Back in the hunt: Vikings move to within one win of Section 1A title
Published 3:26 pm Saturday, May 31, 2025
Kael Steele winds up his delivery against Southland at Seltz Field Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland second baseman Brekken Koenigs reaches out to tag Hayfield’s Layne Nelsen in Seltz Field Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Noah Goergen takes a swing for the Rebels. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland’s Easton Meyer goes to work on the mound against Hayfield. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield’s Ben Nelson (15) greets Eric Bermea (2) at home plate in the first inning. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland’s Maverick Hanna closes in on a ground ball. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield’s Layne Nelsen swings at a pitch as his dugout looks on in Seltz Field Saturday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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It’s been three years since the No. 4 seeded Hayfield baseball team won its third straight Section 1A title, and a new batch of players are now in position to put Hayfield back on top.
Hayfield continued its postseason push as it started fast in a 5-2 win over No. 3 Southland in a Section 1A semifinal game in Seltz Field Saturday.
For the second straight game, Hayfield (15-9 overall) struck first as it took a 1-0 lead on a two-out balk to set up a clutch, two-out, two-run single by Axel Meek to go up 3-0.
“Your top of the order is the top of the order for a reason and they’ve done a great job of producing runs early for us,” Hayfield head coach Kasey Krekling said.
Southland pulled to within 3-2 when Cole Miller tripled in a run and scored on a sacrifice fly by Easton Meyer in the second inning, but Hayfield junior pitcher Kael Steele took over from that point. Southland had runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh when Steele struck out Cael Smith to lock up the victory.
“I had motivation for my teammates to keep my foot on the gas and keep throwing strikes,” said Steele, a junior lefty who allowed just three hits, while striking out 12. “This was a big game and we needed to win it.”
Krekling let Steele go the whole game, even though it means he won’t be available to throw in Tuesday’s championship. While Steele has pitched in three of Hayfield’s playoff wins, the Vikings have plenty of pitching depth.
“We’re confident in our other guys and they’ll be ready for Tuesday,” Krekling said.
This is the second straight game that Meek, a freshman, has delivered a two-out, two-run single in the first inning for the Vikings and senior Hunter Simonson said that Meek has grown by leaps and bounds as a young player.
“Axel Meek has been huge and he’s a freshman, playing like a man,” Simonson said. “Ever since last summer when he was playing Legion with us, we’ve been telling him that he’s one of us and he doesn’t need to put any pressure on himself.”
Simonson was an eighth grader when the Vikings won the Class A title in 2021 and he was in the dugout as a reserve when they finished second in 2022. He also played in the Junior Legion State Tournament in 2022.
“I’ve been in this field a lot. In my eighth grade year, I got to watch some older friends win a state title, and in my freshman year, I got to be on the team that lost (the championship game) at Target Field,” Simonson said. “It’s been a culture at Hayfield and we’ve kept that going. It feels awesome to be back in this position, one game away.”
While they are the No. 4 seed, Krekling doesn’t see the Vikings as underdogs. Before upsetting No. 1 Lyle-Pacelli 8-6, Hayfield beat Goodhue 4-3 in 11 innings and they squeaked past Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 5-4. Krekling said those close games are a sign of how tough Section 1A is.
“Going into this, I would’ve said that anybody, one through 15 could’ve won the section,” Krekling said. “Our section is so loaded. We’re battle tested and we have been throughout the whole year. We’re going to be in for a dog fight on Tuesday.”
Hayfield will play Southland (17-5 overall) again at Seltz Field at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Hayfield needs one win to get to state, while the Rebels, who beat BP 9-7 in an elimination game Saturday, would need to win twice.
Hayfield 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 5 10 0
Southland 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 3 0
Hayfield pitching: Kael Steele (W) 7 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 12 K
Hayfield hitting: Rylan Nelsen, 1-for-4, R; Hunter Simonson, 1-for-4, R; Eric Bermea, 2-for-4, R; Steele, 0-for-3, HBP; Josiah Dornink, 0-for-3, BB; Axel Meek, 2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs, R; Ben Nelson, 2-for-4; Layne Nelsen, 1-for-3, RBI, SB, R; Austin Dahle, 1-for-3, RBI
Southland pitching: Easton Meyer (L) 7 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 3 K, 1 HBP
Southland hitting: Noah Goergen, 0-for-2, BB; Austin Swenson, 0-for-3; Beau Sathre, 0-for-3; Landon Hill, 2-for-3, R; Cole Miller, 1-for-3, triple, RBI; Easton Meyer, 0-for-2, RBI; Maverick Hanna, 0-for-2, BB; Cael Smith, 0-for-3; Brekken Koenigs, 0-for-2; Bryson Kellogg, SB
