PIERZ — For the first time in eight seasons, the Pierz Pioneers are back in the Class 2A State Tournament.
Pierz earned the No. 6 seed and will face the No. 3-seeded Pine Island Panthers in the Class 2A Quarterfinals 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
“I don’t know a ton about Pine Island,” Pierz head coach Dylan Pittman said. “I’m just asking around and seeing what we can find from different coaches. The seeding came out as we expected it to. It was what I put in for seeding and we ended up where we thought we would. At this point, I’m super happy with where the guys were able to get to and we want it to continue at the state tournament.”
As the No. 3 seed in Section 6-2A, the Pioneers came into the section final against Albany needing to win one game.
After Albany forced a second game with a 6-2 win, the Pioneers shut out the Huskies 3-0 to punch their ticket to state.
In the semifinals, the Pioneers knocked off top-seeded St. Cloud Cathedral 1-0. Cathedral swept the Pioneers in the regular season and came into the Section 6-2A Playoffs with an 18-1 record.
Pierz Pioneer Tyler Kimman practices throwing on Monday, June 9, 2025, on the Pierz Baseball Field.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
“Our team is really balanced in age and experience. We have been super balanced with hitting and pitching,” Pittman said. “We’ve been swinging the bat really well, but we knew Cathedral didn’t give up many runs this year, so we knew that would be a close game. The message is to find a way to win. These guys have been resilient this whole year and that’s what we are going to stick to.”
Senior Brayden Haberman is the Pierz ace with a 7-1 record and a 1.518 ERA in nine starts. He’s struck out 80 in 55.1 innings. He pitched a complete-game three-hitter against Cathedral in the section semifinals. Haberman also leads the team in on-base percentage at .511. He’s recorded 26 hits in 71 at-bats with 10 doubles, one triple, one home run, 15 RBIs and 25 runs.
Senior Nathan Solinger earned the win in the 3-0 shut out of Albany in the section final. Solinger allowed no runs on four hits and four walks in six innings. He holds a 4-2 record with 2.551 ERA in five starts. He’s struck out 37 and walked 15 in 35.2 innings.
Pierz PioneerTyler Fischer practices throwing on Monday, June 9, 2025, on the Pierz Baseball Field.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Freshman Preston Saehr owns a 3-3 record and 4.118 ERA in six starts. He’s struck out 29 with eight walks in 34 innings. At the plate, Saehr collected 21 hits in 62 at-bats with a .464 on-base percentage. He’s recorded 16 RBIs and 10 runs.
“We are super balanced when it comes to our pitching staff,” Pittman said. “We have a lot of guys you can come in and pitch big for us.”
Freshman Grady Young has hit for a .355 average with six doubles and an on-base percentage of .417. He drove in 10 runs and scored 15.
Pierz Pioneer Brayden Haberman practices his bunt during practice on Monday, June 9, 2025, on the Pierz Baseball Field.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Senior Kaden Kruschek has a team-leading three home runs to go with six doubles for a slugging percentage of .540. He is boasting a .302 average and a .505 on-base percentage with 25 walks, 12 RBIs and 11 runs.
Kruschek also pitched 18 innings, including 6.1 across the two section final games against Albany. He holds a 3.889 ERA with 11 strikeouts.
Sophomore Bo Woitalla leads the team with 30 hits, including six doubles, a triple and two home runs. He’s collected a .337 average, .385 on-base percentage and .494 slugging percentage.
Sophomore Swayer Lochner has ripped nine doubles and collected a team-high 23 RBIs with 20 runs. He holds a .446 on-base percentage and a .451 slugging percentage. He’s hit one home run.
“All year long it’s been everyone up and down the lineup,” Pittman said. “Realistically, the top of your lineup is who you try to rely on. Kaden and Grady have been getting on-base for us. Haberman is batting .400 for us. We are just really, really balanced and we don’t know who is going to get our hits, but everyone up and down has a chance. We also aren’t afraid to bunt people over.”
Last time the Pioneers made the state tournament they finished runners-up in 2017.
Pierz head baseball coach Dylan Pittman talks to his players on Monday, June 9, 2025, on the Pierz Baseball Field.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
“I’m really excited for our guys,” Pittman said. “Sure our guys are young, but they have been in a lot of big situations and have played up in travel ball for a lot of years and done well. Now that we are at this point of the year they aren’t freshmen anymore. We are happy to make the state tournament, but we want to continue. A lot of people didn’t expect us to be here, but the guys performed. It’s not really a shock, but you never know when it could happen and there’s no reason to wait to be good.”
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at
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Class 2A State Quarterfinals
Matchup: No. 6-seeded Pierz Pioneers (16-9) vs. No. 3-seeded Pine Island Panthers (20-5)
Time: 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 11
Where: Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud
Other Matchups: No. 2 Perham vs. No. 7 Maple River 10 a.m.; No. 1 Duluth Marshall vs. No. 8 Concordia Academy 3:30 p.m.; No. 4 Glencoe-Silver Lake vs. No. 5 Luverne