Red Lake County baseball no longer the underdog as chance to repeat begins

Jun. 9—GRAND FORKS — The Red Lake County baseball program wasn’t expected to win a 2025 Minnesota Class A state baseball championship.

The Rebels were a No. 5 seed entering the tournament.

But Red Lake County cruised via rout in the quarterfinals, won a bizarre semifinal that changed sites midway through the game due to rain and then rolled to a 15-7 win in the state championship behind a pitching staff that was all coming back in 2026.

That set up a new dynamic in 2026. The Rebels are no longer the underdog.

Red Lake County takes the No. 2 seed into this weekend’s state tournament quarterfinals in St. Cloud. The Rebels take on No. 7 seed Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Joe Faber Field.

“The main difference (this year) is in mindset,” Red Lake County senior Will Gieseke said. “Last year, we weren’t the top dog in the section, let alone the state tournament play. We had the No. 2 seed in our own subsection, so we had to grind hard.

“We were the hunters. We weren’t at the top of the hill. We were looking to make a name for ourselves. Now, we’re at the top of the hill, trying to stay hungry and not be complacent. The analogy (coach Mike Gullingsrud) uses a lot … still be the hunters. Even though we’re the hunted now, and we’re the big prey and everyone is giving us their best shot … still be the hunters.”

Red Lake County’s pitching core came back in 2026 totally in tact. Ben Gullingsrud has been the go-to arm. Through the regular season, Gullingsrud was 5-0 with 41 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched. He had a 0.70 ERA.

Boe Nelson, who was also a key piece of the rotation in 2025, went 4-0 with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings and a 2.04 ERA. Gunnar Halverson has increased his workload in 2026 and went 4-1 with 35 strikeouts in 28 innings and a 1.50 ERA.

Due to some arm troubles this spring, Gieseke — a star of the 2025 tournament — was shut down for some of the regular season. He went 2-0 with 22 strikeouts in 11 innings with a 2.54 ERA. He rejoined the rotation at the start of the postseason.

The Rebels did lose three seniors from last year’s team.

“Those were three spots that had to be filled,” Gieseke said. “The guys who filled them have filled them well.”

Gieseke pointed to players like Dawson Erickson, Cain Cardinal, Riley Broden and Nelson for filling bigger roles.

“I hit leadoff, and I think I’m leading the team in RBIs, which you don’t expect at the top of the order, and it shows how effective the bottom of the order has been,” Gieseke said.

Gullingsrud led the Northwest Conference in batting at .484 with five doubles, four triples and three home runs.

Gieseke wasn’t far behind with a .451 average, eight doubles and a conference-high six home runs. He had had 36 RBIs and 31 runs.

Colin Taggart hit .404, while Riley Broden hit .385, Denny Lanctot hit .348, Cain Cardinal hit .339 and Kegan Schmitz hit .294.

The state tournament experience is a bonus but Gieseke says it doesn’t mean a whole lot. He would know as he was a key figure in Red Lake County’s basketball program making state appearances the last two seasons, finishing fourth as a senior and third as a junior.

“Maybe guys won’t be as star-struck or nervous,” he said. “Guys will still be anxious to be on that stage. I don’t think the mindset changes. We were a No. 5 seed and won and now we are No. 2 seed so we can cruise? That’s not how it works. Especially at state, you’re facing the best. You can’t cruise around and expect anything to happen.

“Honestly, this year we had expectations for both seasons (basketball and baseball). Throughout that, it’s been … desperation is a word … urgency is a word. In the playoffs, you go out there and you don’t play as well as you should and something goofy happens and baseball goes how baseball goes and it could be the last time you put on the Red Lake County uniform. You have to go out there and grab the bull by the horns.”