The Austin All-Star Eagles 14AAA baseball team took the top honors this past weekend at the Mahtomedi Wood Bat Classic baseball tournament with a 5-0-1 record.

Austin began pool play on Friday afternoon against Coon Rapids and prevailed 1-0. Daniel Bollingberg and Nathan Conner had the only two hits in the tightly contested game. Bollingberg and Jake Reinartz shared the pitching duties with Dylan Gasner behind the plate.

In the second game of pool play, the Stars went up against Bloomington and

came away with a 6-6 tie in a time limited game. Trevor Stevens and Conner shared the mound duties with Gasner again behind the plate. Brandon Bickell led the offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate with 4 RBI, and he blasted a 3-run homer over the 325 foot mark in left field. Jason Stoulil went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Conner and Reinartz were also 2-for-3 on the day.

In the final pool game, Austin beat the team from Inver Grove Heights 8-6. The

All-Stars scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to break a 6-6 tie and win the time limited game. Dylan Gasner led at the plate going 3-for-3 with a double and triple, scoring three times. Brandon Bickell and Jason Stoulil shared the pitching duties with Gasner catching.

On Sunday morning, the Eagles played a team from the Baxter/Brainerd area and came away with a hard fought 1-0 victory. Daniel Bollingberg and

Jake Reinartz combined to throw a one-hitter and Dylan Gasner handled the duties behind the plate. Gasner scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Brandon Bickell. The win advanced the All-Stars into the semi-final game against Centennial.

In a tightly contested match-up, the Austin boys came away with a 3-2 victory to advance to the Championship game for the third tournament in a row. Chris Webber and Reinartz had RBIs in the win. Trevor Stevens and Daniel

Bollingberg combined the pitching chores with Gasner catching. In the Championship game, the Eagles shut down the Woodbury Panthers, a team that had scored 54 runs in five games, and took home the first place trophy by an 11-1 score. Brandon Bickell was the winning pitcher with Trevor Stevens coming in to get the last out. Bollingberg was 3-for-4 at the plate with two triples and 4 RBI. Josiah Rohne, Reinartz, Gasner, and Stevens all had two hits apiece. Stevens also joined Bickell in the homerun club, sending a shot over the 325 foot mark in left field.

“The team got great pitching and played great defense, giving up only three runs in three games on Sunday,” Austin head coach Rick Stoulil said. “Our pitching depth is a great advantage for us in these long tournaments and all 6 pitchers we used did a great job. The guys really enjoyed the wood bat format. Most of them had never hit wood bats before so it was a unique experience for them.”

The Austin All-Star Eagles have a 12-3-1 record and next compete June 21-24 in the National Slumpbuster College World Series tournament in Omaha, Neb.