The field is set now for the Eastern Minny League’s Region 1C Tournament as nine teams will duke it out for a chance to head to state. Among those nine teams, the Princeton Panthers stand atop the field, as the squad received the No. 1 seed into the playoffs.
Added to the Panthers receiving the top spot in the field, the tournament will be held smack dab in the middle of Princeton territory, seeing Solheim Veterans Field play host to the duration of the two-week tournament. Play begins on Aug. 4, starting with the Chisago Lake Bulldogs and Ramsey Renegades playing for a spot in the final eight-team bracket.
Getting the chance to the host the tournament for the second year in a row, the Panthers are excited to showcase Solheim again, said Panthers manager John Patnode.
“The field looks great, Jules and Jesse Zimmer take great care of it from the week-to-week basis,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in our field.”
With the field ready to go, the attention now shifts to battles that will take place on the diamond.
Ready to hopefully advance to the state tournament for the second consecutive season, it will be a battle every contest to be one of the last two teams standing that will advance to state and represent the Eastern Minny League.
“It is never a sure bet to going into any game,” said Patnode.
The Panthers believe if they can continue to play the way they have of late, added with some more productive offense, they can be one of the clubs to represent the league.
“We’ve been playing well; We have been playing our kind of baseball so we hope to get some of the guys in our lineup hot at the right time and to keep going with the consistency we have had with our pitching staff and with the majority of our hitters,” said Patnode.
The Panthers have won seven in a row, 12 of 13 and haven’t lost since June 29, a 3-0 decision against Foley. Along with the hot streak of late, the Panthers own a 10-3 record at home and sit at 16-3 overall on the year.
Princeton plays the winner of Chisago Lakes and Ramsey on Aug. 6, with first pitch being slated for 8 p.m. as the showcase game.
If able to get past their first game, the Panthers will play the winner of Hinckley and St. Francis in the four/five seed match up on Aug. 7.
Completing the field has the second seeded Isanti Redbirds squaring off against the seventh seeded Mora Blue Devils and the third seeded Quamba playing sixth seeded North Branch.
As the teams square off, seeing who will represent the region at the Minnesota Baseball Association’s Class C State Tournament, Patnode encourages fans to come out and watch some high level baseball.
“It should be a beautiful weekend to enjoy some baseball,” he said, adding there will be food and drinks available for purchase as well as a 50/50 raffle over the weekend.
Before kicking off the quest to make it back to state, the Panthers played against the Anoka Bucs on Aug. 3, in Anoka.
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