by Dennis Dalman
After a swift winning streak, the Sartell Sabres varsity baseball team made it all the way to state Class AAA championship competition in mid-June where it took fourth place.
The Class AAA champions are the Mathotmedi Zephyrs, who whopped the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks 20-3 for the win at Target Stadium. The Zephyrs won the championship once before, in 2018.
In the Section 8AAA games, Sartell defeated Little Falls, Detroit Lakes and Alexandria and entered state play.
Right after the state semi-finals, Sartell was in third place after losing to Albert Lea and Mahtomedi. Then, on June 16, in the third-place game versus the St. Thomas Academy Cadets, Sartell lost by one point after an edge-of-the-seat tug-of-war, with the ongoing score going back and forth with dizzying speed. But, finally, just one run by St. Thomas Academy sealed the deal, and St. Thomas Academy won for third place: 16-15.