The Blazers captures their first state title winning the ASA Minnesota State Championship July 10th-11th in Burnsville.

The Blazers received the #1 seed and a first round bye in the tournament after a great regular season and tournament record.

Saturdays 10:10 game featured the Blazers vs. Richfield Peters Billiards. Good defense kept Richfield in check all game and Burnsville was patient at the plate drawing several walks to push enough runs across the board leading to a 15-1 Blazers victory.

In Sunday’s semi final the Blazers faced the always tough Bloomington Cougars. Burnsville came ready to play and struck early with 5 runs in the top of the 1st. Bloomington came right back in the bottom half of the inning showing that they weren’t going to go away easily. Again, great defense got the Blazers out of a bases loaded jam and a 5-1 lead. Over the next few innings the teams traded runs and at the end of the 4th, it was a 9-8 Blazers lead. In the top of the 5th The Blazers scored three quick runs with aggressive base running and held the Cougars to just one run for the rest of the game. In the end the Blazers cam out on top 16-9 in a game that was much closer than the final score dictated. A true team victory!

The championship game was a bit of a surprise for the Blazers as they figured they would have to face Bloomington again to win it all. Instead, Andover beat Bloomington in the loser’s bracket with a late game rally and earned a spot in the final vs. Burnsville. The Blazers jumped out early and often hitting the ball all over the place and making every defensive play they could get a glove on. A one-sided 22-2 victory and a state title was their reward for all of their effort. A great tournament for all the teams involved.