It’s been smooth sailing all summer for the Windom Pirates, whose record reflects amateur baseball excellence in southwest Minnesota.
Now it gets serious for the Pirates, who take a 17-1 mark into this week’s Region 10C playoffs.
“It’s been great,” said Windom star Luke Gilbertson. “We added a couple of bats and they’re really impacted our team. And having Drew Rothenberger back and healthy on both the pitching and hitting side, has been real good. We’ve just been having a lot of fun.”
The Pirates, managed by Nick Kulseth, are ranked third among Class C teams. It’s been four years since the Pirates earned a berth in the Minnesota Baseball Association state tournament.
Gopher and First Nite League teams will vie for two spots in the Class C state tournament. At least eight of them will. Two others, longtime regional powers Fairmont and Luverne, have been elevated to Class B status and will start their own important regional tournament soon in New Ulm.
We hope to make a run at winning the league here and having some success at the state level.
Luke Gilbertson, Windom Pirates
Windom and Milroy won regular-season championships in the First Nite and Gopher leagues, respectively. The Pirates are the top seed in the Region 10C competition, while the Irish are No. 2.
Four best-of-three playoff series will start on Wednesday, July 23. The winners advance to the all-important semifinal round next week, where a pair of best-of-three series will determine the two teams that advance to state. This year’s Minnesota Baseball Association Class C state tournament starts Aug. 15 and runs for three consecutive weekends in Brownton, Hutchinson and Glencoe.
Windom’s Rothenberger has been hurt the last two summers but has been both healthy and productive. He’s hitting .380 with two homers and is 5-0 on the mound with a 0.29 earned-run average.
Windom’s Drew Rothenberger throws a pitch vs the Heron Lake Lakers on Sunday, June 15, 2025 at Island Park in Windom.
Skyler Jackson / The Globe
Rothenberger’s emergence, along with newcomers Jake Tauer (.400, seven extra-base hits, 19 RBIs) and Keenan Wenzel (.350, six extra-base hits, 24 RBIs), who both moved to Windom after finishing fine careers on the Southwest Minnesota State team, have improved the Pirates’ offense.
Gilbertson — batting .304 while also going 4-1 with 2.13 ERA — is another key performer on the mound and at the plate. Other Windom standouts include slugger Alex Fink (.356, eight extra-base hits, 21 RBIs), Alex Borsgard (.356) and Brett Willaby (.381). Other talented pitchers on the squad include Ross Ackerman (3-0, 0.90), and brothers Collin and Kobe Lovell.
Gilbertson, 25, played on the Windom teams in 2018 and 2021, both of which advanced to the state tourney. But neither had much success at that level.
“Both times we went were super special and super fun. We hope to make a run at winning the league here and having some success at the state level,” Gilbertson said.
But winning the Region 10C title won’t be easy.
“Even the middle of the pack has some damn good teams,” Gilbertson said, referring especially to Hadley, Pipestone and Worthington.
Windom’s Luke Gilbertson makes a throw from the outfield against the Heron Lake Lakers on Sunday, June 15, 2025 at Island Park in Windom.
Skyler Jackson / The Globe
Jackson manager Scott Bahr agrees. His third-seeded Bulls take on No. 6 Worthington in a first-round series. The Cubs have played some excellent ball in recent weeks.
“Typically you’re excited about getting that No. 3 seed, but this year is not one of them,” Bahr said. “We’re not really excited about playing the Worthington Cubs. That pitching staff is scary. They proved it early in the year when they came out of the gate really strong. They’ve got a nice mix of veterans and younger guys. They’re doing it right.”
Jackson is led by pitchers Ryan Rasche and Alex Bretzman. Easton Bahr, Evan Olesen, Chris Gumto, Carter Snyder and Andy Wolf have sparked the offense. Rasche is 35 and Wolf is 47.
“Ryan has had an excellent summer and Andy is still in my opinion one of the best players in the region,” manager Bahr said of his veterans.
Jackson is coming off a State C tournament berth a year ago and Bahr’s team has made 14 state-tourney appearances in the last 30 years.
Jackson’s Ryan Rasche throws a pitch vs the Luverne Redbirds on Sunday, July 6, 2025 at Wacker Field in Jackson.
Skyler Jackson / The Globe
Worthington features four sets of brothers: The Brandners (Will, Jake and Tucker), the Sauerbreis (Easton and Triston), the Gauls (Eli and Tate), and the Lais boys (Tommy and Kent).
The fireballing Tucker Brandner won’t be available for the Cubs, though, for he has signed with Bismarck of the Northwoods League for the remainder of the summer. Jake Brandner, who also throws hard and is a solid hitter to boot, is expected to start the series opener on Wednesday.
The Cubs also have Justin Saufley, a 38-year-old righty who leads the team in innings pitched and victories (three).
Ethan Meyer (.364), Daniel Castro (.333) and Tommy Lais (.321) are three of Worthington’s best hitters. The Cubs this summer own eye-opening victories over Luverne, Hadley and the Milroy Irish.
“We’ve had a really good season compared to the last couple of years,” said Cubs’ manager Logan Huisman, who is also a talented hitter. “Justin has been incredible and our younger guys have gotten better.”
Worthington’s Daniel Castro swings at the ball vs the Milroy Irish on Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Worthington.
Skyler Jackson / The Globe
The Cubs, with just one state tourney berth (2016) in the last 40 years, have been bedeviled at times by their defense. But when they make the plays, they’re a tough team to beat.
“We’re right there,” Huisman said. “When we all show up and are ready to play we’re very capable of playing with anybody.”
Milroy’s Irish are led by star pitcher Tyler Maeyaert, talented shortstop Dominic Dolan and standout catcher Derek Smith. The Lakefield Frogs, meanwhile, feature Bryce Christopher and Dustin Pronk.
The Hadley Buttermakers also have a strong team. Manager Myron Bennett’s club is always a contender at playoff time and this season the team is led by young shortstop Derek Kluis (13 extra-base hits, 26 RBIs) and veteran hitters Alex Petersen, Tucker Sorenson, Joe Larson, Brent Hokeness, Max Zwart, Danny Blankenship, Austin Irlbeck and Jakob Olson.
The lefty Sorenson is one of the top pitchers in the area, while young righty Lincoln Swanjord has been terrific in recent weeks. The Buttermakers also have veteran right-handers Jacob Van Dam and Bryce Ahrendt.
Pipestone also has several fine players, including southpaw pitcher Mitch Carson, Mitchell Biever and Brandon Alfson.
Here are the first-round matchups, with all series to begin Wednesday:
No. 1 Windom vs. No. 8 Fox Lake; No. 2 Milroy vs. No. 7 Lakefield; No. 3 Jackson vs. No. 6 Worthington; No. 4 Hadley vs. No. 5 Pipestone.