Madison wins 16U State Championship

Cohen Hahn pitched 4 innings of scoreless relief, Gavin Schneider had a big day at the plate, and the Madison 16U VFW baseball team won the Class A State Championship, with a 6-5 win over Dakota Valley on Sunday. 

Madison opened the tournament Friday with a 5-2 win over the host team Vermillion. Quincy Kurtz tossed a complete game in the win, giving up just 3 hits and striking out 6. In the Semifinals on Saturday, Madison cruised to 13-1 win over Tri-Valley. Madison scored runs in each inning, and took advantage of 5 walks, 4 hit batters, and 3 Tri-Valley errors. 

That set up a championship game Sunday with Dakota Valley. Madison fell behind early, as Dakota Valley struck for 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning. But Madison exploded for 5 runs in the 2nd to take the lead. Cale Johnson, Gavin Schneider, Braylon Oftedal, Tregg McGillivray all had RBI’s in the inning for Madison. 

Dakota Valley tied the game in the top of the 3rd inning, but Cohen Hahn entered the game to pitch in the 4th and held Dakota Valley scoreless the rest of the way. Gavin Schneider doubled to lead off the bottom of the 4th, and scored the winning run on a passed ball. 

Schneider finished the game 2-for-3 with 2 runs and an RBI. Hahn gave up 2 hits and struck out 3 while picking up the Championship game win.