Hometown Spirit Shines as Brewers Host Charlie Larca Memorial Tournament
By Andy Buckner
Having played through the majority of their regular season schedule, the Jordan Brewers had a chance to host their annual Charlie Larca Memorial Tournament at the Mini-Met from July 10–13.
The tournament, honoring the former Brewers manager, saw eight teams—including the hometown Brewers—visit the Mini-Met to play in a series of 7-inning games. While the Brewers made it all the way to the championship game, it was ultimately Stockmen’s Irish who took home the bragging rights. However, that did not erase a long weekend of memorable baseball for the players and the many fans who flocked to Jordan’s crown jewel.
The first team to take on the Brewers was the Courtland Cubs, who are the top-ranked Class C team in the state. With such an imposing opponent kicking off the competition, the Brewers immediately turned to ace pitcher Tommy Thompson to shut down the Cubs' offense. Thompson was able to hold down the Cubs' bats formidably, allowing only two runs in his outing. However, there was plenty of leeway for the righty, as the Brewers shocked their opponents with a 14-run onslaught, enforcing the mercy rule in a 14–2, five-inning victory.
“It felt like a state tournament atmosphere for us,” Brewers manager Scott Hollingsworth said. “We came ready to play. We were pretty prepared and just took it from there.”
One highlight from Thursday’s game was a home run that clinched the victory for the Brewers. This one came off the bat of Kyle Hvidsten, a notable Jordan High School alum who has been able to play some games for the Brewers after a short run in the Northwoods League this summer.
After a productive 20 games for the Bismarck Larks, Hvidsten has relished the opportunity to play some games in his hometown.
“The Mini-Met is a special place. It holds a special place in my heart. I always love being around the guys. There are a lot of guys that have been around the game for a long time that I can still learn from,” Hvidsten said.
Bound for Liberty University this fall after stints at Iowa Western Community College and Western Kentucky University, Hvidsten showed why he generated some interest from teams in the latest MLB draft with a massive opposite-field home run in the bottom of the fifth to give the Brewers an early finish to the game.
“I was really just trying to get the ball in the air that at-bat. The whole game I was struggling with hitting the ball on the ground or just hitting the ball too low. So I went into that at-bat trying to do some damage in the air, which is where I usually have the most success,” Hvidsten said of his last at-bat. “I just got lucky enough that I got enough of it, and it got out of right field. It felt good off the bat.”
Riding the momentum of the tournament-opening upset, the Brewers and the New Market Muskies braved the thick air on Saturday for a semifinal contest as smoke from Canadian wildfires sifted down to the southern parts of Minnesota. To even halfway replicate their offensive performance on Thursday would have given the Brewers a good chance to come away with another victory—and that’s exactly what they did. The contributions were spread quite evenly across the Brewers' lineup, as recent Jordan High School graduate Zac Daak was the only player to accumulate multiple hits in the game. Outside of Daak’s contributions, the Brewers had four hits and drew seven walks, leading to plenty of run-scoring opportunities that they were sure to take advantage of.
Meanwhile, team ERA leader Jonathan Draheim was up to his usual business on the mound, allowing just one run on five scattered hits and striking out seven. Jacob Allen came in to close the game down in the seventh inning and retired the side in order. With the 7–1 victory, the Brewers found themselves exactly where they had hoped to be—in the championship matchup against the Irish.
With most of their pitching options exhausted, Nate Beckman was called on to pitch all seven innings of the final matchup.
“Nate wanted the ball,” Hollingsworth said. “He’s got some buddies that played on the team, and he didn’t want to come out of the game.”
Although he gave up ten hits, Beckman was able to hold Stockmen’s offense to four runs—enough to give the Brewers at least a fighter’s chance at securing the victory. However, the bats ultimately came up short. Nine Brewers reached base on the strength of five hits and four walks, but only Beckman would find his way back to home plate.
“They’re a great team. They hit the ball, they’ve got a lot of guys who can throw, so it was a fun game for us to face them. We kept it competitive,” Hollingsworth said, noting that the Brewers found themselves a bit short-handed coming into the matchup. “If we were full strength, we’d probably give them a little better effort, but it was still a pretty good game.”
The 4–1 loss was not the way the Brewers had hoped to end the tournament, but there is plenty of meaningful baseball left to be played this summer. With five games left in the regular season, the 20–5 Brewers are once again expecting a State Tournament berth. With two more wins, they can clinch the top seed for the postseason.
Should their momentum continue, they will have an August full of intense weekend baseball on the home stretch of their journey to return to the state championship game—where they hope to change their fortunes from last year’s championship contest against Waconia—and bring the state championship trophy back to Jordan for the first time since 2019.