Keith Meyers Throws No-Hitter in Cannon Falls Win

I love watching Cannon Falls Bears player/manager Keith Meyers pitch  I always have, dating back to his days pitching for his high school Bombers teams.

I didn't get a chance to see Meyers' no-hitter Saturday in a 4-0 win over Luverne in the State Amateur Baseball Tournament in Cold Spring. It was just the 23rd no-hitter in tournament history. I can tell you it doesn't surprise me one bit.

I've called Meyers a "bulldog on the mound" since his high school days because that's what he reminds me of when I watch him throw. The lefty just gets after it on the hill. Meyers does have good stuff, but it's his never-give-in-to-the-hitter attitude I love to watch. He pitches aggressive and he pitches smart.

Meyers was a hit batsman away from a perfect game. That doesn't surprise me either, because he's very good at jamming hitters. He didn't walk anybody and fanned 12 Redbirds.

Since the playoffs began, he's thrown 56 innings with six complete games and a relief stint and given up three earned runs with two one hitters and the no-hitter.

It was a 1-0 game going into the eighth inning when the Bears put up three runs and sealed the win. Cannon Falls scored a run in the top of the top of the first inning and when he's got a lead, Meyers' bulldoggedness is even more on display.

The Bears collected eight hits in the game and Luverne tallied five errors. Lead-off hitter Brock Peterson collected two hits and a walk and scored twice. Braxton Lindow had three hits and a run scored. Ageless Rich Burr collected a two RBI double and Tanner Jackson had two hits and an RBI in the game.

Cannon Falls will play Plato at 11AM in Watkins on Sunday and I will call the game on Power 96 Radio 95.9FM. I know there will be scores of Bears fans there cheering on a team that has a good mix of veterans and young guys. They entered the tournament with a losing record, but man have they come on and are now 21-21 on the season.

The Plato Bluejays downed the New London-Spicer Twins 6-0 in Cold Spring, taking advantage of four errors while outhitting the Twins 9-5. The top three Plato hitters plated three of their runs and accounted for five of their hits in the game.

The question is, who gets the ball for Cannon Falls? The Bears drafted two pitchers from Waterville -- Brian Welch and Nolan Grose -- and also Drew Weidner of Randolph. All are right-handed hurlers. Welch is from Forest Lake, Grose grew up in Waterville and Weidner is a Randolph product and played at Gustavus in St. Peter.

No pitching stats are on the Waterville team page of the MBA, and likewise for Randolph.

How about the Classic Cannon Valley League? The Hampton Cardinals defeated the Maple Plain Diamond Devils 5-0. Marcus Fredrickson went the first six innings for the win and draftee Brett Gwaltney of Lake City allowed two hits over the final three innings for a save. Josh Chatfield and Patrick Strey had three hits each in the Hampton 12-hit attack, and Derek Schiebel added two hits and two RBI.

Hampton plays in Watkins on Sunday at 1:30PM against the winner of the Green Isle/Pellican Rapids game. At the time of this posting, Green Isle leads 4-0 in the sixth inning.

The Dundas Dukes are in the winner's bracket waiting to see who comes out of the elimination bracket and will be playing for a state title in Class B. They defeated Moorhead 5-4 Friday night to stay in the winner's bracket. Moorhead plays at 7:30 Sunday night in Cold Spring against the winner of the 5:30 contest between Cold Spring and Chaska. The team that wins the 7:30 game plays Dundas and has to beat them twice in Cold Spring on Monday.

See the picture below and tell me that doesn't look like a "bulldog" mentality.