Photos by Jake McNeill Dawson-Boyd pitcher Nathan Hansen (11) throws from the mound during a Section 3A baseball tournament elimination game against Minneota on Saturday at Yankee Field in Milroy.

MILROY — A big game at the plate and on the mound from Nathan Hansen helped the Dawson-Boyd baseball team take down Minneota in the Section 3A elimination bracket on Saturday. The Blackjacks staked an early lead and held on for a 4-2 win, leaving them one win away from a return to the section championship game.

A three-run third inning solidified the win for the Blackjacks. Tygan Long started the third inning by reaching on an error at first base and Hansen followed up with a single to put a runner in scoring position. Brody Larson ran out in left field to make a cross-body grab and hold the runners for the inning’s first out, but a walk to Beau Johnson loaded the bases and Collin Olson was hit by a pitch to force in a run, prompting a Minneota pitching change.

Kellen Bradley struck out the first batter he faced after taking over, but he hit the next two to force in another pair of Blackjacks, extending Dawson-Boyd’s lead to 4-0.

Minneota finished the day with five errors to Dawson-Boyd’s six, but the Blackjacks capitalized for four unearned runs compared to two for the Vikings.

“That’s just playoff baseball. They made more plays than we did in the field,” Minneota head coach Keven Larson said. “We pitched extremely well, but they made more plays when it came down to it and we just couldn’t get enough runs.”

While Bradley’s inherited runners scored, he put together a quality relief appearance from there. He finished the day with 3 2/3 shutout innings, limiting the Blackjacks to one hit and two walks with a trio of strikeouts.

Hansen pitched the first four innings for Dawson-Boyd, giving up one unearned run on three hits to earn the win. He also joined Johnson as one of just two Blackjacks with a hit on the day, each finishing with a single, while Johnson also reached base with a walk.

“I think my slider was pretty effective. I mean, it keeps the hitters off balance,” Hansen said. “If I’m really struggling to get a strike, I’m pretty comfortable with the grip of my slider and I’m usually able to get it for a strike.”

Long closed out the victory with a three-inning save appearance. He limited the Vikings to one unearned run on one hit with three strikeouts and no walks.

The Blackjacks are now one win away from the section championship game. They reached the final last year out of the winner’s bracket before falling twice in a row to Lac qui Parle Valley. While the Blackjacks have had a harder road this time after falling to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the winner’s bracket quarterfinals, they’ve performed under pressure so far with back-to-back elimination bracket wins over LQPV and Minneota.

“I think as a team we’ve stayed composed knowing that mistakes are going to happen,” Hansen said. “I think we’re hitting the ball a lot better than we were, we’re putting the ball in play and not striking out as much. That’s important, but just the team making plays is pretty much it.”

Kameron Sather battled his way to a nine-pitch walk in the Blackjacks’ first at-bat, stole second and advanced to third when Colten Bothun reached base on a dropped third strike. Carson Javers struck out the next batter to get the Vikings’ first out of the inning, but hit Hansen with a pitch to load up the bases.

Grayson Olson stepped up to the plate and delivered the go-ahead run, lining a sacrifice fly into center field to score Sather. Still, Javers came up with another strikeout to minimize the damage and end the frame with the Vikings trailing by just a run.

Javers pitched the first 2 1/3 innings for the Vikings, giving up four unearned runs on one hit and two walks with a pair of strikeouts.

Series of fielding miscues get Minneota on the board in the fourth. Brody Larson singled with one out, advanced to second on an error and stole third before going home on an errant throw. A walk and another Dawson-Boyd error put runners on first and second with two outs and Ryan Meagher lined a ball into left field, but Sather threw the ball on a rope to Grayson Olson, who applied the tag at the plate to end the inning with the Blackjacks still commanding a three-run cushion.

Javers and Eli Gruenes hit consecutive singles for the Vikings before an outfield error scored Javers to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Minneota loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second and attempted to score the tying run on a passed ball; yet, a quick reaction from Dawson-Boyd catcher Grayson Olson and pitcher Nathan Hansen allowed the Blackjacks to get the tag at the plate to escape the jam unscathed.

Adam Dalager led Minneota’s bats on the day, finishing with a double and a single to account for two of the Vikings’ three hits.

Dawson-Boyd will have the opportunity to exact revenge on RTR tonight in the elimination bracket final with a section championship berth on the line. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start at the Irish Yard in Milroy. Hansen said that he feels like the Blackjacks will be in good position to come away with the win if they put the ball in play and clean up errors.

“If you put balls in play that are hard, good things can happen. I mean, baseball is a lot of luck, so just putting the ball in play, you know what happens, that’s all you can do,” Hansen said.

It was a long road to the elimination semifinals for Minneota. The Vikings started as the No. 4 seed in the South bracket, claiming a win over No. 5 Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove in the first round before falling to top-seeded Murray County Central in the second. Still, they continued to battle with upset wins over No. 2S Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian and MCC before falling to No. 1N Dawson-Boyd.

“To have to get through the number one and number two seeds in the South just to get to this point, and Dawson-Boyd was the number one seed in the North for a reason, so I’m proud of our guys. We didn’t give up,” Larson said. “We would have liked to win seven games to get to the state tournament. There aren’t a lot of sports where you have to win seven contests in like a week-and-a-half to get to that point, so it’s a long road and I’m proud of the way they handled it.”

Minneota graduates six seniors from its roster in Parker Bradley, Destin Fier, Eli Gruenes, Brody Larson, Meagher and Dalager. Coach Larson noted that this group of seniors has largely been playing together for around eight years and they’ve grown into leaders for the underclassmen over that time.

“They’ve stayed together and shown the younger guys what it takes to get to this point,” Larson said. “That’s that leadership role. It’s hard to see them go… They’re all great people, so we’re just hoping they have the same success outside of baseball that they had this year.”