That’s how our season has gone. Unlucky and it’s kind of fitting that we lost by one run.”

Park head coach David Darr

The late, great Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi coined the phrase that “football is a game of inches.”
That truism could easily be applied to the 2024 Park High baseball season.
Top-seeded Two Rivers ended the Park Wolfpack season Monday afternoon in the elimination bracket of the Section 3AAAA baseball tournament at Mendota Heights, winning 7-6. It was a game that easily could have gone the other way but for an inch or two.
It was Park’s eighth loss by one run this season.
“This team never quit,” said Park head coach David Darr. “We were down 5-1 in the fourth, fifth inning and came back to score four runs with two outs. And that’s kind of what we’ve done. And we hung around and two inches, one inch and he catches that ball, it went off his glove and it’s a double play and we’re hitting right now. That’s how our season has gone. Unlucky and it’s kind of fitting that we lost by one run.”
“It’s just a testament to these guys,” Darr added. “Today, all year, they never packed it in. And they always believed they had a chance and more times than not it came down to the last inning or two and that’s all you can ask. These kids worked their butts off and they wanted to get better and they did. They got better every game every practice and that’s all as a coach you can ask. We had a good time. And everybody got better as the year progressed. It just didn’t work out for us and that disappointing because you love them so much and you want to be rewarded, winning games, s for all the hard work.
Two Rivers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning. Park was held scoreless until scoring one run in the third. But the Wolfpack got back into the game with four runs in the top of the fifth with two out to tie the game at 5-all. All of a sudden everything started to click for the Wolfpack as Charlie Brooke walked, Adam Tait doubled, Samuel Nienow singled, Max Kaplan reached on an error, and Luke Hatano reached on another error and promptly stole two bases. Two more walks followed.
Two Rivers scored a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff home run. But Park had an answer for that, too.
Park senior catcher Nienow tripled to lead off the top of the seventh and scored on a fly ball to left by shortstop Max Kaplan to tie the game again, this time at 6-all.
Two Rivers then won it in the bottom of the seventh on a one out, one on ball hit into center field.
“We were tied up and then gave up a big home run and couldn’t come back from it, and then a little number through the middle to walk us off and that’s how the season goes,” said Nienow.
Asked what he will remember from this season, Nienow said, “How we battled, we always battled, we always wanted to get better and I don’t think we ever gave up.”
Park ends the season with a record of 7-16, a record which was pretty deceptive given the hard lick campaign. Two Rivers advanced in the elimination bracket, but their joy was short lived as the Warriors dropped a 4-0 decision to Eastview in a second game Monday to close out its season.
The host Warriors dropped into the section elimination bracket after being upset by fifth-seeded Eagan 3-1 in the second round of the tournament.
The Wolfpack lost 5-4 to Hastings in the section first round, thumped Burnsville 7-3 in an elimination bracket opener, then fell to Two Rivers in the elimination quarterfinals.
Park will face a major rebuilding season next spring as 14 seniors will depart.
Asked what he would remember about this season, “How every single game our dugout and the players in the field were energetic. It never felt like nobody was not into the game,” said senior pitching ace Tait who started and went six innings before giving way to Kaplan in the seventh. “And like he said we battled every single game. We never gave up even though we had every single reason to.”
Hastings 5, Park 4
Host and second-seeded Hastings edged seventh-seeded Park 5-4 Tuesday in the first round of the Section 3AAAA baseball tournament.
Park 7, Burnsville 3
Park knocked host Burnsville out of the tournament with a 7-3 win in the first round of Section 3AAAA elimination at Alimagnet Park Wednesday, May 29.
Burnsville grabbed a quick 1-0 lead after one inning, but Park answered by scoring three runs in the third, two more in the fourth and then one each in the fifth and sixth to earn the win.
Samuel Nienow had a single, a walk, a stolen base and three RBIs for the Wolfpack. Charlie Brooke had three singles and scored three runs. Adam Tait had three singles and scored a run.
“I think we swung the bat really well; I think we made a lot of the easy plays that you’re supposed to make. I think that’s the biggest thing, just making the plays you’re supposed to make, it kind of changes the whole game,” said Nienow. “We’ve been trying to get better the whole season and now, especially, we’re seeing it pay off.”
Park’s Nolan Rolf got the win on the mound, scattering seven hits while striking out seven and walking one.
“That was the best I’ve seen our bats, pretty much all year and I pitched really well,” said Rolf. “It just came out in the post season. I think we’re just clutch. It just means more in the post season. Everyone is just trying their best; it means more than ever now.”
“We played just as well yesterday, (against Hastings) we just didn’t get as many hits. We hit the ball well, but it found their gloves and that’s baseball,” said Park coach David Darr. “Here today, they didn’t. We found more grass out there and we able to get more hits and scored more runs. … It’s fun to see them have fun and be successful and hopefully we can go on.”