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Jul. 13—BEMIDJI — In July 2025, the Bemidji American Junior Legion baseball team won the District F Sub-State Tournament, punching its ticket to the state.
If all had gone according to plan, the Woodpeckers would've celebrated their championship at home. However, the storm on June 21, 2025, changed those plans, forcing the tournament to move to Perham.
Even with all the chaos last summer's storm brought, the Woodpeckers rolled with the changes to claim the sub-state title. This year, Post 14 has a chance to do it again, this time at home.
Bemidji will serve as the host of the District F Sub-State Tournament, held July 16-19 at the BSU Baseball Field. Teams from Alexandria, Bemidji, East Grand Forks, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Perham all make up Sub-State F.
"We were lucky enough that they were able to bump us to this year and let us (host the tournament)," head coach Travis Carruth said. "It's nice not having to be on the road for four straight days. ... Don't have to drive every day, and it's always special when you can play in very meaningful games, play off the atmosphere and be able to do it in front of your home fans."
Hosts for the district tournament usually rotate between teams. In years past, however, Bemidji declined to host the tournament until it agreed to do so last summer.
Even with the 2025 storm derailing Bemidji's plan to host last season, Post 14 was given another shot this season.
Planning starts in the beginning of the summer. Hosting a four-day tournament can be a big undertaking, but thankfully, Carruth and Senior Legion head coach Otto Grimm have help.
Bemidji's Baseball Booster Club has been doing a majority of the organizing, which includes coordinating with coaches, getting volunteers to run the ticket gates and booking umpires for the games.
"They're doing a really good job, and they're taking a lot of pressure off of us," Carruth said. "Our district reps, too, they send us brackets with all the seedings and stuff. It's really a lot when you have that many teams coming to the ballpark for that many days, but it's also a very fun experience for the boys."
Much like their Centaurs counterparts, the Woodpeckers have been playing good baseball before the district tournament. Last week, Bemidji swept Moorhead in a doubleheader, 15-5 and 9-7.
With the sweep to move to 14-4, Post 14 clinched the No. 1 seed and secured a first-round bye. Bemidji will play the winner between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds at 11 a.m. on June 17 at the BSU Baseball Field.
One reason for their success is their potent offense. The Woodpeckers have had seven games in which they've scored more than 10 runs, all of which were victories.
While still young, one of the leaders at the plate is catcher Carter Weidemann, whose .458 batting average is among the best on the Woodpeckers. His knack for getting on base has earned him the top spot in the batting order.
"One of our younger dudes, Carter Weidemann, he's been battling through some injuries here and there, just little nagging things," Carruth said. "He's just finding ways to get on base, and he's been solid behind the plate as well."
Even when Bemidji has an off day at the plate, they can still find ways to win thanks to its strong pitching. Post 14 proved just that early this season in a grinding 1-0 win against Alexandria Black.
The pitcher on the mound that day, Conner Shanahan, has one of the lowest ERAs of Bemidji's starters at 2.67. The lowest, however, belongs to Brendan Jones at 2.59. While his 2-2 record can be deceiving, he leads the team in strikeouts (25) and innings pitched (27).
"On the mound, Brendan Jones has done a phenomenal job," Carruth said. "His win-loss record doesn't necessarily show that, but he's keeping us in every single game that he's thrown, and he just fills up the strike zone."
The Woodpeckers' competition will be tough. Two of their losses this season came against Alexandria Red, both one-run games. But when Bemidji gets hot at the plate, in the field and on the mound, it's a frustrating team to play against, Carruth said.
"We've batted pretty consistently, one through nine, and have been able to find ways on base and produce runs," he said. "Our pitching has been monumental. We've lost a few games that we probably shouldn't have, where a guy gives us five or six completely flawless innings on his end. And when we pick the ball up defensively and make the plays that we should make, we're very tough to beat.
"When all three things come together in one game, we're really tough to beat."
Continue reading...
If all had gone according to plan, the Woodpeckers would've celebrated their championship at home. However, the storm on June 21, 2025, changed those plans, forcing the tournament to move to Perham.
Even with all the chaos last summer's storm brought, the Woodpeckers rolled with the changes to claim the sub-state title. This year, Post 14 has a chance to do it again, this time at home.
Bemidji will serve as the host of the District F Sub-State Tournament, held July 16-19 at the BSU Baseball Field. Teams from Alexandria, Bemidji, East Grand Forks, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Perham all make up Sub-State F.
"We were lucky enough that they were able to bump us to this year and let us (host the tournament)," head coach Travis Carruth said. "It's nice not having to be on the road for four straight days. ... Don't have to drive every day, and it's always special when you can play in very meaningful games, play off the atmosphere and be able to do it in front of your home fans."
Hosts for the district tournament usually rotate between teams. In years past, however, Bemidji declined to host the tournament until it agreed to do so last summer.
Even with the 2025 storm derailing Bemidji's plan to host last season, Post 14 was given another shot this season.
Planning starts in the beginning of the summer. Hosting a four-day tournament can be a big undertaking, but thankfully, Carruth and Senior Legion head coach Otto Grimm have help.
Bemidji's Baseball Booster Club has been doing a majority of the organizing, which includes coordinating with coaches, getting volunteers to run the ticket gates and booking umpires for the games.
"They're doing a really good job, and they're taking a lot of pressure off of us," Carruth said. "Our district reps, too, they send us brackets with all the seedings and stuff. It's really a lot when you have that many teams coming to the ballpark for that many days, but it's also a very fun experience for the boys."
Much like their Centaurs counterparts, the Woodpeckers have been playing good baseball before the district tournament. Last week, Bemidji swept Moorhead in a doubleheader, 15-5 and 9-7.
With the sweep to move to 14-4, Post 14 clinched the No. 1 seed and secured a first-round bye. Bemidji will play the winner between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds at 11 a.m. on June 17 at the BSU Baseball Field.
One reason for their success is their potent offense. The Woodpeckers have had seven games in which they've scored more than 10 runs, all of which were victories.
While still young, one of the leaders at the plate is catcher Carter Weidemann, whose .458 batting average is among the best on the Woodpeckers. His knack for getting on base has earned him the top spot in the batting order.
"One of our younger dudes, Carter Weidemann, he's been battling through some injuries here and there, just little nagging things," Carruth said. "He's just finding ways to get on base, and he's been solid behind the plate as well."
Even when Bemidji has an off day at the plate, they can still find ways to win thanks to its strong pitching. Post 14 proved just that early this season in a grinding 1-0 win against Alexandria Black.
The pitcher on the mound that day, Conner Shanahan, has one of the lowest ERAs of Bemidji's starters at 2.67. The lowest, however, belongs to Brendan Jones at 2.59. While his 2-2 record can be deceiving, he leads the team in strikeouts (25) and innings pitched (27).
"On the mound, Brendan Jones has done a phenomenal job," Carruth said. "His win-loss record doesn't necessarily show that, but he's keeping us in every single game that he's thrown, and he just fills up the strike zone."
The Woodpeckers' competition will be tough. Two of their losses this season came against Alexandria Red, both one-run games. But when Bemidji gets hot at the plate, in the field and on the mound, it's a frustrating team to play against, Carruth said.
"We've batted pretty consistently, one through nine, and have been able to find ways on base and produce runs," he said. "Our pitching has been monumental. We've lost a few games that we probably shouldn't have, where a guy gives us five or six completely flawless innings on his end. And when we pick the ball up defensively and make the plays that we should make, we're very tough to beat.
"When all three things come together in one game, we're really tough to beat."
Continue reading...
