After a one year tournament hiatus, the A's opened up the 2001 tournament in Sleepy Eye versus a strong Granite Falls squad, a recent addition to the Class C ranks having participated in several Class B tourneys in recent years. The Athletics qualified by being the runner-up to the Glyndon Braves in Region 12C. The Ada lineup, usually good for producing a veritable bounty of runs, had a difficult time solving the hard-throwing and accurate Granite pitcher, and could only muster one hit in the game by Brady Schwab. The A's received an outstanding pitching effort from rookie Chad Fyre, who held the mighty Granite bats mostly in check. However, the A's fell 4-0 to conclude the season with a record of 18-11.
1998- Chaska/ Hamburg
The Athletics qualified for the state tourney for the second year in a row after riding the pitching arm of Crookston draftee Ted Hasz to the Region 12C championship. The Athletics took on Fairmont in the opening slate in Chaska for an early morning contest after a rain delay the evening before. Ada hang on for a one run victory when the would-be tying run was thrown out at home plate for the last out by centerfielder Chris Ellingson. Dallas Everson, the Ada catcher, also made an outstanding block of the plate to prevent the run and to end the Fairmont rally as the play was the talk of the tournament's first weekend.
The Athletics began the second round the following weekend in grand fashion by jumping out to a five run lead over central Minnesota powerhouse Springfield. Hasz once again had a strong pitching performance going to the bottom of the ninth, but a series of fluke plays and base hits allowed Springfield to rally from behind to steal the win and end the Athletics season. The A's record finished at 25-18.
After a 9 year absence, the Athletics qualified for the state classic as Region Champions, opening with Countryside League Champion Fergus Falls in Delano. The Athletics took control from the start and pounded out 19 hits, including 2 homeruns by first baseman Jamie Aanenson, and cruised to victory. Veteran pitcher, and former Mayville (ND) State University closer Brant Mickelson, went the distance on the mound and shut down the powerful Fergus lineup that had dominated the Countryside League during the summer.
The second round the following week in Maple Lake did not treat the Ada squad as nicely versus St. Michael. The Athletics booted the ball around the diamond and accumulated a tournament-record 10 errors in a 10-0, 7 inning loss. St. Michael went on to capture the Class C crown and their crafty pitcher was named MVP as he allowed only 1 earned run for the tournament. The A's finished the year at 24-16-1.
Top (L-R): Brant Mickelson, Jim Hanson, Brandyn Dahl, Kyle Nelson, Jim Everson, Jamie Aanenson, Dallas Everson, Randy Olson, Keith Hanson. Bottom: Dave Peterson, Tyler Church, Tom Hann, Rob Pederson, Chris Ellingson, Mike Gullingsrud, Stat Babe Sheila Roux
Top (L-R): Chris Haarstick, Darin Everson, Jamie Aanenson, Wes Hanson, Dallas Everson, Kyle Nelson, John Gullingsrud, Brady Schwab, Jim Everson. Bottom: Jim Hanson, Mike Gullingsrud, Kent Johnson, Chad Fyre, Mark Doherty, Keith Hanson, Garrett Magner, Josh McMenamy
Top (L-R): Randy Olson, Keith Hanson, Tyler Church, Rob Pederson, Ted Hasz (Crookston draftee), Dallas Everson, Mike Gullingsrud, Jim Everson. Bottom: Jim Hanson, Tom Hann, Kyle Nelson, Dave Peterson, Chris Ellingson, Brant Mickelson, Mike Kolness.
2001- Red Wing/ Miesville
1989- Granite Falls/ Marshall
Back (L-R): Dan Pokrzywinski (Draftee), Steve Olson, Al Olson, Charles Perushek, Bob Wagner, Jamie Peterson, Jim Weber, Jim Everson
Front (L-R): Tom Hanson (Mgr), Jim Hanson, Al Hanson, Roger Hanson, Darin Loe, Keith Hanson (Batboy)
The Athletics qualified for the state classic for the first time in many years, and opened up facing Sleepy Eye in Sartell. The A's faced one of the state's dominant pitchers in Dave Helget. He struck out 18 A's batters, allowing only one hit, in a 4-0 victory. Helget would go on to pitch 27 straight scoreless innings in leading Sleepy Eye to a second place finish.
1986- Cold Spring/Richmond/ Sartell/ St. Cloud
Back (L-R): Bob Wagner, Al Olson, Craig Stahlecker (draftee), Tony Degnan (draftee), Jim Weber, Darin Everson, Steve Olson
Front (L-R): Jim Everson, Al Hanson, Dean Moe, Jim Hanson, Daniel Schmidt, Keith Hanson, Roger Hanson.
Ada opened up the state tournament facing Foley and fell 4-2. Ada played a strong defensive game but lacked clutch hitting to produce any runs. Crookston draftee Craig Stahlecker pitched six strong innings, giving up three runs in the sixth. Steve Olson pitched two innings of relief. The only hitting highlite for the A's was a solo homerun by Steve Olson.
The Athletics suffered a disappointing 10-8 defeat to the hands of the Hadley Buttermakers in the opening round of the Minnesota State Tournament. The A's held leads of 6-3 in the sixth inning, and 8-6 in the ninth inning but could not hold onto victory against an inspired and clutch-hitting Buttermaker nine. The Ada contingent collected 18 hits in the contest, including a grand slam by catcher-draftee Chris Clemenson of the Moorhead Brewers in the sixth inning. However, the A's left several runners on base in key situations and had several would-be hits turned into outs by the Hadley defense. The A's finished the year at 23-14.
Top (L-R): Jim Everson, Dallas Everson, Jamie Aanenson, Chris Clemenson (Moorhead draftee), Neil Goss, Kyle Nelson, Kent Johnson, Jimmy Jimmy Cocoa Puff. Bottom: Tyler Norland, Brady Schwab, Chad Jones, Keith Hanson, Mark Doherty, Mike Gullingsrud, Wes Hanson
2003- Northfield/ Dundas
Despite a strong pitching performance from Tyler Norland, Ada fell to Cannon Falls 4-1 in the opening game of the State Tournament in Dundas, MN. The A's jumped out to a 1-0 in the second inning on the strength of a Jamie Aanenson single. Things were looking up in the first several innings, with several runners in scoring position, but the A's could not seem to get the key hit to fall. Conversely, Cannon Falls took advantage of some well-placed hits and fortunate bounces to score two runs in the fourth and eighth innings. The Bears' pitcher Keith Meyers, a 2002 State All-Tournament performer, seemed to get stronger in the later innings and shut the Ada offense down. Zach Poehler pitched the final 1 2/3 innings in relief for Ada. Josh McMenamy led the A's offense with two hits. Ada closed out the year at 15-15.
Top: Jim Hanson, Josh McMenamy, Mike Gullingsrud, Dallas Everson, Zach Poehler, Jamie Aanenson, Wes Hanson, Kyle Nelson, Dusty Robinson, Draftee Chris Clemenson. Bottom: Mark Doherty, Eric Hoffmann, Kent Johnson, Keith Hanson, Matt Fetsch, Tony Lee, Chris Lee, Tyler Norland, Chris Nere.
