Hastings did all they could to win the Metro East Conference (MEC) but two other teams kept up with them, forcing a three-way tie at the top of the standings. Mahtomedi, Two Rivers and Hastings all finished 13-3 in conference play. Hastings defeated Mahtomedi twice in the season, and Mahtomedi beat Two Rivers twice. Two Rivers and Hastings split with Hastings losing the first game 5-4 and then they thumped the Warriors in the rematch 9-1. The Raiders are peaking at the right time, currently on a nine-game win streak as they enter the final two games of the regular season.
Monday, May 13, Hastings played host to the Zephyrs beating them 6-3.
Against the Zephyrs, Hastings’s ace Alex Hendrickson gave up a solo home run on the first pitch of the game and then settled in nicely. The Zephyrs did score another run in the top of the third, but Hastings finally answered, scoring three in their half of the third. Gavin Radant singled to right to lead off the inning then Sawyer Tjomsland walked before Hendrickson helped himself with a bases clearing triple. Evan Nelson’s single to left scored Hendrickson and Hastings had their first and only lead of the game.
The Raiders scored three more in the fifth where they ran through the lineup with all nine batters making it to the plate. Nelson singled to left center and a balk on the Zephyrs moved him to second. Jack Seleski hit a single to left center and Nelson was forced to stay put at second. Johnny Teigland was hit by pitch loading the bases for Cade Kimmes. Kimmes walked, earning an RBI and Blake Vandehoef hit a single to right scoring Seleski. Radant hit a grounder to third, but the third baseman committed an error allowing Teigland to score. Hastings went on to win 6-3.
Hendrickson earned the complete game win by striking out four & walking one. He allowed nine hits on 98 pitches.
The second game of the week was at St. Thomas Academy and the Raiders were out for revenge on a Wednesday evening. The Raiders scored all four of their runs in the first inning against the Cadets. Tjomsland walked to lead off, then quickly stole second. Hendrickson flied out to short, Nelson walked and a hit and run call during Seleski’s at bat scored Tjomsland and moved Nelson to third. Teigland walked putting runners on the corners with two outs.
The STA pitcher tried to pick off Teigland at first but a bad throw caused the ball to sail into the outfield which allowed Nelson to score and Teigland to reach third. Kimmes was hit by the pitch and Hastings was back to having runners on the corners. Kimmes stole second and a single by Blake Vandehoef scored both base runners to give the Raiders the early 4-0 lead.
Jack Seleski was masterful on the mound allowing only two Cadets runs in the fourth. Seleski threw 95 pitches, 68 strikes and 27 balls. He struck out 11 allowing three hits and no walks.
The final regular season conference game was at Hill-Murray on Friday, May 17. This game was over in the second inning with Hastings scoring nine runs. Hastings came to the plate 14 times, Kimmes scored twice in the second inning, that is how dominant the Raider offense was in that game. The final was 10-4, Hastings could not quite earn the 10-run rule win, and that is OK. They did what then needed to do to win.
Matt Sherry started going four and two-thirds innings before being replaced by Creed Peterson. Peterson completed the fifth and Evan Nelson came into close things down.
The win against Hill-Murray ensured the Raiders would at least have a chance to win the conference depending on what Mahtomedi and Two Rivers did. Both of those teams won which created a three-way tie in the conference. The trick is tiebreakers, and there is no true list of tiebreakers on the MSHSL website.
According to Minnesota-scores.net, the official website of the Quality Results Formula, or QRF, Hastings is currently second in the section behind Two Rivers. Burnsville is third and Eastview is fourth.
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By now, everyone should be well aware of the shenanigans that go on behind the scenes of the section 3AAAA seeding meetings. Hastings almost always get seeded lower than their QRF indicates. QRF was created to take into account the difficulty of the opponent at the time of the game. That means the “tougher schedule” excuse card played by the other coaches in the section should not happen, but it does. The South Suburban coaches stick together and always vote outside schools lower than they should be.
This could be trouble for Hastings again this year. Hastings is significantly better than Burnsville this year but with Burnsville’s QRF being less than three points behind Hastings, no one should be shocked if the coaches voted Burnsville ahead of Hastings and Two Rivers. Eastview is a good 22 points behind Hastings, but it is Eastview, so on that fact alone, they could be voted ahead of Hastings. Given the history of the section, it would not be a shock to see Hastings land in the fourth seed even though they truly should be the number two seed behind Two Rivers.
This could still change yet with two games remaining in the season for many of the teams. Until the seeding meeting on May 23, this is all speculation and prognostication based on years of the Raiders being knocked down by the bigger schools in the section. Keep an eye on our social media for updates after the May 23 seeding meeting. The playoffs will start on Memorial Day and if Hastings hosts, it will be at Veterans Park, most likely a 4:30 p.m. start unless the section allows the game to take place at night. Again, those details will be shared via social media.