Chaska pitcher Brad Hand finished Wednesday’s baseball game at Rosemount with 10 strikeouts, and hit a first-inning home run.

But a trio of late-inning runs kept the Hawks from winning the game.

The Irish scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to prevail 3-2. It was the first loss for Hand on the season.

Chaska took the lead immediately, as leadoff hitter Cory Glieden reached on an error and Hand blasted his fifth home run of the season.

Chaska has a steep section road ahead if it is to return for a third consecutive state tournament.

The Hawks will face Minnetonka on Tuesday, May 20 at 5 p.m. in the first round of Section 2-3A play at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

The winner then takes on Mankato West at 7 p.m., with the loser dropping to the elimination bracket to play at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 22.

The Minnetonka boys tennis team advanced in the Subsection 2AA North team tournament on Tuesday with an easy 6-1 victory over Prior Lake.

Things will get much tougher for the third-seeded Skippers on Thursday afternoon, as the squad travels to second seed Eden Prairie. EP shut out Shakopee 7-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Orono eliminated Chaska on Wednesday with a 5-2 victory. The Spartans visit top seed Wayzata on Thursday. The Trojans enjoyed a first-round bye.

The Chaska baseball team has few games left at Athletic Park as the high school season winds down.

But for the trio of Hawk senior captains bound for college programs, there will be some more time at the old ballpark.

Brad Hand, Cory Glieden and John Straka were selected to play for the West Metro team in the Lions All-Star Series, set for June 19-21 at Athletic Park.

It is the first time three Hawks were picked to play in the series in the same season.

Chaska and pitcher John Straka was successful in quieting down the red-hot baseball bats of Apple Valley on Monday.

Problem was, the Eagles hushed the Hawks' bats more.

Valley scored a 1-0 victory at Athletic Park, behind a three-hit shutout by Justin Radde.

Straka allowed six hits, and yielded the Eagles just a third-inning run while striking out five. Radde fanned six, while allowing a hit to Cory Glieden and two to Adam Peterson.

First shot: Chaska's Kevin Hartwigsen fires on the Eden Prairie net early in Monday's playoff game.

Chaska's Jason Soe

Chaska's boys tennis team begins the Section 2AA team tournament on the road Tuesday at Orono.

The Hawks received the fifth seed, and take on the fourth-seeded Spartans at 4 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Chaska's Bri Wahl takes a shot against Kennedy

Brad Hand

Chaska senior Brad Hand contributed in many ways to the Hawk baseball team's 3-2 late-inning victory over Lake Conference leader Eastview on Thursday.

The Southwest Christian High School softball and baseball teams played Bethany Academy on adjoining fields at the Dred Scott complex in Bloomington.
The Stars baseball team fell 5-4 and the softball team prevailed 15-2.

Enjoy this selection of photos from the games.