Class 1A baseball: New Life Academy picks up new man, another title

Brad Goulet made up for lost time and a missed championship.

The junior shortstop delivered a one-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving New Life Academy its second consecutive Class 1A baseball crown with a 6-5 victory over Springfield in the Class 1A championship at Target Field.

Goulet watched from the stands a year ago, when the Woodbury-based school won a one-run game, 5-4 over New York Mills, for the title.

"A lot of people thought I should have been playing baseball last year," said Goulet, who played for the Eagles as an eighth-grader and freshman, but decided to give spring basketball a try last year. "This is just amazing."

One of those advocates to get Goulet back on the diamond was Eagles coach Dave Darr.

"He came up to me last year after we won, and said 'Coach, I'm sorry I didn't play this year,' " Darr said. "I was disappointed when he didn't come out last year. I knew he was going to be a good player."

Goulet lined an 0-2 pitch into center field, scoring Simon Killeen from second base. It was Goulet's second hit of the day. Killeen and Sam Horner opened the eighth inning with back-to-back singles.

The Eagles tied the score at 5-5 on a two-out, run-scoring single by Thomas Gunderson in the sixth inning. Horner, who went 3-for-4, had a double to start the frame.

"Our chemistry was unbelievable all season," said Killeen, who had two hits and scored twice. "I couldn't ask for a better group. We had something special."

Springfield almost ran its way to a state championship. Its aggressive nature on the base paths — steal at all costs — led to three runs on three New Life Academy throwing errors.

All were orchestrated from steal attempts on first-and-third situations.

"They are a very smart team on the bases," Killeen said. "They really know how to run their first-and-third situations."

New Life Academy (22-2) edged Red Lake County 4-3 in the quarterfinals and used a three-run homer in the seventh inning to beat Brandon-Evansville 5-2 in the semifinals.

Springfield (23-4) won its first two state tournament games in its final at-bat. The Tigers beat Kimball Area 7-6 in 12 innings on Sam Baier's walk-off home run in the first round and New Ulm Cathedral 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh in the semifinals. Baier had three hits against the Eagles.