Hastings played three games last week, first a 4-2 exhibition win over Pine Island, then a 3-1 loss on senior night at Veterans Park, then a trip up Highway 52 to Simley where they fell 8-2. The 1-2 record for the week moved the Raiders to 5-13 overall, 3-13 in the conference and 1-2 in the section. The Raiders have hit the point of the season where it is time to take leaps forward. At the time of this writing, there are two games left in the regular season, both against section opponents. At Apple Valley is scheduled to take place before the story is in readers hands and after the deadline for story submission and the game against Eastview was moved to Thursday, May 22 at 3:45 p.m. Hastings must win both of those games for a chance at a decent section placement.
Before we recap the last week of games, let’s cover the section placement conversation. Section 3AAAA is simply not a strong section for 2025. Two Rivers is the only team with a winning record, and they are 16-3 overall. They absolutely will be the number one section seed. The rest of the section standings get muddy.
Here are the teams in their current position, with their section and overall record:
Eagan – second 6-2, 9-10
Rosemount – third 4-4, 8-10
Apple Valley – fourth 3-5, 7-12
Eastview – fifth 5-3, 5-14
Hastings – sixth 1-2, 5-13
Park – seventh 0-1, 3-16
Burnsville – eighth 2-7, 2-17
Working our way up from the bottom, Hastings has not played Burnsville, so there is no reason to move them ahead of the Raiders. Park’s one section game was against Hastings and the Raiders won that, so Park should not move ahead of Hastings.
For Hastings to have a chance to move up, they need to win the next two games, Monday night is against Apple Valley and Tuesday night is against Eastview. Both section foes and both are just ahead of Hastings. Winning both should move the Raiders to fourth, but given the section coaches vote on the seeding, that is going to be a tough hill to climb. The spot that Hastings likely lands will not truly change much regardless of the outcome of the two games early this week. Expect the Raiders to finish fifth or sixth in the section and thus, starting the section tournament on road on Memorial Day. If for some reason, the section does vote the Raiders to the fourth seed, they will host a 4:30 p.m. game at Grossman on Memorial day.
Versus Pine Island
Drew Gillespie earned the complete game win, allowing only one earned run on 30 batters faced. He threw a total of 106 pitches striking out 10 and walking four. Cole Karnick logged two RBIs with Carter Lundstrom knocking in one RBI. Colton McKnight, Gunnar Skov, Karnick and Charlie Rud each scored a run in the 4-2 win.
Versus South St. Paul at Veterans Park
Senior night was held at Veterans Park to give the kids a game under the lights. Hastings graduates nine seniors this year.
The Packers took an early 2-0 lead and never looked back, ultimately winning 3-1. The lone run for Hastings came in the third when Matt Sherry was walked and then scored on a deep flyball by Isaiah Lavergne to right field.
Defensively, Hastings logged two errors which did allow one run to score, but it was the insurance run for the Packers. Matt Sherry tossed 92 pitches in 4.3 innings pitched while allowing two earned runs, striking out three and walking four. Karnick threw 1.6 innings in relief, striking out three and walking one.
At Simley
The Simley game was delayed a day by rain, so that took place Saturday and Simley wasted no time jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. They tacked on three more in the third and Hastings could not muster enough offense to challenge the Spartan’s lead. Hastings scored two in the top of the sixth, but Simley matched them in the bottom frame to win 8-2.
In the top of the sixth, Skov and Karnick each hit singles and a double up the middle by Marlowe Strain scored Skov and Karnick to avoid the shutout.
Lundstrom started on the bump going just one inning allowing three runs (one earned) with one strikeout and three walks. Charlie Meyers took over for Lundstrom, going two innings, allowing three runs (two earned) with just one walk. Anthony Butler finished the game with three innings, no earned runs with one strikeout and two walks.
Up next
As discussed above, the next time the Raiders will take the field will be for the start of the section tournament. The game will be on Memorial Day, in the early evening, most likely around 4:30 p.m. first pitch. The only true question is where the boys will be playing. Grossman or on the road? That question will be answered hopefully by Friday and as soon as we know, we will put that out on Facebook for you.