The Hastings Hawks entered Sunday afternoon knowing there was no next game unless they earned it. Hastings hosted the New Ulm Brewers at 2 p.m. Aug. 9 at Veterans Park in a Section 1A elimination game, one week after the two teams opened the section playoffs against each other.
The Hawks had beaten New Ulm 4-1 on Aug. 1, then lost 4-3 at Elko the following day, putting Hastings into the elimination side of the bracket. Hastings entered Sunday with a 17-17 overall record and needed another win over the Brewers to keep its season alive and continue the chase for one of Section 1A's four state tournament bids.
For most of Sunday's game, Hastings had the pitching it needed. Kane Sheahan kept New Ulm hitless through the first four innings and eventually allowed just one hit in five innings. Reece Cox and Dennis Reinhart combined to allow only one more hit over the final four innings.
New Ulm finished with just two hits in the game, but the Brewers turned walks, hit batters, a wild pitch and a pair of Hastings errors into a three-run fourth inning. That was enough as Hastings managed only three hits of its own in a 3-1 loss that ended the Hawks' season.
Sheahan and the Hastings defense made quick work of New Ulm in the top of the first, retiring the Brewers in order. Hastings immediately created a chance in the bottom half when Jack Seleski worked a leadoff walk. Seleski stole second during Max Krebs' at-bat, but the Hawks could not bring him home.
Sheahan struck out two in a clean second inning before Hastings put together another threat. Bennett Brathol was hit by a pitch and Dylan Larson walked. Cory Wolters reached on a fielder's choice, with Brathol forced out at third, and Cade Kimmes followed with a walk to load the bases. Seleski flew out to end the inning, leaving three runners aboard.
The pitchers continued to control the game in the third. Sheahan struck out two more and worked around a walk, while Hastings went down in order in the bottom half. After three innings, neither team had recorded a hit and the game remained scoreless.
New Ulm finally broke through in the fourth, but the Brewers did it without getting a hit.
Justin Hoffmann opened the inning with a walk and Cole Ranweiler was hit by a pitch. Ayden Jensen then put down a sacrifice bunt and reached safely on a Hastings error, loading the bases with nobody out.
With Sam Keckeisen at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Hoffmann to score the first run of the afternoon. Ranweiler moved to third and Jensen advanced to second. Keckeisen then grounded out, bringing Ranweiler home and moving Jensen to third for a 2-0 New Ulm lead.
Wade French followed by reaching on another Hastings error, this time allowing Jensen to score the third run. Sheahan recovered from there, getting a flyout and a strikeout to end the inning with New Ulm holding a 3-0 lead despite not recording a hit.
Hastings nearly answered immediately.
Evan Khrin and Brathol both flew out to begin the bottom of the fourth, but Larson kept the inning alive with the Hawks' first hit of the afternoon, a single. Wolters followed with another single and Kimmes added a third straight hit, loading the bases.
It was Hastings' best opportunity of the game, with the top of the order coming back around and the Hawks suddenly threatening to erase the deficit. Instead, Larson was tagged out at home during Seleski's plate appearance, ending the inning without a run.
Sheahan kept the game within reach in the fifth. New Ulm finally recorded its first hit when Ranweiler dropped down a bunt single after Hoffmann had walked. With two runners aboard and one out, Sheahan struck out Jensen and Keckeisen to strand both runners. The two strikeouts gave Sheahan seven for the game.
Hastings finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Seleski was hit by a pitch and Krebs later drew a walk, putting two runners aboard. New Ulm brought Tate Becker in to replace starter Jace Schaefer.
During Johnny Teigland's at-bat, a wild pitch moved Seleski to third and Krebs to second. Teigland then lifted a sacrifice fly that brought Seleski home and cut the New Ulm lead to 3-1. Khrin struck out to end the inning, leaving the Hawks two runs behind.
Sheahan's afternoon ended after five innings. He allowed three runs, only two earned, on one hit while walking three and striking out seven. He also hit two batters and threw one wild pitch.
Cox took over in the sixth and kept New Ulm off the scoreboard. Hastings, however, could not build another rally. Becker retired Brathol, Larson and Wolters in order, including two strikeouts.
Cox then retired New Ulm in order in the seventh. Kimmes opened the bottom half with a walk, but Seleski reached on a fielder's choice that forced Kimmes at second. Max Kaplan struck out and Krebs reached on another fielder's choice that ended the inning.
New Ulm picked up its second and final hit in the eighth when Jensen singled to open the inning. He later stole second, but Cox worked around the hit and a walk by striking out two and getting a flyout.
Becker continued to shut down Hastings in the bottom half, striking out the side. Teigland was called out looking, Khrin went down swinging and Brathol struck out swinging. Hastings had not recorded a hit since the three consecutive singles in the fourth inning.
The Brewers threatened to add insurance in the ninth. Cox struck out Zach More before walking Colten Schaefer and Hoffmann. Hastings turned to Reinhart with two runners aboard and one out.
Reinhart needed only one batter to escape the inning, getting Ranweiler to ground into a double play and giving Hastings one final opportunity with the score still 3-1.
Larson led off the bottom of the ninth and flew out. Jason Greeder, who had entered in place of Wolters, struck out swinging for the second out. Kimmes came to the plate as Hastings' final chance and also struck out swinging, bringing the Section 1A elimination game and the Hawks' 2026 season to an end.
Hastings finished with three hits, all singles, and all three came consecutively in the fourth inning. Larson went 1-for-3 with a walk, Wolters was 1-for-3 and Kimmes went 1-for-2 while drawing two walks.
Seleski reached base twice, drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch. He stole a base and scored Hastings' only run. Teigland drove him home with the fifth-inning sacrifice fly. Hastings drew five walks and was hit by two pitches, but left eight runners on base.
The Hawks' pitching staff combined to allow just two hits. Sheahan worked five innings, allowing one hit and two earned runs while striking out seven. Cox pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and four walks while striking out three. Reinhart recorded the final two outs without allowing a baserunner.
Together, the three Hastings pitchers struck out ten New Ulm batters.
The difference was the fourth inning and Hastings' inability to turn its own opportunities into runs. New Ulm scored all three of its runs in an inning in which it did not have a hit, while Hastings loaded the bases in both the second and fourth innings without scoring. The Hawks also had two runners in scoring position in the fifth and brought home only one on Teigland's sacrifice fly.
After Kimmes' single in the fourth, Hastings did not record another hit over the final five innings.
The 3-1 loss closed a short Section 1A playoff run in which Hastings twice faced New Ulm. The Hawks opened postseason play with a 4-1 home victory over the Brewers on Aug. 1, then traveled to Elko the following afternoon and came up one run short in a 4-3 loss. That sent Hastings into the Aug. 9 elimination game and gave New Ulm a chance to reverse the result from eight days earlier.
The loss also brought an end to a Hawks season that included 35 completed games on the supplied schedule. Hastings finished 17-18, with the schedule also including a suspended June 14 game at Lakeville, a weather postponement against Red Wing and a canceled July 15 game against Shoreview.
The Hawks' final stretch included wins over Rochester, Owatonna, Lakeville and New Ulm before the losses to Elko and New Ulm ended their postseason run. With the Aug. 9 defeat, there are no remaining games on the Hastings schedule, and the Hawks' 2026 season is complete.