Waconia caps unbeaten season with win over Hibbing for Class 3A baseball title

Coach Mark Grundhofer's high expectations for Waconia before the start of the season reached their pinnacle Monday at Target Field.

Righthanded ace Dillon Whittaker pitched a five-hitter, and Waconia completed a perfect season with a 6-1 victory over Hibbing for the Class 3A baseball championship. The Wildcats (26-0) became the ninth undefeated team to win the state crown, their first in program history.

"This is crazy, unbelievable," Grundhofer said. "Nobody goes undefeated. You have to figure that we would have faltered somewhere."

It wasn't going to happen with Whittaker pitching. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter, raising his record to 10-0 on the season. He twice pitched out of innings with runners on first and second and one out, and gave up his only run with the bases loaded and one out.

"That's why he is their ace," Hibbing coach Jay Wetzel said. "He made some big pitches."

Waconia gave Whittaker all the run support he needed in the bottom of the first inning, scoring twice. Justin Schultz and Austin Friedrich had back-to-back singles to right field with one out. Schultz later scored on a wild pitch and Friedrich on Jake Hendricks' groundout to second base.

The Wildcats made it 3-0 in the second. Jack Stoddard's bloop single over the second baseman scored Robert Smith, who opened the inning with a double.

"Our plan was to get runs every inning, and take the wind out of their sails," Friedrich said.

The Bluejackets (19-9) got an unearned run against Whittaker in the fourth. Dylan Mattson's sacrifice fly to center field scored Jaiman Lamphere, who reached with one out on the Wildcats' third error.

In the second inning with two runners on, Whittaker fanned the final two hitters. In the same situation in the sixth, he got the final two batters to fly out. He ended the game with a fastball on the inside corner for his final strikeout.

"Their whole team can hit, so I had to keep changing speeds, levels and locations," Whittaker said. "It's a dream come true, coming to Target Field and winning a state championship. Going undefeated is icing on the cake."

The loss ended Hibbing's improbable run. The fifth seed in Section 7 field was the state tournament runner-up for the fourth time but remains without a title.