08/12/2025
Rademacher, Spence lead Panthers back to State
Hinckley
The Panthers walked into Hinckley’s Brennan Field last weekend with a golden opportunity to clinch their second consecutive state tournament appearance and get themselves back into the Region 1 tournament championship game for a chance to play for the Region’s top seed, something they haven’t claimed in decades. Standing in their way was their rivals to the north, the Hinckley Knights, who, as tournament hosts, had the same prize in mind and the advantage of an energized home crowd that packed their historic ballpark.
Princeton had handled Hinckley easily in a regular season matchup at Solheim Field on July 16th in front of a Fox 9 statewide broadcast and hundreds of Panther fans in attendance. That night ended 15–8 in Princeton’s favor on an unusually cool July evening. But just three weeks later, the setting was entirely different. This was playoff baseball—when pitching sharpens, defenses tighten, and games between good teams can swing on a single play.
The matchup lived up to the hype. Princeton held a 4–2 lead heading into the seventh inning, having answered Hinckley’s two-run sixth with three runs of their own. The rally was kickstarted by Nolan Spence, who swung momentum back Princeton’s way with a solo homerun to lead off the frame.
On the mound for Princeton was their reliable ace, Damon Rademacher, just nine outs away from taking the Panthers to consecutive state tournament appearances for the first time since 2007.
Rademacher began the seventh in complete control, sending the first two Knight batters down on strikes. The calm waters turned turbulent when an innocent two-out hit-by-pitch to Hinckley’s eight-hitter Bryce Hipp eventually led to a run, cutting the lead to 4-3. Rademacher worked out of the inning to preserve the lead for Princeton.
When he returned for the eighth, everyone in the ballpark knew the stakes – the heart of the order was due up for Hinckley, and the air was thick with both humidity and tension. Over a hundred spectators remained in attendance to see the conclusion of what had been a highly entertaining ballgame. For most in the crowd, though, the tension quickly turned to jubilation, when the leadoff hitter for the Knights, Isaih Hasz, launched Rademacher’s first pitch of the inning deep into the pines beyond left field. The moonshot was Hasz’s third against the Panthers this season in just two games. This one had tied the score and ignited the home crowd.
From that point, the game tightened even more. Dylan Marciulionis, the young right-hander from Esko, entered in relief of veteran Ben Sickler after Princeton’s three-run sixth inning. In their July 16th meeting, Marciulionis had been hit hard and struggled with control, but this time he showed no signs of weakness. From the moment he took the mound, he was in complete command—working ahead in counts, mixing all three of his pitches effectively, and silencing the Princeton offense inning after inning. Over his first five innings of relief, he struck out nine and allowed only one runner to advance into scoring position.
Hinckley threatened in the ninth, but Rademacher held firm, escaping his final inning of work unscathed. In the top of the eleventh, reliever Cederic Moreno worked out of a jam by getting a 4-6-3 double play, the Panthers’ fourth twin killing of the night, to keep the game tied. His luck ran out in the twelfth, however, when the top of the Hinckley order finally broke the stalemate. Back-to-back hits to open the inning set the table, and moments later the Knights pushed across the go-ahead runs to take a 6–4 lead.
Facing their most dire situation of the season, the Panthers fought back in the bottom of the twelfth, plating Eli Gibbs after he led off with a walk. The makings of a comeback began to take shape against the previously untouchable Marciulionis, and soon Princeton had the tying run on third and the winning run on second. But Marciulionis ended the threat, and the game, by coaxing a lazy fly ball to center, sealing a 6–5 Hinckley victory.
In many ways, the heartbreaking end to what had been a townball classic felt like a fate the Panthers had written themselves. They piled up missed opportunities and costly mistakes in the game’s biggest moments. After scoring three in the sixth to chase Sickler from the mound, Princeton couldn’t push across another run in the next five innings against Marciulionis – any of which could have extended their lead or delivered a walk-off win. And while there were standout defensive plays, such as left fielder Tanner Kinney’s strike to the plate to cut down a runner and halt a Hinckley rally in the sixth, the Panthers also committed six errors, an uncharacteristic lapse that loomed large in the loss.
North Branch
While Hinckley celebrated a state tournament berth and a spot in the region championship game, the Panthers were left with no margin for error. To keep their season alive, they would need to win twice the following Saturday. The first challenge came in the late morning against the North Branch Nighthawks, a team Princeton had routed 12–2 in the regular season, but one that had proven dangerous by stringing together multiple upsets to reach this point.
Cederic Moreno took the ball for Princeton, and as he had done repeatedly during the regular season, thrived under the pressure of a big game. He kept the Nighthawks off the board while his offense searched for its rhythm, which finally came in the bottom of the fifth. Veteran Dan Voce broke the tie with a two-run double over the right fielder’s head, giving Princeton a 3–1 lead. In the sixth, aided by a shaky North Branch defense, the Panthers plated four more runs to blow the game open. Moreno went the distance in an 8–3 victory, setting the stage for one last must-win showdown later that day.
Gehrig Scheffel powered the Panther offense with three hits and three RBIs, while Moreno’s complete game marked yet another standout performance in his rookie season, improving his record to 4–0 with a 3.57 ERA. Princeton also flexed its speed, swiping seven bases against a young North Branch catcher who was battling a slick ball as scattered showers rolled through the game.
Isanti
With the win over North Branch, the Panthers had earned one final shot to play their way into the state tournament. Standing in their path was another familiar foe and perennial state qualifier, the Isanti Redbirds. Earlier in the afternoon, Isanti had beaten St. Joseph to give themselves the same win-or-go-home opportunity.
Leading the charge for the Redbirds was veteran left-hander Phil Bray. The Bemidji State product was the last pitcher Princeton wanted to see with a state berth on the line. Over the past few seasons, Bray had been the Panthers’ kryptonite, derailing their regular season winning streaks and postseason runs on multiple occasions. Just last year, Bray had beat them once in the regular season before shutting them out in the region championship game.
Bray is a pitching coach’s dream – a lefty with excellent control who rarely gives opposing teams more than a couple of chances to score. On the rare occasions runners do reach, he’s quick to neutralize the threat with a sharp pickoff move. His greatest weapon, however, is his ability to field his position. As the Panthers know all too well, singles up the middle often become routine comebackers, and any bunt or soft contact in front of the mound is almost always an easy out. As in years past, Isanti was a different team with Bray on the mound.
But Princeton had a complete pitcher of its own that day in Damon Rademacher, who was eager for a second chance to pitch his team into the state tournament. While the Panther lineup carried the weight of past struggles against Bray into the game, Rademacher brought a steady, quiet confidence. The team’s ace had been here before and was as close to a constant as one could find in games like this.
Rademacher navigated a bases-loaded jam in the opening inning, easing the tension and quieting a rambunctious Isanti dugout that was still riding the momentum from its earlier win over St. Joseph.
From there, Bray and Rademacher settled into a duel – like two chess masters patiently maneuvering, waiting for the other to make a mistake. That mistake came for the Panthers in the fourth inning, when Red Bird shortstop Troy Jones short-hopped a throw on a routine grounder off the bat of Jake Carlson. Carlson, who would later make a tremendous diving catch on a shallow fly ball in centerfield, came around to score the game’s first run on a Rademacher two-strike single to left.
Rademacher’s clutch at-bat injected belief into the Panther dugout and fueled their ace on the mound. Over the next four innings, Rademacher struck out five Red Bird hitters and allowed only one runner to reach second base.
Meanwhile, Princeton’s other star, Zimmerman native Nolan Spence, sparked an insurance run in the sixth when he began the inning with a double off the right-center field wall and later scored on Rademacher’s second RBI of the afternoon.
That double was one of three hits on the afternoon for Spence, who leads the Eastern Minny League with 32 RBIs. Since joining the Panthers midway through the 2022 season, his natural slugging ability has made him an offensive godsend. This year, his value has only grown thanks to his knack for delivering in big moments - the double against Bray and the game-tying homerun he launched against Hinckley a week earlier are the most recent examples. Spence closed the region tournament with six hits, a homerun, a double, four RBIs, and four runs scored.
Going into the top of the ninth, the Panthers had Isanti staring at a 2-0 deficit and just three outs left to work with. The Redbirds, however, refused to fold. Third baseman Marcus Hubbard led off with his second double in as many at-bats against Rademacher, putting immediate pressure on Princeton’s ace. With the shutout and lead now in danger, Rademacher faced runners on first and third with one out when the game took an abrupt, unscripted turn. Pinch-hitter Owen Lamson, batting for veteran center fielder Brent Tholen, drove a hard shot to center. Jake Carlson got a quick read, made the catch, and fired to cutoff man Gehrig Scheffel as Hubbard tagged from third.
Scheffel’s relay to catcher Cam Jensen was just a split second late, allowing the Redbirds their first run off Rademacher and igniting the visiting crowd. But in the chaos at the plate, baserunner Tommy Heifort, who had been on first, made a break for second. Jensen wasted no time and unleashed a strike to second baseman Dan Voce. Heifort was easily beaten by the throw, the tag was applied, and the Panthers and their fans began celebrating their twentieth trip to the state tournament – clawing their way back to earn the bid in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.
The victory marked the fourth state tournament appearance for this core group of Panthers since the ball club’s reorganization in 2017. This one felt sweeter for several reasons: their resiliency after a crushing extra-inning loss to Hinckley just a week earlier; the satisfaction of finally scaling the Phil Bray mountain that had blocked them in seasons past; and their ability to reinvent themselves after major roster losses from the season before – their starting shortstop and best defensive infielder, Tyson Dusosky, to retirement; another regular and top arm, Mason Beltrand, to the Northwoods League; yet another key pitcher, Kevin Rahe, to the same league midseason; and a collegiate position player, Adam Johaneson, to injury.
Through all of that turnover, one thing never wavered — the arm of Damon Rademacher. The Panthers’ ace has been their steady anchor, their dependable heartbeat, and their constant presence on the mound in each of these state tournament runs. Four times now, he has pitched Princeton to state, delivering when the season hung in the balance.
The Panthers will travel to Barney Tadsen Field in Brownton for the 102nd playing of the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament. They will face off against the Plato Blue Jays – first pitch is scheduled for 1:30 pm.
