Class 3A baseball: Chanhassen scores just enough for a state title

The offense, so prominent all season, was largely missing.

For Chanhassen, it simply didn't matter. The Storm relied on two other facets, pitching and defense, to slip past Lakeville North 2-0 in the Class 3A baseball championship game Monday at Target Field.

Senior Jack Schnettler put on a pitching clinic that could serve as a primer for mound efficiency, throwing a complete-game four-hitter, walking three and earning the victory without the benefit of a strikeout.

"Strikeouts are nice and they look cool in the stat line, but if I can keep my stat line down and not go into the bullpen, that's the goal," Schnettler said.

The No. 3 starter for Chanhassen all season, he had a feeling that he might get the chance to pitch on the state's biggest stage when he looked at the schedule. If things went the way he and his teammates hoped, he would get the call with the championship on the line.

"I knew I was going to be the third guy regardless of how it fell and I figured, 'Third guy, championship game,' " Schnettler said.

Lakeville North starter Brett Herber was nearly Schnettler's equal. Herber showed no residual effects from a 2⅓-inning stint in relief in Saturday's semifinal victory over Northfield, giving up four hits in six innings against Chanhassen.

"I thought there would be a lot of runs scored," Denzer said. "It was huge getting ahead right away because that was our goal, to get an early lead. But there was no way I thought there would only be two runs scored in the whole game."

That sentiment was echoed on the Lakeville North bench.

"If somebody would have said we would hold them to two runs and four hits, I would have said that would be a pretty fantastic finish," Lakeville North coach Tony Market said. "Schnettler did a good job of moving the ball around and he didn't give us great pitches to hit."

The key, Schnettler said, was his confidence in the guys behind him. The Storm made one error, a low throw by Denzer, but more than made up for it with their glove work. "We're rock solid," Schnettler said. "I don't think we've made an error in a big spot all year."

Chanhassen coach A.J. Pettersen gave credit to his entire defense, highlighting the play of Chad Clute, who turned in two key plays on choppers to third base.

Denzer, who will play shortstop at the University of Kansas next year, said playing behind a pitcher such as Schnettler makes the entire defense better.

"He keeps you on your toes because you know that any pitch can come to you," Denzer said "Everyone loves playing behind a guy who pitches to contact like that."