Pierz Baseball Looks For Revenge After Falling In The Section Final Last Season

Since the Pierz Pioneers made their first state tournament appearance in 30 years back in 2016, they’ve done nothing but win. The Pioneers made another trip to state in 2017, and last year, Pierz was one game away from making it three straight section titles.

“Everyone here just wants to get back to where we were a couple years ago,” Austin Dickmann, Pierz senior third baseman/pitcher, said. “Back to the state tournament, playing at a high level.”

They’ve been there before, and the Pierz Pioneers are hungry to get back to state again after losing to St. Cloud Cathedral in the section championship game by one run last year. Cathedral and Pierz have split their last four matchups against each other with three of them being decided by one run, including a game earlier this year where Cathedral beat Pierz 8-7.

“It was nice to get a taste of what they have and hopefully next time around we can get them,” Jack Suska, Pierz senior shortstop, said. “I’d say it’s one of the bigger rivalries we have, Cathedral and us.”

“I feel like it has been a rivalry for the last few years,” Dickmann said. “It’s always fun to play them to see where you are at.”

Pierz returns about half of their starters from last season, and this year they are ready to run.

“Speed is definitely our biggest strength,” Suska said.

“We believe that we have a number of kids that can run,” Dan Saehr, Pierz baseball’s head coach, said. “Some kids may not start for us, but kids that come off the bench can pinch run.”

You can steal as many bases as you want, but at the end of the day Pierz knows it will come down to the little things.

“Little things are the big things in baseball,” Suska said. “Every little thing early in the game, can turn into something big later in the game, and an error can turn into five runs.”

“It’s more so the game inside the game,” Saehr said. “Pickoff plays, holding guys close, executing whether its bunting or a suicide squeeze, and just situational hitting.”

The Pioneers are 5-1 to start the year as they look to notch their 4^th straight 20-win season and win their first state championship in school history.