A lot of teams would’ve quit. Not this group. They’re relentless.”

Head Coach Blake Warner

The bats were booming, the rallies were electric, and through it all, Hastings Legion Post 47 fought like a team with something to prove. Over the course of two days at the Minnesota Legion State Tournament, Hastings left it all on the field, grinding through a trio of games that showed the full range of what this group is made of. It started with a tough loss on Thursday, turned into an offensive explosion on Friday afternoon, and ended in a nail-biter Friday evening. The final tally: one win, two losses, and a whole lot of respect earned.
Making the State Tournament in any sport is an excellent accomplishment and the Raider’s Legion baseball team has earned that trip for the last three years in a row. This year, the tournament took place in and around St. Michael/Albertville (STMA) with the Raiders playing at STMA High School for game one against New Ulm, falling 3-1. In the playback bracket, they played games two and three in Maple Grove at their beautiful new facility, Gleason Fields. Game two they took down Sauk Rapids 14-5 before being eliminated by New Ulm, this time 6-5.
It all began Thursday, July 31, at 3:00 p.m., when Hastings opened tournament play against New Ulm. From the first pitch, it had the makings of a classic pitcher’s duel. Carter Lundstrom was sharp on the mound for Hastings, punching out seven and allowing just one earned run. The offense got its first spark early. Luke Niederkorn led off with a double and moved to third on a passed ball. But the next three batters couldn’t bring him home, and that set the tone.
Hastings stranded runners in scoring position inning after inning and couldn’t cash in despite out-hitting New Ulm 6-5. New Ulm did just enough, pushing across a run in the first on an error and adding two more in the eighth, one of them also unearned. Hastings' lone run came on a sac fly from Cole Werner that tied the game in the fifth, but that was all they’d get. New Ulm’s pitching locked down the final frames, and Hastings dropped a winnable game, 3-1.
“We just didn’t capitalize when we got put in really good situations,” said head coach Blake Warner. “They did. That was the difference.”
Less than 24 hours later, Hastings came back with a vengeance. On Friday, August 1, at noon, they faced Sauk Rapids Post 254 and delivered the kind of response every coach dreams of. The bottom of the first inning turned into a clinic. Niederkorn walked to lead it off. McGuire walked. Werner doubled home a run. Then they just kept coming. Anthony Butler was hit by a pitch. Gunnar Skov singled. Charlie Rud singled. Grant Johnson walked. Niederkorn returned with a bases-clearing double, and McGuire followed by launching a two-run, no doubter of a bomb to left field. Nine runs scored before Sauk Rapids even got the second out. The damage was swift and surgical.
By the end of the game, Hastings had racked up 14 runs on 11 hits. Niederkorn went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Werner added two hits and two RBIs. Skov had two hits, a hit-by-pitch, and scored twice. McGuire reached base three times and drove in two with the homer. Hastings batted around in the first, again in the fifth, and tacked on runs every chance they could. Warner, looking to manage arms for later, used a combination of Drew Gillespie, Mark Svoboda, and Charlie Meyers on the mound, keeping pitch counts low and options open for the evening.
It was the kind of dominant performance that made people pay attention. More importantly, it put Hastings right back in the mix.
“When we got hitter’s counts, we didn’t miss,” Warner said. “And that’s the difference.”
They barely had time to enjoy it. At 5:00 p.m. the same day, they were back on the field for a do-or-die rematch with New Ulm. This one had everything. Early offense, clutch defense, big swings, and a wild finish. New Ulm struck first with two in the opening frame, but Hastings didn’t blink. In the second, a hit-by-pitch and a pair of errors set the stage for Johnson to reach on another miscue, bringing home the first run. Then Niederkorn came up and ripped a two-run double down the line to give Hastings the lead. From there, it turned into a seesaw.
New Ulm tied it in the third. Hastings took it back in the fourth when Skov scored on a passed ball. Then New Ulm tied it again in the sixth. In the seventh, the wheels came off. A leadoff error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases. A walk brought in the go-ahead run. Then a deep fly ball triggered a chaotic double-play attempt that ended with another New Ulm run scoring before Hastings could record the third out. Down 6-4, with only three outs left to work with, Hastings gave it one last push.
Two quick outs brought up Carter Lundstrom, pinch-hitting in a high-pressure moment. He delivered, blasting a solo home run to left. The dugout erupted. Skov followed with a single to bring the winning run to the plate. But the final out came on a fly ball to first, sealing a 6-5 loss and ending Hastings’ tournament run.
It was a gut punch of a finish, but also a game that showed everything this group had learned. They rallied from behind twice. They matched New Ulm swing for swing. They didn’t go down without a fight.
Through three games in two days, Hastings scored 19 runs, recorded 28 hits, and battled through tense late-game situations. Niederkorn was electric at the plate, finishing with multiple extra-base hits and driving in runs in all three games. Werner made noise both with the bat and the glove. McGuire added clutch power and key hits. The pitching, split between five different arms, kept them competitive in every inning.
What separated this group wasn’t just the stats. It was the mindset. “They didn’t have the best spring. A lot of teams would’ve quit,” Warner said. “Not this group. They’re relentless.”
The record books will show a 1-2 finish at the state tournament. But what they won’t capture is the fight, the growth, and the edge this team played with. They were in every game. They took a top team to the wire, twice. And in the middle, they delivered one of the most dominant innings of the entire tournament.
For Hastings Legion Post 47, the summer ended with more grit than glory. But everyone who saw them play knows exactly what they brought to the field: effort, fire, and a refusal to back down.