Tri-City Red Ousts Maple Grove Legion From Gopher Classic

The Maple Grove American Legion baseball team bowed out of the Gopher Classic tournament on Monday, July 11, falling to Tri-City Red (New Brighton) 7-1 in the round of 16.

Maple Grove, which was one of 11 hosts for the tournament’s pool play July 8 through July 10, won its pool with a 4-1 record over the weekend. That allowed the squad to advance to Monday, where they fell to Tri-City Red at Veterans Field in Minnetonka.

Tri-City Red then defeated Rapid City, SD, 7-2 to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal round.

Eastview will face Eden Prairie on Tuesday, July 12 at 9 a.m., and Tri-City Red will face Coon Rapids at 11 a.m. The winners of those games will play for the Gopher Classic championship at 2 p.m. All three games will be played at Veterans Field.

According to its official website, the Gopher Classic is the largest American Legion baseball tournament in the country. This year, 66 teams competed in 11 different pools across the Twin Cities over the weekend.

The tournament featured teams from across the United States and Canada, but all four teams remaining are from Minnesota. This will be the first time since 2008 that a Minnesota-based team will win the Gopher Classic, when Richfield took home the title. Napoleon, OH, won the tournament in 2009 and 2010 but did not compete this year.