FOX 9 Town Ball Tour teams square off in Class B title game
MAPLE LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) - The State Amateur Baseball Championships took place Labor Day in Maple Lake and in the Class B title game, two FOX 9 Town Ball Tour teams squared off.
The Dundas Dukes and the Chanhassen Red Birds are both familiar to FOX 9 and FOX 9 viewers after the last two summers of the Town Ball Tour.
Now, the teams are more familiar with each other, having both made it to the championship game at Irish Stadium.
Both programs have a long history of winning, and Chanhassen is the reigning champion.
“You know, we’ve been known to be a very good, we’re a solid pitching team obviously, but we’ve hit the ball really well,” said Chanhassen Red Birds Coach Mike Ralston. “We’ve had 40 home runs in 28 games this year. Now we’ve come to the state tournament and we finally hit one last night, and we’ve shut out, so now we’re a pitching defensive team. That usually wins games. But we’ve gone from a pitching team to a hitting defensive team. So, that’s kind of fun.”
On the other side of the diamond, Mike Ludwig, the Dundas Dukes Coach, hoped his team’s experience can push them over the edge Monday.
“A lot of our guys have been around for two or three other times that we have been a part of this with this group. We were there in ’08 and ’10. And to get back here, it’s obviously special a thing,” Ludwig said. “It’s particularly special for us. You just don’t know if you’re going to have an opportunity to get back there, particularly as our guys are getting older, and today obviously is about having fun. It’s about trying to keep guys loose, and just executing like we have all tournament.”
Chanhassen needed to win two games to repeat as State Champions, but Dundas only needs to win one game to eliminate the Redbirds in the double elimination tournament. Chanhassen won the first game 8-1 and the second game 9-2.
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