It took two tries, but the Excelsior American Legion baseball team successfully clinched the South Hennepin League championship last week.
The team went into last week needing just one win in its last two remaining league games to claim the title and they got that victory on Thursday, July 16 against Bloomington Blue.
Excelsior could have clinched the championship two days prior to that, but it was forced to settle for a 3-3 tie against Wayzata on Tuesday, July 14 when that game was called after seven innings due to darkness.
The league championship is the team's fourth since 2001 and first since 2004.
"It was our first goal to accomplish and so it felt good," manager Rob Hager said. "It seems like we have had a different hero most games so it's been a complete team effort."
Excelsior clinched the league title with a 4-1 win over Bloomington Blue. Starting pitcher Anders Dzurak gave up just one run and five hits while striking out seven through six innings of work. It's the kind of performance Hager has come to expect from Dzurak.
"He has definitely been our No. 1 pitcher," Hager said. "He came through for us when we needed it."
Excelsior took an early lead when Bloomington walked in a run in the top of the first inning. They got another run in the top of the second when Matt Moes tripled and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Ulrich.
Moes and Ulrich then provided some insurance in the top of the sixth inning as Moes had an RBI single and Ulrich followed with an RBI double.
The win moved the team's league record to 12-0-1. Going into this week they are 31-9-1 overall.
One of the keys to the season so far has been the team's ability to win close games decided by one or two runs. In games decided by one run they are 13-1 on the season.
"I think that's a tribute to the personality of the guys," Hager said. "They have fought constantly and have been able to come back later in games to win."
Hager said that the biggest key to the team's success has been the quality and depth of the pitching staff.
"We feel we're pretty deep with a lot of good arms. We might not have that one division one arm, but we have eight guys who are consistent pitchers who all have the ability to throw," he said.
While Dzurak has been the ace of the starting staff, Hager has also found a couple of relievers to rely on late in games.
Robb Miller has seven saves on the season including one in the game against Bloomington last week that clinched the league title. Kurtis Host is another reliever that has performed well with four saves on the season.
The team has a four-day break without any games scheduled through Wednesday, July 22. Hager said that the team will use that break to work on some hitting fundamentals and mechanics as well as some situational stuff with bunting and base running.
"We don't get much practice time during the season because we play so many games," Hager said. "So we're going to try to use this time to get back to the basics."
Starting on Thursday, July 23, the team will take part in the 16-team, double elimination District 10 tournament in Coon Rapids.
The tournament includes the top eight teams from both the South Hennepin and North Hennepin leagues.
Due to finishing in first place in the South Hennepin standings, Excelsior received the No. 1 seed and will face the eighth-seeded team from the North Hennepin League, which is Coon Rapids.
The three teams that finish first, second and third at the District 10 Tournament will earn berths in the state tournament, which will be played in New Ulm from July 29 to Aug. 2.
"Our hope is to win the district tournament and if not at least get top three so we can advance to New Ulm and hopefully make a good showing there," Hager said.
