Baseball teams fill area fields

The sixth annual Northland Baseball Classic drew 59 teams ages 9-14 to Cloquet last weekend. The teams played at four different locations in the Cloquet and Carlton area over the weekend. Champions were crowned in five different age groups.

"We had games being played at Pinehurst Park, Mettner Field and Braun Park in Cloquet as well as at Chub Lake Park in Carlton, said tournament director Nate Knutson. "We had teams from all over the state of Minnesota as well as Canada."

It was a group effort, he said. Knutson's wife, Sara, handled getting all the scores of every game to help ensure that the Tourney Machine app was accurate and in real time. Dan Solarz of the Carlton/Wrenshall Youth Baseball program handled getting his park ready with his concession and grounds crew teams. The City of Cloquet and Bryce Oslin had Mettner in amazing shape prior to the start of the tournament along with Pinehurst Park. Braun Park staff took care of the fields there.

"I was very proud of the grounds crew at each of the fields," Knutson said. "We ran 11 fields over the weekend and we received a significant amount of rain on Saturday night in a short period of time. We had inches of rain standing in the infields and our crew was able to return the field to play in less than an hour."

According to Knutson, over 150 games were played with 18 umpires officiating the contests.

"I'm super proud of our officials because they endured heat, rain and they just were super all weekend," Knutson said.

Most importantly the weekend featured some impressive baseball at all levels.

"There were lots of close games with a lot of ups and downs and a lot of energy at the ballpark," Knutson said.

Winners and runners-up in each age group are listed below:

U9 champions were Superior with a 13-3 win over Grand Rapids.

U10 champions Duluth 709 downed the Duluth 709 U9 team 17-15.

U11 championship went to Bemidji, which defeated Duluth Little League 13-11.

U12 title went to Cloquet who beat Rock Ridge 9-1.

U13 champions were Superior who downed Esko 15-2.

U14 title went to Hermantown in a 19-3 win over Lyle-

Pacelli.

"One of the real fun moments was when Floodwood faced Pequot Lakes in a U12 game," Knutson said. "Pequot had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the last inning and the Floodwood pitcher got a ground ball to end the game. The field was packed with fans and the energy was high. It was fun to see the celebration."

All the championship games were played at Braun Park with the exception of the U14 title tilt, which was played at Mettner Field.