Connor Wiese pitched 6.1 innings for Owatonna’s Post 77 with Arik Tackmann behind the plate in their substate playoff victory over Winona. The battery gave up just 2 earned runs in the 7-3 win and both players also recorded a hit at the plate.
FILE PHOTO
Monday night’s game between the Owatonna and Winona American Legion baseball teams lived up to its name in a battle between top seeds in the District 1 substate playoffs.
And for Owatonna Post 77, they overcame being the lower seed against Winona LeJetz and showcased why they are a threat to repeat as the substate champions.
Both teams won their opening games of the district playoffs on Sunday night at home, as No. 3 seeded Owatonna beat No. 6 Austin and No. 2 Winona beat No. 7 Red Wing. Both games were an 11-1 score.
Owatonna and Winona then advanced to the next round of the winner’s bracket on Monday, with Lejetz hosting Post 77 in Winona. This was the second meeting between the teams this season, as Owatonna won 9-6 in the regular season at home and that started a five-game win streak for them before they dropped their final regular season game last week against the Rochester (Century) A’s.
Winona ended the regular season with three straight wins and added to their win streak on Sunday with the playoff opening win over Red Wing. The streak was snapped on Monday though as Owatonna once again was victorious over them.
Post 77 started the game by drawing back-to-back walks to put Aedan Tackmann and AJ Ulrich on base. Two outs then took place before Tackmann scored on a wild pitch to put Owatonna up 1-0.
Connor Wiese took the mound for Post 77 and held Winona scoreless for the first two innings. LeJetz tied the game in the third by scoring a run, but Owatonna regained the lead right away in the top of the fourth.
Owatonna started the fourth with back-to-back outs before Jae Herzog hit a single. Tackmann and Ulrich then hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it a 3-1 game.
Owatonna did not give up the lead in the game, as they added three runs in the fifth and one in the seventh while Winona scored a run in the fifth and another in the sixth.
Down 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Winona was down to their final two outs before they hit back-to-back singles. A fielder’s choice had then them down to their final out with runners on first and second base before another groundout took place to end the game. Owatonna won 7-3 to book a trip to Stewartville on Friday to face the Rochester (Mayo) Redhawks.
Wiese ended up pitching 6.1 innings, giving up two earned runs. AJ Ulrich pitched 0.2 innings of relief in the seventh to close the game out. On offense, Aedan Tackmann led the team in hits and RBIs with two and three while Ulrich also had a multi-RBI day with two RBIs. He led the team in walks as well along with Zach Bissen, as they had two each.
Post 77 will now face the Redhawks in Stewartville on Friday at 12 p.m. The winner will advance to the state tournament that will take place in New Ulm and start on Wednesday, July 29.
The loser will still have a chance on making it to New Ulm next week though, as two teams from the district will advance to the state tournament this year. The loser of the noon game will play again at 5 p.m. in Stewartville against the winner of the 2:30 game between the two teams who advanced in the elimination bracket from Wednesday’s games. The winner of the 5 p.m. game will then join the winner of the noon game in New Ulm.
LEGION SUBSTATE DISTRICT 1 PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 (AT HIGHER SEED)
Game 12 – No. 2 Winona vs. No. 4 Byron, 5 p.m.
Game 13 – No. 5 Rochester (Century) A’s vs. No. 7 Red Wing, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, JULY 24 (AT STEWARTVILLE)
Game 14 – No. 1 Rochester (Mayo) Redhawks vs. No. 3 Owatonna, 12 p.m.
Game 15 – Winner of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 13, 2:30 p.m.
Game 16 – Loser of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 15, 5 p.m.
SATURDAY, JULY 25 (AT STEWARTVILLE)
Substate District 1 championship game, 1 p.m. (2nd game to follow if necessary)
Reach Reporter Lucas Dittmer at 507-444-2375. © Copyright 2026 Adams MultiMedia of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.