Minnesota pitcher strikes out friend for state tourney berth, consoles him before celebrating

After Mounds View defeated Totino-Grace for a berth in this week's state baseball tournament, the winning pitcher stopped to console his childhood friend before joining his team's celebration.

June 11, 2018 at 7:23PM
(Howard Sinker/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Here's a cool story that went national and is now coming back local:

Mounds View defeated Totino-Grace in the Class 4A, Section 5 baseball final late last week. For the final out, Mounds View pitcher Ty Koehn struck out Jack Kocon to end the game — touching off a wild celebration near home plate as Mounds View advanced to the state tournament.

But as it turns out, Koehn and Kocon are good friends. And before joining his teammates in the celebration, Koehn cruised past his teammates and consoled Kocon at home plate, giving him a long hug and walking him back toward his dugout before joining his teammates.

The two are reportedly close friends and played youth baseball together before parting ways in high school. Mounds View (a public school) and Totino-Grace (a private school) are located in the north metro area and are less than five miles apart.

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about the writer

Michael Rand

Columnist / Reporter

Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).

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