The Cannon Falls Bears are state bound once again after a 5-2 win over the Dodge County Diamondbacks Monday night at John Burch Park. With the victory, the Bears are guaranteed a top three finish in Region 5C and a trip to the Class C State Tournament.

Cannon Falls won two games over the past two days on a herculean effort by pitcher Nick Drinken. Drinken earned both wins and threw a combined 13 ⅔ innings in just over a 24-hour span. In those two games, he allowed only two earned runs and struck out 14 batters.

“That was probably some of the most fun I’ve ever had,” he said after the game. Drinken explained he has never been used like that before, at least not since he was a kid. He threw 72 pitches in Sunday’s win over the Austin Greyhounds, which he said he was confident he could recover from since he usually throws over 100 pitches in his starts.

“I heated it all night and did some bands this morning to make sure the arm was feeling good,” Drinken said about his recovery between games. “If it wasn’t I wasn’t going to push it. I was feeling really good.”

Drinken said he received plenty of tips from veteran Bears pitcher Keith Meyers on how to approach his recovery and credited catcher Carlton Lindow, who he played with in 2021 at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, with calling a great pair of games.

“Carl, he knows exactly what to call, I don’t need to shake him off at all,” Drinken said about what was clicking the last two days. “My slider, my best pitch, was working well and he was calling the drop-down, arm-slot, submarine stuff, getting foul balls and then trying to shut the door on a third strike or get a ground ball. It was working well.”

Drinken has started to play with his arm angles this summer and is starting to see success. While he has a sidearm delivery normally, he said he has used a more submarine-style arm angle to throw a tailing fastball and slider. 

State bound

Cannon Falls and Dodge County struggled to get timely hitting from their batters in the opening frames as they combined to strand 10 baserunners in the first three innings. However, the Bears struck first in the bottom of the fourth when Lindow reached on an error, Rich Burr singled and Cooper Peterson singled to load the bases. From there, Luke Sjoquist drove in both Lindow and Burr with a single to give Cannon Falls a 2-0 lead.

The Bears extended that lead in the bottom of the seventh as they loaded the bases with one out. Geno Larkin started it with a one-out double, Lindow singled and Burr was hit by a pitch. Peterson then hit into a fielder’s choice where the Diamondbacks got the out at home plate for the second out. However, Sjoquist then hit a line drive to right that bounced off Karver Heydt’s glove and allowed all three runs to score (unearned). This put Cannon Falls up 5-0 heading into the eighth.

Dodge County got on the board with one run in the top of the eighth. Jake Coshenet was hit by a pitch and then was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice from Hayden Sheeran. Sheeran was then thrown out at second on another fielder’s choice by Isaac Trotter for the second out. Jackson Schroeder reached on an error and Heydt drove in Trotter with an RBI single to make it 5-1.

The Diamondbacks tried to make a comeback in the top of the ninth and managed one run off of Drinken when A.J. Yusten singled, Peter Meyer reached on an error and Sheeran drove in Yusten with a two-out, RBI single. Drinken then exited the game after that run scored and was relieved by Luke Winchell, who got the final out of the game with a flyout to center field. 

Drinken’s final line was the win in 8 ⅔ innings pitched where he gave up two earned runs on nine hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Winchell pitched the ⅓ of an inning.

Yusten threw seven innings for Dodge County and took the loss. He allowed five runs – only one of which was earned – on 11 hits and four hit batters with six strikeouts. Luke Dudycha tossed one scoreless inning with one hit batter.

Burr led the Cannon Falls offense with a perfect 3-for-3 game and was also hit by a pitch. Peterson and Larkin each had two hits while Sjoquist had the team’s lone RBI. Heydt led the Diamondbacks with three hits and his RBI. 

Cannon Falls faces the Red Wing Aces at The Ath in Red Wing on Friday at 8 p.m. for the top seed coming out of Region 5C. The loser receives the No. 2 seed from the region. Meanwhile, Dodge County drops to the consolation bracket and will have to play the Wanamingo Jacks on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Red Wing. The winner of that game then plays for third and the final state tournament berth immediately following.