Fight to the finish: Vikings climb out of a hole to win Section 1A title 

Published 8:44 pm Wednesday, June 4, 2025

By Rocky Hulne

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The No. 4 seeded Hayfield baseball team hasn’t quit all season, and the Vikings weren’t about to give in when facing a two-run deficit in the late innings of a Section 1A championship tilt in Seltz Field Wednesday.

Although they would’ve had another game to get a chance at state if they would’ve lost, Hayfield dug deep and scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead in a 4-3 win over No. 3 Southland to earn its fourth trip to the Class A state tournament in the past six seasons.

Trailing 3-1, the Vikings put together three straight clutch two-out hits to get back in the game as Austin Dahle singled in a run, Rylan Nelson singled, and senior Hunter Simonson roped a single over the second baseman’s glove to tie the game at 3-3.

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“I just wanted to put the ball in play. Good things happen when you put the ball in play,” Simonson said. “The entire offseason, you work for at bats like that. Hitting with the lights on, that’s what it’s for. It just felt awesome to come through at that moment.”

Hayfield took the lead for good when Nelson scored on a two-out wild pitch and senior Eric Bermea came into force three straight outs to score the save in the top of the seventh inning. Southland’s Noah Goergen had singled off of starting pitcher Ben Nelson to start the frame.

Bermea, who also went three-for-three with an RBI and a walk, came in with the intention of throwing strikes.

“It was a little nerve racking, but the plan was just to go ahead and see if the hitters could hit the ball,” Bermea said. “They popped it up, I threw strikes and we won the game. We’re a team that fights through the ups and downs. We’ve had a lot of roller coasters this year, but we stay positive and we get the job done.”

Hayfield (16-9 overall) won its five playoff games by a combined six runs and the Vikings played five games that were decided by two runs or less during the regular season.

Nelson scored the win for Hayfield as he scattered seven hits and four walks while striking out five. He was able to come through in front of his brother Brady Nelson, a Hayfield assistant coach who played on the first ever Hayfield team to go to state in 2019.

“Kael (Steele) was eligible, but for Kasey, Tom (Dublin), Brady and Jamie (Beck) to trust me with the ball in my hand felt great. I think (Southland) was expecting to see Kael and I think it shocked them a little when I came out,” Nelson said. “Last year we lost to Lyle-Pacelli in the winner’s bracket final and then played Southland and lost. We all know how hard it is to win after losing and we wanted to win it in the first game today.”

Krekling recently picked up his 200th career win at Hayfield and he’s been the head coach for all four of the state tournament teams, and one state champion in 2021. He said the credit goes to all of the players who have put in the extra time, and the community that has supported it.

“The community bought in. The boys bought in and the families bought in,” Krekling said. “I get a lot of texts and calls to turn on the lights at the varsity field at 9 o’clock at night. Our lights are on at that field from May to August on five of the seven nights of the week. It’s just a culture that the older guys like Easton Fritcher and Noah Klocke set when they put in the time, and these guys have bought in. There is so much extra time put in and I love it as a coach, because it makes my job a lot easier.”

Simonson said that he’s seen baseball grow immensely in his time with the Vikings.

“The whole town supports the team,” Simonson said. “Even on a Tuesday night game at the school, there’s a lot of people there. Our whole community supports us and we had a lot of little kids here today. They just love to be here.”

This is the fourth straight season that Southland (17-6 overall) has come up short in the Section championship. 

The Class A state tournament will begin June 11 in St. Cloud.

Southland 0 1 1  1 0 0  0  –  3    7  0

Hayfield 1 0 0  0 0 3  X  –  4  10  0

Hayfield pitching: Ben Nelson (W) 6 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 3 ER, 5 K; Eric Bermea (S) 1 IP, 0 R

Hayfield hitting: Rylan Nelson, 2-for-3, SB, R, BB; Hunter Simonson, 1-for-3, RBI, BB; Eric Bermea, 3-for-3, RBI, BB; Kael Steele, 0-for-3; Josiah Dornink, 0-for-2, BB; Axel Meek, 2-for-3, R; Ben Nelson, 0-for-3; Layne Nelsen, 0-for-2; Austin Dahle, 2-for-3, RBI; Cayden Rouhoff, R

Southland pitching: Easton Meyer (L) 5 ⅔ IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 4 ER, 4 K; Maverick Hanna, ⅓ IP, 1 BB, 0 R

Southland hitting: Noah Goergen, 2-for-4, double, R; Austin Swenson, 1-for-2, BB; Beau Sathre, 0-for-3, SB; Landon Hill, 0-for-2, RBI; Cole Miller, 0-for-3; Easton Meyer, 1-for-2, BB; Maverick Hanna, 1-for-1, BB, HBP; Byrson Kellogg, 1-for-2, RBI, BB; Brekken Koenigs, 1-for-3, RBI; Logan Volkart, 2 R

 

 

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