08/19/2025
Panthers Upset Plato, Advance to Sweet Sixteen in State
BROWNTON, Minn., Aug. 18 – It was a muggy afternoon in Brownton for the final day of the opening weekend of the State Amateur Baseball Tournament. Driving into Barney Tadsen Park, one couldn’t help but feel they were in the perfect setting for townball. Beyond the outfield fence, lush soybean fields stretched toward the western horizon, while grain bins formed a small-town skyline behind the grandstand. Inside the park, the scent of grilled food lingered in the air, and the crisp snap of beer cans opening carried down both baselines. Hundreds of fans had made the trip to this tiny dot on the map in western Minnesota, eager to cheer for their hometown ball clubs.
For the Princeton Panthers, the challenge ahead was a tall one. The Plato Bluejays entered the tournament with sky-high expectations from both themselves and their loyal fan base. Townball pundits echoed that confidence, many lamenting Princeton’s tough draw earlier in the week. A few experts even went so far as to tab Plato as the favorite to take home the Class B crown.
One big reason for those bold Plato predictions was Bluejay’s right-handed fireballer, Reece Schwirtz, one of the most feared arms in the western half of the state. And Schwirtz was worth every bit of the hype. Earlier this summer, he carried the Bluejays past the Young America Cardinals, a perennial title contender, by throwing a 1-0 complete game shutout. That same Young America team had been tabbed by many as the favorite to win this year’s tournament.
The Panthers also faced another hurdle: geography. Plato sits less than 20 minutes from Brownton, and as expected, its fan base turned out in force. Hundreds of Bluejay supporters made the short trip, packing the bleachers and turning Barney Tadsen Park into a de facto home game. When Plato struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, the response was thunderous, an unmistakable small-town Bronx cheer that set the tone. For Princeton, it was immediately clear they’d be battling more than just the nine Bluejays on the field.
That opening run came courtesy of a tough break for rookie outfielder Niko Bratulich, who misjudged a deep fly ball riding a fierce southwest wind out to right. The breeze wreaked havoc on Princeton’s outfield all afternoon, turning routine chances into headaches; all three outfielders saw catchable balls drop safely. This one glanced off Bratulich’s glove and resulted in a phantom double for the Bluejays. A passed ball and a single later, the Bluejays handed their ace Schwirtz a 1-0 cushion as he took the mound for the second inning.
But the sequence may have been a blessing in disguise. Rather than rattling Princeton, it seemed to shake off the early jitters and let them settle in. Or maybe it was cleanup hitter Nolan Spence, who had built a reputation this postseason for halting opponent momentum, ripping an 0-2 Schwirtz fastball into right to spark the Panthers’ offense. Three batters later, catcher Cam Jensen followed with an opposite-field hit of his own, a hard grounder through the right side that brought Princeton even at 1-1.
The Panthers kept chipping away at Schwirtz. He opened the third inning by plunking leadoff man Eli Gibbs, Princeton’s fastest player, who wasted no time swiping second. Moments later, Gibbs bolted home all the way from second when the Plato shortstop short-hopped a throw across the diamond. Just like that, the Panthers had their first lead, 2-1.
That edge held until the bottom of the fifth. Panther starter Kevin Rahe, who had spent most of the summer pitching for Minot in the Northwoods League, issued a leadoff hit-by-pitch of his own, and it snowballed into a two-run frame for Plato, putting the Bluejays back in front, 3-2.
With the scales tipped in Plato’s favor once again, the Panther offense pushed back. Jake Carlson, who led the Eastern Minny League in hitting this season with a .455 batting average, lined a single up the middle to leadoff the sixth, then got a great jump to go first to third on a single by Dan Voce. The baserunning acumen displayed by Carlson was a play subtle to many in the crowd, but a textbook example of a season-long mantra for the Panthers: take the extra bag. That hustle mattered, as Carlson came home on Damon Rademacher’s RBI single to tie the score. The very next hitter, longtime Panther first baseman Gehrig Scheffel, made his lone hit of the day count, threading a single between short and center to reclaim the lead for Princeton, 4-3.
Kevin Rahe guarded the new lead with poise, cruising through his final two innings on just 14 pitches. His last out of the day was punctuated by left fielder Tanner Kinney, who gunned down a Plato pinch-hitter trying to stretch a single into a double with a laser from the line. It was Kinney’s second outfield assist in the last four games.
Rahe shined in his state tournament debut, throwing seven quality innings built on a crafty mix of pitches that darted and tailed every which way and kept Bluejay hitters guessing. Just as crucial was Rahe’s resilience: he worked out of tight spots when they surfaced, avoided the big inning, and handed his offense a chance to seize the game.
The Panther offense did just that in the top of the seventh inning. Carlson was the catalyst yet again, lacing a double to the left-center fence to spark a two-out rally. Spence drove him in with his second of three hits, and Voce and Rademacher followed with back-to-back knocks. Four straight two-out hits off Schwirtz stretched Princeton’s advantage to 7-3. The heart of the Panther order - Spence, Voce, Rademacher, and Carlson - was every bit as pivotal as Rahe on the mound, combining for nine hits, five runs, and four RBI against Plato’s ace.
With Rahe’s day on the mound complete and just six outs to get, Princeton turned to the one-two punch that had gotten them to the state tournament. Cederic Moreno took the ball for the eighth inning, his fastball popping Jensen’s mitt with life. Plato, desperate to mount a late rally, scratched across a run but could do no more - thanks in large part to a defensive gem from shortstop Nolan Spence. After receiving a sharp relay from right fielder Wyatt Petron, Spence executed a rundown beautifully between third and home, applying a hard tag that sent the runner sprawling to the ground and, just as importantly, knocking down any hopes Plato had of getting back in the game.
Protecting a 7-4 lead, the Panthers handed the ball to Damon Rademacher in the ninth - a familiar role for the former Gustavus Adolphus closer. Rademacher wasted no time slamming the door. He pounded the zone with first-pitch strikes and made quick work of the bottom of the Plato lineup. When catcher Cam Jensen made a great catch up against the grandstand netting for the final out, the upset was complete.
The Panthers began to celebrate a terrific performance on the biggest stage. For a game in which the leadup commentary was dominated by the opposing team’s starting pitcher, it was the uncelebrated quality pitching depth of Princeton that shined brightest. The trio of Rahe, Moreno, and Rademacher limited Plato to just six hits and four runs, a great accomplishment.
For most townball clubs across the state, calling on a drafted arm after their ace is spent is more necessity than luxury. Princeton, on the other hand, rolled out a three-headed rotation all their own to shut down a talented lineup without ever dipping into the draftee well. That kind of pitching depth is one few teams in Class B can match. If one were to hypothetically add last year’s ace Mason Beltrand to the mix, the group would not only be one of the deepest in the tournament but one of the best in the state, period.
But pitching was never the biggest concern for Princeton heading into the state tournament. In their four previous state tournament games, this group of Panthers had allowed just 3.5 runs per contest against some of the best lineups in Minnesota - thanks in no small part to Rademacher. The point of focus was always the other side of the equation: the offense. Over those same four games, the Panther bats had managed to produce only a single run. This was a stat the team’s veterans knew all too well. In the days leading up to Sunday’s matchup, the message was simple: if the offense could simply provide a respectable amount of run support, their arms would give them a fighter’s chance. As it turned out, the bats did far more than give them a chance. By tagging one of the state’s most respected pitchers for eleven hits and seven runs, Princeton walked away with its largest margin of victory in the state tournament in 18 years.
With just 16 teams remaining, Princeton moves on to Veteran’s Memorial Field in Hutchinson, where they’ll face the New Ulm Brewers at 4 p.m. Another win, and the Panthers will punch their ticket to the final weekend of the state tournament, something they haven’t done since 2007.
