The Muskies waltzed passed an unmotivated St. Joseph squad to claim the Region 10C title and a top seed in the state tournament. Earlier in the day, St. Joseph defeated Clear Lake 4-1 to earn the other state tournament berth from the region.

The Muskies prevailed 10-0 in 7 innings behind a 14-hit attack and a stellar performance from starter Travis Weaver. Weaver allowed 2 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings of work.

Josh Rathbun produced the first run with a solo homer leading off the top of the 2nd inning. In the 4th, the Muskies took control with 6 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batter. Brian Schellinger hit a 2-run single in that rally and Tim Burns capped the scoring with a 2-run double. Schellinger was 5-for-5 on the day, while Burns had 3 hits and 4 RBI.

Weaver was assisted by several nice plays from third baseman Adam Wenker, and a rare 9-3 putout. Rightfielder Adam Schellinger preserved the shutout in the 6th inning when he negated Aaron Rocheleau's hit to right field by throwing him out at first base. At the time, St. Joseph had runners on 2nd and 3rd base with 2 outs.

The 3 region games, the Muskies committed 3 errors and played great defense all around the diamond. The defense and four pitchers combined to allow 1 run and 13 hits in 25 innings. The pitchers issued 3 walks, 3 hit batters, and struck out 16.

After the game the Muskies drafted veteran Freeport Black Sox catcher Chad Hess. He'll join the Muskies for the state tournament, which is useful since regular catcher Luke Sweeter has begun football practice at St. John's University.

The Muskies will open the state tournament Friday night at 8:30 PM in Willmar. They must win that game to advance to the tournaments 2nd weekend. They will play the #2 seed out of region 1C. Hinckley, Forest Lake, Isanti, Champlin and Big Lake were all alive in that 8-team region going into Saturday.