he has built great relationships with the kids. He has done it the right way. He is not only a great coach, but a great person. I am sad to see him go, but I wish him the best.”

Oh, then there was the game itself. Crookston picked up where they left off yesterday, with Jake Hjelle hitting his 22nd home run of the season after a double by Mike Halquist. Hjelle had three home runs and seven RBIs in the first game on Friday.

The second inning netted two more runs, starting with a single by Ben Goelz, followed by an error that put runners on second and third. Catcher Matt Nunn drove both of them in with a single.

Crookston tacked on one more run in the third inning, with a long lead-off home run to left field.

SMSU had been held scoreless through the first four innings, but the fifth inning started with a leadoff single by Caleb Gardow. After a tremendous play by Mike Hallquist on a ground ball up the middle that turned into a fielder’s choice, the Mustang’s were finally on the board.

Chase McDaniel hit a fly ball down the left field line, and left fielder Jake Hjelle made a great sliding catch to record to second out. On the play, Robbie Smith was able to score, making it 5-2. Jaxon Haase singled, but Brady Sorenson was able to get a strikeout to end the inning.

In the sixth inning, Caden Headlee doubled with one out, and Sawyer Satrom singled to drive in Headlee.

In the spirit of their Head Coach, the Mustangs never gave up, and thanks to errors by Crookston, and they were able to score four runs to tie the score. Max Kalenberg reached on an error, and Jake Tauer walked. The next two batters struck out, but Robbie Smith was hit by a pitch to keep the inning going. After an error allowing Isaac Nett to reach, the ball rolled away and two runs scored. Chase McDaniel singled, driving in Nett, and all of a sudden, the score was tied 6-6.

In the seventh inning, the Golden Eagles took out their frustrations from the previous inning by scoring 5 times to put the game out of reach. Mitch Goodwin lead off with a single, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Matt Nunn. Danny Wensloff walked, and Mike Hallquist followed with a double to drive in Wensloff. After another sacrifice by Josh Dykhoff that scored a run, and a walk to Hjelle, Headlee laced an RBI double. Ben Goelz singled to drive in Hjelle. A fly ball to center ended the inning, but the damage was done.

That ended the scoring for the day, but not before Mustang shortstop Chase McDaniel made the play of the day in the eighth inning. A grounder up the middle was headed for center field, but just as McDaniel was about to make the play, the ball hit the second base bag. Somehow, McDaniel was able to snag the ball barehanded and get the out at first. Unfortunately, that was the last highlight of the day, and Crookston came away with a hard fought win.

So now it is on to Bismarck, N.D. for the start of the NSIC Tournament, where they will take on No. 4 St. Cloud State at Noon on Wednesday.

Farewell to Coach Paul Blanchard, who as usual, was humble until the end. He and his wife, Nancy will continue to work with the Maggie Jean Foundation. If you would like to contribute, you can go to https://maggiejeanfoundation.com. All donations to this worthy cause will be appreciated.

A retirement celebration was held after the game at the Marshall Golf Club, with many former players and supporters came to honor “Skip” for one last time. And now, on to the next chapter in the life of Paul and Nancy Blanchard.