Austin Packers • Minnesota Class AAA State Baseball Tournament

Read all about Austin’s run to its first state tournament in 29 years

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

For the love of Baseball

While many Austin baseball players have a fondness for playing in Marcusen Park, the field may mean a little more to junior Tony Ciola than most.

Tony’s dad Joe played on Marcusen Park with the Austin Greyhounds for years, and the flag pole at Marcusen is dedicated to Tony’s grandfather Lou, a former Major Leaguer who ended up in the Navy during World War II. While in the Navy, Lou, who was the son of Italian immigrants and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, was stationed in Hawaii, where he played baseball to entertain the troops. Lou eventually came to Austin due to the Hormel Packer baseball team and he served as a the player/manager.

Tony never met his grandfather, Lou passed away in 1981, but he still has an appreciation for his family’s roots in Italy as he wears a throwing sleeve in the colors of the Italian flag on the days he is not pitching for the Packers.

“I’ve been wearing it for a couple of years and I feel like it gives me an extra edge when I’m playing,” said Tony, who also plays shortstop for Austin. “Baseball is

Tony Ciola is just another member of a family that has a rich history of baseball

By Rocky Hulne sports@austindailyherald.com

Austin’s Tony Ciola celebrates after crossing homeplate against Albert Lea in the Section 1AAA Tournament at Marcusen Park. Like his dad Joe Ciola and grandfather Lou Ciola, Tony is playing the game he loves. Herald file photos

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THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

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“Baseball is in our family and everyone plays baseball.”

Tony Ciola in our family and everyone plays baseball. It keeps you going. It was a great feeling to win the section title in Marcusen with my grandfather’s name on the flag pole.”

Tony began playing baseball at a young age and he’s played under the coaching of his dad Joe on the Austin VFW team over the past two summers.

“My dad did a great job when I was young of keeping me at it,” Tony said. “I love baseball.”

According to baseball-reference.com, Lou played in 12 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, going 1-3 overall with an ERA of 5.56 in the 1943 season. He was brought to the A’s by Connie Mack and he played in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.

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Tony Ciola moves to make a play on Kasson-Mantorville’s Easton Knoll in the Section 1AAA Tournament at Marcusen Park.

Lou played against Joe DiMaggio in the majors and he was good friends with Phil Rizzuto, who held his wedding reception at Lou’s home in Northfolk.

Joe has memories of visiting the Twins’ clubhouse of the Met Stadium to visit

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with Earl Weaver, who Lou befriended in Hawaii.

“Our family is so invested in baseball and in Marcusen Park, because we’ve been around the sport and we have a lot of baseball sports,” Joe said.

Joe said that he’s glad to see Tony and his other son Alex, an Austin grad who played at Riverland for two years, showing interest in the family history — a history that includes a lot of baseball.

“Baseball’s always been big with our

family. It started with my dad and they saw me play with the Austin Greyhounds,” Joe said. “Alex and Tony were bat boys and they went up throughout All-Stars and played through high school. Now, here we are.”

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

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Minnesota Class AAA State Baseball Tournament Quarterfinals Siebert Field - U. of Minnesota

Thursday, June 13

Duluth Denfield (16-9)

Consolation

All games played at University of Northwestern

Semifinals Siebert Field - U. of Minnesota

Friday, June 14

10 p.m., June 14

10 a.m.

No. 1 Monticello (18-5)

3 p.m., March 14 12:30 p.m.

Noon

No. 5 Benilde-Margaret’s (14-9)

Championship

12:30 p.m.

Target Field

No. 4 Marshall (17-10)

Friday, 20

Austin (14-8)

4 p.m.

3 p.m.

No. 2 Hill Murray (17-8) 2:30 p.m.

Third Place

Siebert Field, U. of Minnesota

Little Falls (13-9) 5:30 p.m.

No. 3 St. Thomas Academy (18-9)

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THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

5 p.m., June 14

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Tournament Breakdown Austin (Section 1AAA)

Monticello (Section 5AAA)

Marshall (Section 2AAA)

Benild-St. Margaret’s (Section 6AAA)

St. Thomas Academy (Section 3AAA)

Duluth Denfield (Section 7AAA)

Record: 14-8 Average runs scored: 6.2 Average runs allowed: 4 QRF Ranking: 18 How they get to state: Beat Albert Lea 7-3

Record: 18-5 Average runs scored: 6.3 Average runs allowed: 2.3 QRF Ranking: 1 How they get to state: Beat Rocori 4-3

Record: 17-10 Average runs scored: 5.8 Average runs allowed: 3.8 QRF Ranking: 9 How they get to state: Beat Hutchinson 9-2 Record: 18-9 Average runs scored: 6.4 Average runs allowed: 4.1 QRF Ranking: 7 How they get to state: Beat South St. Paul 12-3

Hill Murray (Section 4AAA)

Record: 17-8 Average runs scored: 6 Average runs allowed: 3.9 QRF Ranking: 5 How they get to state: Beat DeLaSalle 10-3

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Record: 14-9 Average runs scored: 5.3 Average runs allowed: 3.7 QRF Ranking: 10 How they get to state: Beat Willmar 7-0

Siebert Field University of Minnesota

Record: 16-9 Average runs scored: 5.7 Average runs allowed: 4.6 QRF Ranking: 31 How they get to state: Beat Grand Rapids 10-3

Little Falls (Section 8AAA)

Record: 13-9 Average runs scored: 5.8 Average runs allowed: 3.7 QRF Ranking: 23 How they get to state: Beat Bemidji 3-2

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

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Coming into his own

Sophomore Teyghan Hovland has overcome growing pains to contribute

By Rocky Hulne

sports@austindailyherald.com

Austin’s Teyghan Hovland pitched against Albert Lea during the Section 1AAA Tournament at Marcusen Park. Herald file photo

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THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

Not every breakthrough comes without a little heartbreak. Austin sophomore Teyghan Hovland can attest to that.

Hovland had his “welcome to varsity” moment on May 2, when he came into the game against Northfield with a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. Everything that could go wrong went wrong for Hovland and the Packers in that frame as the Raiders smacked four hits to score four runs and steal the game from Austin. Three of the runs were unearned.

Hovland didn’t sulk or complain after that

loss. He got better.

“I had to stay true to myself, listen to what others have to say,” Hovland said. “I just had to grow.”

Hovland finished the season by staying consistent and throwing strikes and he emerged as a go-to pitcher in the postseason, picking up wins over Red Wing and Albert Lea, two teams that beat the Packers in the regular season.

Hovland has thrown 11 postseason innings, allowing nine hits, two walks and two earned runs, while striking out seven.

Continued on Page 7

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Making good on promise

Senior heavy Packers break through to complete quest for state tourney

By Rocky Hulne sports@austindailyherald.com

One year ago, baseball made Austin senior Hunter Guyette feel a lot of pain. This year, it brought him a joy that he won’t ever forget.

Last year the Packers had a senior heavy team that came up one win short of getting to the state tournamnent. That team had a lead against Red Wing that they couldn’t hold onto. This year, the Packers have 10 seniors on the roster and they made it their mission to find redemption.

The Packers answered the call by outscoring their opponents 28-7 over four postseason wins to clinch Austin’s first trip to state in nearly three decades. Guyette, who has been a three-year starter, behind the plate, had as much reason to celebrate as anyone.

“I think the whole thing this year is we make sure we know how much it hurt those guys last year and how much it burnt,” Guyette said. “That was a big motivation for us coming into the year. We didn’t want to let it happen again.”

Continued from Page 6 He’s also shown some pop in his bat at the heart of Austin’s order.

The pressure of playing on Austin’s first state qualifying baseball team since 1990 could be tough on a sophomore in his first varsity season, but Hovland has had plenty of big game experience. He spent much of his youth traveling around the country playing in baseball tournaments, and he picked up some valuable experience playing forward

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Austin AJ Mueller celebrates after catching the final out at first base in the Section 1AAA title game against Albert Lea. Herald file photo for the Packer basketball team that took third in the Minnesota Class AAA Boys Basketball Tournament this past winter.

In baseball, Hovland has grown into the role of a key player.

“I thought of myself as a role player and throughout the season I kind of grew more into that role. Pitching in big games and playing basketball has helped a lot,” Hovland said. “It becomes a mental thing and you’ve got to stay focused and not really get over hyped. You just have two play your game.”

Austin’s surge to state began in the dome as players looked to stay busy and prepare for the upcoming season.

Andrew Schumacher, a senior outfielder, said the Packers came into the postseason with a strong drive, but it’s still hard for them to grasp how much they’ve accomplished this spring.

“We hadn’t been to state since 1990 and it’s crazy to know we’re the team to change that,” Schumacher said. “We all came into the season knowing we had to have a good attitude all year. We couldn’t get too high or stay too low. It seemed like it was meant to be here at Marcusen with everyone watching us.”

Austin senior AJ Mueller said this year’s senior class was motivated for this year as soon as last year ended.

“It means everything to this senior class,” Mueller said. “We had to deal with blowing a huge lead to Red Wing in the section final.

This one’s for the class of 2018 honestly, because we finished the mission that they couldn’t do.”

“I had to stay true to myself, listen to what others have to say.”

Teyghan Hovland

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

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5

games that would define a season

April 4: Red Wing 7, Austin 3

If the Packers were looking to add any fuel to their fire, they found it in the first game of the season. Austin opened its spring the same way it finished the 2018 season — with a loss to the Wingers.

Austin pitchers walked a season-high 14 batters in the loss.

Riley Wempner went three-for-three with a double for the Packers.

April 18: Austin 2, Rochester Century 1

The Packers did the little things right to pick up a big win over the Panthers.

Andrew Schumacher converted a double play on throw home from center field after making a catch. He also scored from second on a wild pitch to give Austin the lead for good.

Tony Ciola picked up the win for the Packers, striking out six and allowing zero earned runs in six and two-thirds innings.

April 30: Austin 8, Winona 4

After a slow start to the season, the Packers started to pick up steam as they beat the Winhawks for their fourth victory in a span of five contests.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019

Hunter Guyette knocked in two runs for the Packers and Teyghan Hovland picked up the win in relief.

May 25: Austin 10, Kasson-Mantorville 1

An early escape from a rough start paid off for the Packers as they were able to open the postseason with a convincing victory.

The KoMets loaded the bases with early on, but they scored just one run in the frame as Ciola pitched strong in relief.

Hovland knocked in three runs in the win and Ciola added a double and an RBI.

June 5 and June 6: Austin 7, Albert Lea 3

It took two days and a little drama, but the Packers were able to hold off Albert Lea to clinch Austin's first trip to the state tournament in 29 years.

The Packers held a 5-0 lead in the third inning when when the game was postponed due to rain and the Tigers bounced back to pull within 5-3 in the fifth when play resumed on Wednesday.

Austin put the game away when Hunter Guyette blasted a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

Ciola picked up the pitching win for Austin.

AUSTIN DAILY HERALD