By John Molene

Saint Paul Park Post 98 players hung up their cleats for the 2022 season Friday afternoon in a 9-4 loss to host Hastings in the 2022 American Legion baseball Division 1 substate 6 tournament.

Park went 1-2 in the tournament, losing to Inver Grove Heights in the opening round, topping West St. Paul in the second game, then falling to Hastings in the third outing.

“End of the season is always not the time – you can take a few days of break – but then it’s time to get back after work. My favorite part of baseball is that it’s a rewards-work sport,” said Park head coach Dan Harrison. “It’s a grind, I get it. I also told them to enjoy being each other, being a group. It’s one thing I don’t think the kids don’t recognize until too late sometimes is that it’s almost like a family. They say it, they chant it, but it’s really a thing. There are maybe not the best years of their lives but pretty fun ones you look back on.

“It’s been a good season,” Harrison added. “Summer ball as a coach is fun because you get a chance to teach but it’s also challenging because its not nearly as organized. People have jobs, people have vacations and so you try to pick up the things you can teach and learn and help them get better with the understanding that you can’t lose your mind when they’re still kids or the have another life.

“It’s been fun,” Harrison concluded. “They played some good things. They won a tournament, their fourth game with Hastings, we ended up splitting with them. It has to end somewhere, and it always stinks – it always ends for everyone except one team as a loss.”

Hastings advanced to the sub-section tournament finals before falling to Farmington in the title game. Game One Inver Grove Heights 8, St. Paul Park 4 Sixth-seeded Inver Grove Heights upset third-seeded St. Paul Park in the tournament opening round at Goat Hill Park in Eagan.

Game Six St. Paul Park 5, West St. Paul 3 St. Paul Park rallied from a 2-1 deficit with two runs in the fourth innings and two more in the fifth to take a come-from-behind win over West St. Paul Thursday.

Played at Goat Hill Park in Eagan, Noah Janski led off the fourth inning with a double and Logan Doherty singled to bring in one run. Two outs later Zack Crumb and Sam Janski both singled to drive in another run and give Park a 3-2 lead.

Park added two more insurance runs in the fifth inning as Sam Janski, Adam King and Boston Weidner each singled to lead off the inning, followed by a long fly out to center by Elijah Moechnig.

Erik Lind settled down after a shaky start to earn the win on the mound. He pitched shutout ball in innings two through five as Park got its bats working.

Game Nine Hastings 9, St. Paul Park 4 Host Hastings jumped out to leads of 3-0 after one and 6-2 after three innings and St. Paul Park could never quite climb back into contention Friday. Park closed the gap to 4-2 with two runs in the bottom of the second inning, but Hastings added two more of its own in the top of the third. Hastings then added another run in the top of the fourth, again Park battled back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to close to within 7-4.

But that was it for Park. The team went hitless and failed to push across anything else in the game’s final three innings. Only two Park batters reached base, one on a walk and the other after being hit by a pitch.

The loss at Veterans Park in Hastings ended the team’s season. Park split with Hastings 2-2 during the regular season and substate tournament. Only two Park players this season were 2022 grads, Noah and Sam Janski. Everyone else on this year’s team could be back for another run next summer.

St. Paul Post 98 pitcher Erik Lind lets one fly against West St. Paul in a second-round game Thursday. Photo by John Molene

The throw comes in late to St. Paul Park’s Sam Janski at third base against West St. Paul Thursday in the American Legion baseball substate playoffs. Photo by John Molene