Sabers Baseball Open Section Playoffs with Memorial Day Victory, 5-2 Over Bloomington Jefferson
By Bill Schleper
Another impressive crowd witnessed the Shakopee Sabers’ 2025 baseball campaign as the boys of spring/summer continued their impressive season, opening the Class 2AAAA Section Playoffs with a 5-2 victory over the #8-seeded Jaguars from Bloomington Jefferson High School on a beautiful, sunny Memorial Day afternoon at Joe Schleper Baseball Stadium in Shakopee.
With senior lefty Nick Johnson on the mound, striking out the side in the top of the first, it looked like this would be a short and sweet one. But Jaguars starter Hayden Vucinovich also came out throwing gas and hitting corners—returning the favor in the bottom of the first and setting the Sabers batters down in order. Johnson would get the best of this matchup, however, as he cruised through the first three innings, striking out seven of the first ten batters he faced. The Sabers tallied three runs during those first three innings as they took advantage of Vucinovich, who couldn’t keep pace with Johnson’s outing, surrendering a few walks and a few wild pitches—and then a clutch two-run single by the Sabers’ Johnson to aid in his own cause.
Johnson—who appeared to be throwing more gas than usual—began to tire a bit in the fourth frame, giving up a base hit, a walk, and two more base hits before striking out the final two batters of the frame with the bases loaded. But the Jags were able to break the shutout and come within striking distance at 3-1 after 3-1/2 innings of play.
Johnson was relieved in the fifth by Jack Stensrud, who struggled on the mound, hitting the first two batters he faced before giving up a single to load the bases. Head Coach Eric Schmitz wasn’t taking any chances and brought in senior southpaw Tanner Heller. Heller immediately produced a ground ball off the bat of Jefferson’s Ethan Agre, and shortstop Logan Krosch made a difficult play look easy, as he smoothly converted the unassisted 6U-3 double play while relinquishing the run at the plate in exchange for a pair of much-needed outs. Heller then coerced the next batter into a fly ball to center field that CF Ryder Peace made a bit interesting, but got the out—keeping the damage to a bare minimum in a clutch performance by Heller and the Sabers’ defense. Heller went on to pitch two more shutout innings to finish off the game, clamping down on the Jags’ offense while earning the save and thus preserving the victory for Johnson, who struck out nine batters in his four innings on the mound, giving up just three hits.
The Sabers’ offense wasn’t stellar but was able to tally an additional pair of insurance runs in the fifth inning. Kyser Boran laced a solid single to open the frame, Reid Anderson followed with a walk, and two batters later, Carson Schroeder drilled a clutch base hit to the outfield to drive in two—and that was all the Sabers needed to finish off the 2-hour and 35-minute game with a 5-2 victory to open their playoff season.
The #1-seeded Sabers have home field advantage throughout the double-elimination tourney and will face off against Minnetonka on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. at Joe Schleper Baseball Stadium. Win or lose, the Sabers will have another home game on Friday at 12:00 noon—a scheduled time change as they avoid the weekend’s Lions’ Softball Tournament at Tahpah Park, which begins on Friday evening. The Lions’ tourney is an annual event and one of the largest softball tournaments in the state, with overflow parking needs at Tahpah Park. Having both tournaments going at the same time simply won’t work, according to the Shakopee Activities Department—which chose to move the Sabers’ game to a more viable time slot. And you won’t hear the ballplayers complain about missing a few hours of school on a Friday afternoon, either!
View the MSHSL 2025 Section 2AAAA Baseball Tournament bracket here.