Baseball Fans Flock To St. Cloud For State Tournament Games

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Sixteen high school baseball teams and their excited fans are coming to town this week. The Minnesota State High School League Class A and Class AA baseball tournaments will be at the Municipal Athletic Complex on Thursday and Friday.

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Visit Greater St. Cloud Sports Director Craig Besco says his office has been busy helping the various schools since they punched their tickets to the state tournament.

Our office helps coordinate hotel rooms.  We're kind of a liaison with the schools when they aren't able to find any rooms.  As some may know, we also have the Minnesota Quilters in downtown, which is also taking up hotel rooms.  Helping the teams find lodging in our area so that's one less thing for them to worry about as athletic directors, coaches, and even the parents and fans.

Besco says at least eight of the teams will be traveling over two hours to compete.

This helps create sellout weekends.  Not only are these two big tournaments going on, but we also have smaller baseball tournaments in the surrounding towns as well.

While baseball enthusiasts take over the west end of St. Cloud, over 6,000 quilters will be in downtown St. Cloud at the same time.

Read More: What To Expect At The Minnesota Quilt Show In St. Cloud |

The Class A quarterfinals and semifinals will be played at Joe Faber Field. The number one seed is Madelia, making its first state tournament appearance since 1991.

Class A quarterfinals (Thursday): 
#2 Red Lake County versus #7 Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton - 10:30 a.m.
#3 South Ridge versus #6 Brandon-Evansville - 1:00 p.m.
#1 Madelia versus #8 New York Mills - 4:00 p.m.
#4 Murray County Central versus #5 Ogilvie - 6:30 p.m.

The Class AA quarterfinals and semi-finals will be played at Dick Putz Field. The number one seed is St. Cloud Cathedral. This is the 21st trip to the state tournament for the Crusaders under coach Bob Karn, who is in his 55th season with the school.

Class AA quarterfinals (Thursday):
#2 Perham versus #7 Windom Area - 10:00 a.m.
#3 Glencoe-Silver Lake versus #6 Aitkin - 12:30 p.m.
#1 St. Cloud Cathedral versus #8 Minnehaha Academy - 3:30 p.m.
#4 Cannon Falls versus #5 Cotter/Hope - 6:00 p.m.

Consolation bracket games will use Cold Spring Baseball Park and St. Cloud Orthopedics Field.

The state championship games in all four classes will be played on Monday, June 15th, at Target Field.

The Minnesota State High School Baseball Tournament in St. Cloud is a tradition that goes back 50 years.  Teams have been coming to town to play in the tournament since 1976.

St. Cloud has secured the rights to the State High School Baseball Tournament at least for the next two years, and then it will be up for bid again.