Writing wasn't on the wall for Eden Valley ace

Eden Valley-Watkins pitcher Matt Geislinger gave his first two autographs after Thursday's Class 1A baseball state tournament quarterfinal game at the Mini Met in Jordan.

The autograph-seekers, local youth baseball players, returned minutes later asking for Geislinger's name because they could not read his signature.

Nobody's perfect summarized Geislinger's day. The senior lefthander lost a perfect game bid on a single with one out in the seventh and final inning, settling for a 3-0 victory against Providence Academy. He also hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

"That young man was the toughest pitcher we've seen all year, velocity-wise," said Wes Crawford, coach of Providence Academy in Plymouth.

For five innings, Lions pitcher Nick Krueger nearly equalled Geislinger, holding defending champion Eden Valley-Watkins (21-2) to three hits and a walk. With runners on the corners in the fifth inning, Krueger escaped with a strikeout.

"Nick gave us nothing short of what we needed," Crawford said. "But you can't win a lot of ballgames with one hit."

Flinching in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lions gave up an infield single to Kevin Kramer. A wild pitch moved him to second, and he scored on a single from Brendan Ashton and an error.

"The ball felt heavy, and when the ball feels heavy to me, it usually means I'm feeling it," said Geislinger, who struck out the side in the first inning en route to nine strikeouts. "Every at-bat, I told myself to get ahead."

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 8, New York Mills 0: The Panthers got their desired fast start, scoring four times in the top of the first inning.

Pitcher Zach Campbell made the most of the cushion, holding New York Mills to five hits and posting six strikeouts.

"Earlier in the year, it seemed like we'd always give up two or three runs to start and had to work our way back," said catcher Shane Erickson, who made a big play by picking off Tyler Patron of New York Mills at first base. "Our goal in the playoffs was to get out early."

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 7, Deer River 4: The game's most crisp defensive sequence proved pivotal. Knights catcher Carter Kottke turned a strikeout into a double play, throwing down to second base and foiling a stolen base attempt by Deer River's Travis Kane. Pitcher Mitch Kelly ended the third inning with a strikeout, and the Knights carried the momentum into the batter's box.

Red Lake County 2, Wabasha-Kellogg 1: Skyler Bergeson knew his Red Lake County team got an extra out in the sixth inning, and he planned to make it count.

A Wabasha-Kellogg error put Dylan Zutz on base and gave Red Lake County a chance to tie what had been a 1-0 game since the second inning. Zutz later stole second during Bergeson's at-bat to get into scoring position with two outs.

Bergeson drove Zutz in with a single -- just the Rebels' second hit of the game -- advanced to second on the throw and later scored to give the Rebels a 2-1 lead.