Junior righthander Blake Eiden gave up only three hits in pitching Chanhassen to a 2-1 victory over Minnetonka in the Class 4A, Section 2 baseball tournament on Wednesday at Minnetonka's Veterans Field.
The Storm's victory forced a second game between the two teams on Thursday at Minnetonka for the section championship.
It was the fifth consecutive victory in the double-elimination tournament for the Storm (16-9), after Chanhassen lost its first-round section playoff game to Prior Lake on May 31. The Skippers (14-10) were 3-0 in the section tournament before Wednesday.
Minnetonka scored in the second inning on a triple by Charlie Hemer and sacrifice fly by Josh Daniel. That was the only run off Eiden, who was the losing pitcher in the Storm's 10-3 loss in their section opener. Eiden struck out nine.
The Storm scored two runs in the fifth on Josh Och's RBI on a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly by Hunter Sheehan.
Farmington 4, Rochester Mayo 1: The top-seeded Tigers (18-6) defeated the seventh-seeded Spartans at New Prague for the Class 4A, Section 1 title and their first state tournament berth since 1977.
Hopkins 15, St. Louis Park 8: The host Royals outslugged the Royals to earn the Class 4A, Section 6 championship. The Royals (16-8) outscored their four section opponents, 47-15.
Park of Cottage Grove 5-9, Eagan 0-3: The Wolfpack defeated the Wildcats 5-0 and 9-3 to earn the Class 4A, Section 3 championship. Conor Mestemacher pitched a two-hit shutout in the first game. In the second game, the Wolfpack score seven runs in the bottom of the sixth after Eagan had tied it 2-2 in the top of the sixth. The Wolfpack, which lost to Eagan 15-0 in the second round of the section playoffs on June 2, earned its first state tournament berth since 1993.
