MITCHELL — The Garretson comeback tour continued Saturday. 

One year after failing to qualify for the Class B state amateur baseball tournament, the Bluejays will play for the state championship Sunday at Cadwell Park. 

“Last year was a tough year and to kind of get the fire back in Garretson is awesome,” Garretson manager Austin Vanhove said after a 7-2 win over Lennox in the semifinals. “You can see how everybody is excited for Garretson baseball.”

Last year’s failure lit a fire under the Bluejays this season, especially Vanhove said his teammates. 

“Vanhove was coming back with a vengeance and a little bit of chip on his shoulder,” Garretson right fielder Jesse Brockhouse said. “So he gave us a little motivational speech before every game. So we are kind of riding on him right now.”

Behind strong pitching and clean defense, Garretson put away Lennox with a five-run eighth inning to punch its ticket to Championship Sunday. Dustin Steckler lasted the first 7.1 innings, scattering eight hits, allowing two earned runs and struck out three batters on 106 pitches. 

“He did awesome for us,” Vanhove said. “He needed to step up in a big way and he did. All of our pitchers have done an excellent job this tournament with Joey Fitzgerald, Nick Bonte, Aaron LaBrie and now Dustin Steckler today. It’s awesome to see.”

LaBrie, who started in the quarterfinal win over Mount Vernon, threw 1.2 relief innings on Saturday. The former Wichita State University pitcher struck out five batters, allowed three hits and zero runs to complement Steckler’s pitching performance. 

“Dustin battled today,” said Brockhouse, who had two hits and two RBI. “It was awesome to see him go that long and do well and to see his stuff working and then have LaBrie come in and do what he does best. It’s awesome to have those guys and they know they have good ‘D’ behind them.” 

The Bluejays committed zero errors, while Lennox recorded six errors. Lennox starter J.D. Kirchner lasted the first six innings, allowing six hits, two unearned runs and struck out five batters. 

The game was tight through 7.5 innings, but Garretson seized control in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dell Rapids PBR pick-up player Riley Hoffman evened the score, 2-2, with an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning. 

But Garretson scored five runs on two hits and three Lennox errors in the frame. Armed with a five-run lead in the ninth inning, LaBrie shut the door to secure the championship berth. 

“We are definitely a defensive, pitching team and we take pride in that,” Vanhove said. “So it’s great to see we were able to execute it today.”

Lennox’s Jay Green recorded four hits and Walker Hultgren finished with two hits. Drew Sweeter, Corey Vasquez, Chris Kropuenske and Cam Wulf added hits. 

The Alpacas left 12 runners stranded on base. Lennox was making its first Class B semifinal berth since 1994 and 95.  

Garretson’s Nick Bonte and Fitzgerald had two hits, while Scott Splett and Tayson Swatek added hits. It was Garretson’s third semifinal appearance in the past five seasons, including a 2019 runner-up finish. 

On Saturday, Vanhove wasn’t sure who would get the start for the state championship. The Bluejays will play either Winner/Colome or the Dell Rapids Mudcats. 

“We will have to see how everyone feels tomorrow,” Vanhove said. “But any team that is playing Sunday is going to not have a pitcher that’s at full strength. It’s going to be a battle, but hopefully we can pull it out.”