Foley Baseball Motivated at State Tournament

The Foley baseball team is making their 2nd straight Class 2-A State Tournament appearance this week when they play Zumbrota-Mazeppa at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.  Foley is seeded 4th while Zumbrota-Mazeppa is the #5 seed.  The Falcons are 21-4 under head coach Mike Beier. Foley started the season 4-3 and has been 17-1 ever since.

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Beier is in his 20th year as the head coach of the Falcons.  Foley is making their 3rd state tournament appearance since 2019.  The Falcons lost in extra innings to Perham in the state quarterfinals last season before falling in the consolation semifinals to Belle Plaine.  Beier says it's hard to say is this is the best team he's had at Foley.  He says in 2019, his son Drew was on the team and he had coached those players for 10 years.  The 2019 team won the Class 2-A consolation championship.  Beier says last year's team could really hit but this year's team may be the best combination of pitching, hitting and speed.

Beier says their top two pitchers this season have been outstanding.  Those two are Trey Emmerich and Josiah Petersen.  Emmerich was the pitcher of the year in the Granite Ridge Conference and will be attending St. Cloud State to pitch starting next season.  Petersen is going to Augustana to pitch and catch and play some corner infield.  Another pitching option for the Falcons this season is Bryce Gapinski.  Beier says Gapinski has been pounding the strike zone and will likely pitch this week.

Beier says hitting has been contagious for them this season.  He indicates they have been led offensively by Josiah Petersen, who is hitting .440 after batting over .500 last season with 9 home runs.  Brett Leabch has been batted 3rd and is hitting .350.  Bryce Gapinski has been hitting lead off and Beier says he's as fast as anybody.  Gapinski is going to Bemidji State to play football.  Reed Hermanson has been hitting 4th for the Falcons and has produced with power and doesn't strikeout much.  Trey Emmerich has been the 5th hitter for Foley.  Beier says the bottom portion of the lineup has also contributing with run production and has kept the line moving.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Mike Beier, it is available below.