Sauk Valley, Central Valley, Stearns County, Victory leagues prepare for town ball playoffs

Brian Mozey, St. Cloud Times
·6 min read

The regular season has concluded for amateur baseball and Central Minnesota town ball teams will be focusing on taking a shot at the state title over Labor Day weekend.

It all starts in the league playoffs this weekend with local teams will competing in the Sauk Valley, Central Valley, Stearns County and Victory league playoffs.

Here's a breakdown of the different leagues and where each team will be as the weekend approaches.

St. Joseph's Charlie Atkinson throws a pitch Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Schneider Field in St. Joseph.
St. Joseph's Charlie Atkinson throws a pitch Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Schneider Field in St. Joseph.

Sauk Valley

The Sauk Valley League has 10 teams; the top six will advance to the Region 11C Tournament. It won't be an easy task for any team as all of them bring experience and a handful are on some hot streaks to end the regular season.

St. Joseph earned the No. 1 seed for the Sauk Valley West, while Monticello claimed the No. 1 seed for the Sauk Valley East.

The Joes will play the winner between Rogers (No. 4 seed East) and Clear Lake (No. 5 seed West) as these two teams square off in Monticello at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Polecats will play the winner of Sauk Rapids (No. 4 seed West) and Albertville (No. 5 seed East) as these two teams battle in Sauk Rapids at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

After the play-in games Wednesday, there will be eight teams playing four games on Friday or Saturday. These matchups include: Sartell Stone Poneys (No. 3 West) at Clearwater (No. 2 East) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Rogers (No. 4 East) at St. Joseph (No. 1 West) at noon on Saturday, Becker (No. 3 East) at Sartell Muskies (No. 2 West) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Albertville (No. 5 East) at Monticello (No. 1 East) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The winners of these four games will play in the semifinals on Sunday, while the losers will play in the fifth-place bracket on Sunday. The championship, third-place and fifth-place games will take place on Saturday, July 30, with the top six teams entering the Region 11C Tournament that begins in early August.

Sartell's Andrew Deters throws the ball to first base as the Sartell Muskies host the Sauk Rapids Cyclones at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
Sartell's Andrew Deters throws the ball to first base as the Sartell Muskies host the Sauk Rapids Cyclones at St. Cloud Orthopedics Field on Saturday, July 16, 2022.

Central Valley

The Central Valley League has two different brackets for two different region tournaments. There are four teams in the Central Valley North that will be competing for three spots in the Region 11C Tournament with the Sauk Valley League.

The Central Valley South will also have four teams battling for the top three spots that will be playing in the Region 15C Tournament with the Stearns County League.

Each bracket will have two games played on Saturday and the winners will play on Saturday, July 30, for the championship. The losers from this Saturday's games will play on Sunday for the No. 3 seed.

In the Central Valley North, the two matchups include: No. 4 Eden Valley at No. 1 Kimball at 1 p.m. Saturday and No. 3 Pearl Lake at No. 2 Cold Spring at 7 p.m. Saturday.

In the Central Valley South, the two matchups include: No. 4 St. Nicholas at No. 1 Luxemburg at 4 p.m. Saturday and No. 3 St. Augusta at No. 2 Watkins at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The top two teams in each bracket will have an automatic spot in the region quarterfinals, but the third seeded team will have to compete in a play-in game to reach the quarterfinal round.

Stearns County

The Stearns County League has a similar bracket as the Central Valley League with a North and South bracket. There will be four teams in each bracket and the top three teams (total of six teams) will reach the Region 15C Tournament in early August.

The six teams that reach regions will also join the Central Valley South top three teams to battle for a spot at the state tournament.

In the Stearns County North bracket, the two matchups include: No. 4 Meire Grove at No. 1 Elrosa at 11 a.m. Saturday and No. 3 Spring Hill at No. 2 New Munich at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The winners of these games will play each other at Meire Grove at noon on Sunday for the championship game. The losers of these two games will play at Meire Grove at 2:30 p.m. Sunday for the third-place game.

Richmond's Brady Klehr releases a pitch Friday, August 6, 2021, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.
Richmond's Brady Klehr releases a pitch Friday, August 6, 2021, at Cold Spring Baseball Park.

In the Stearns County South bracket, the two matchups include: No. 4 Lake Henry at No. 1 St. Martin at 11 a.m. Saturday and No. 3 Farming at No. 2 Richmond at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The winners of these games will play each other in Roscoe at noon on Sunday, while the losers play in Roscoe at 2:30 p.m. Sunday for the third-place game.

The top two teams in each bracket will earn an automatic spot in the quarterfinals for the Region 15C Tournament. The three seeds for each bracket will compare regular season records and the worst record will battle in the play-in game, while the other three seed reaches the quarterfinals.

St. Martin's Brady Goebel dives into first on a pick off attempt as St. Martin defeated Cold Spring 9-1 at Cold Spring Baseball Park on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021.
St. Martin's Brady Goebel dives into first on a pick off attempt as St. Martin defeated Cold Spring 9-1 at Cold Spring Baseball Park on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021.

Victory

The Victory League has 16 teams in the league, so the playoffs are broken up into two different brackets.

There will be a South/West and a North/East bracket with eight teams in each. The league tournament will be double elimination, so a team will have to lose twice before being eliminated from the postseason.

The top four teams in each bracket will advance to the Region 8C Tournament in early August. It'll be a tough tournament as any team in each of the brackets have the talent to earn one of these top four spots.

The times and brackets for this league's tournament haven't been announced due to making sure umpires are available for these games. The seeds have come out and the matchups have been announced for Saturday's quarterfinal games, but the time, location and future games will not be announced quite yet.

Avon's Reese Gregory makes contact with a pitch Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Schneider Field in St. Joseph.
Avon's Reese Gregory makes contact with a pitch Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Schneider Field in St. Joseph.

For the Victory South/West bracket, the Saturday quarterfinal matchups include: No. 8 Opole at No. 1 Avon, No. 7 Swanville at No. 2 St. Stephen, No. 6 Randall at No. 3 Freeport and No. 5 St. Wendel at No. 4 Upsala.

For the Victory North/East bracket, the Saturday quarterfinal matchups include: winner of No. 9 Pierz/No. 8 St. Mathias at No. 1 Nisswa, No. 7 Aitkin at No. 2 Fort Ripley, No. 6 Pierz Brewers at No. 3 Pierz Lakers and No. 5 Buckman at No. 4 Foley.

The Region 8C Tournament is solely made up of Victory League teams, so the top four in each bracket will make up the eight teams for region play.

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Central Minnesota town ball leagues prepare for playoffs