Two losses of differing complexions

To conclude a regular season in which they played 10 games in 10 days, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team fell 10-0 to Upsala today. They will enter the playoffs with a high seed and an 8-11 overall record. In the Central Minnesota Conference, the Jaguars finished with a 6-8 record.

Upsala finished the Prairie Conference schedule with a 6-2 record, which earned them a co-championship with neighboring rival Swanville. Overall, the Cardinals are 12-5 heading into tomorrow's regular season finale at Parkers Prairie. They have been on a tear with a 10-1 record since April 24 and recovered in the Prairie by winning out after an 0-2 start in the conference. Starting next week, the Cardinals will be in the hunt for a third straight trip to the Class 1A state fastpitch tournament. They were Section 6A champions in both 2022 and 2023.

B-B-E's fastpitch season started in Swanville almost exactly six weeks ago with a doubleheader. That was Friday, April 5, which does not seem that long ago. The Jaguars played 9 games between April 5 and April 23, and they were 4-5 at that point before the weather turned absolutely foul for their schedule and forced them into a 12-day layoff from competition. Then from May 6 through today, they finished the regular season with the final 10 games. A big sub-section contest against Benson got rained out on April 30 and was not made up.

Assuming that the Camden Conference does not gang up against us, I predict that the Jaguars will earn the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 3A-North tomorrow. Their resume has earned this! Regardless, the playoffs will open next Tuesday, May 21. The rest will be spelled out tomorrow after seeding is completed over the noon hour. Lac qui Parle Valley, 15-5 overall, is a lock for the No. 1 seed.

Update: in a Camden Conference doubleheader today in Tracy, the Renville County West Jaguars lost 2-1 and then 13-2 to the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers to close out their regular season with a 7-11 overall record. This should solidify their position at No. 3 in the subsection standings. Benson is 5-13 overall at the end of the regular season, and they should be ranked No. 4 from what I can tell.

In baseball news...
At Paynesville today, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team lost 3-2 to finish the Central Minnesota Conference schedule with a 9-5 record. With the win, the Bulldogs wrapped up the CMC title outright. One week remains in the regular season, and the Jaguars (11-6) are set to host a huge Section 6A game next Tuesday against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.

Five errors ultimately cost the Jaguars a chance to get to 10 conference wins, a feat they have not earned since 2008. The Bulldogs collected 9 hits compared to 5 for the Jaguars. Junior Luke Illies pitched an incredible game with three walks, five strikeouts and just one earned run. Earning two hits each to lead the Jaguar offense were Ethan Mueller and Owen Paulson (2 RBI).

Here's a video from ten days ago, when the Jaguars broke a 12-day layoff from competition with an 18-8 five-inning win over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City:


Action in the video features the top of the fifth inning.

More to come later. I have to get back in the garden before it gets dark!!

Area fastpitch scores on May 16:
Annandale 7, Kimball Area 2 (the Cubs take their first loss of the season after an 18-0 start)
Swanville 8, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 6
BOLD 1, Sauk Centre 0 (9 innings)
Yellow Medicine East 2, Ortonville 0
Minnewaska Area 12, Ottertail Central 7
Minneota/Canby 1, Lac qui Parle Valley 0 (the LQPV Eagles finish 12-1 in the Camden Conference and shared the title with Minneota/Canby due to this loss)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 10, West Central Area 0
Wadena Deer Creek 20, Swanville 5
Sauk Centre 5, BOLD 4 (8 innings)

Game day! Jaguars vs. Cardinals (VIDEO)

Today we have the baseball and fastpitch teams in action.

At home, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team concludes the regular season with a game in Brooten against non-conference Upsala. The game will also feature Senior Night when they honor the four seniors on the team.

In Paynesville, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team completes the season series with neighboring rival Paynesville Area today. The Bulldogs have already clinched a share of the Central Minnesota Conference title. All the Jaguars can do is force a tie for the title between Paynesville and Eden Valley-Watkins if they can defeat the Bulldogs. The Jaguars host Maple Lake tomorrow to conclude the regular season.

Shifting over to track and field...

Here's a video featuring Josh Walstrom and Kameron Hiltner in the long jump on Tuesday in Grove City:


The track and field teams competed at the CMC championships at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school.

Fastpitch Jaguars earn 8th win, ready for senior night (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team has been on a steady upwards climb of improvement all year. After suffering a five-game skid in the past five days, they recovered from a 6-2 loss in game one today against Holdingford to earn a 14-3 six-inning win. They now hold an 8-10 overall record going into tomorrow's regular season finale against Upsala at 4:30 p.m. That home game will also feature Senior Night, as they will honor seniors Madison Hofmann (manager), Anna Jaeger, Faith Radermacher and Brooklyn Fischer.

Upsala, a state entrant last year who took fourth place in the Class 1A tournament, is 11-5 overall. They went 6-2 in the Prairie Conference to earn a co-championship with Swanville, who is 15-3. Upsala is all but a lock for the No. 3 seed in Sub-Section 6A-North, while Swanville appears poised to earn the No. 2 seed. Browerville (14-4) is in position to be that sub-section's No. 1 seed with a Class 1A QRF ranking of No. 8. The Tigers went 5-3 to take third in the Prairie Conference with losses to Swanville, Upsala and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.

In game one today, the Jaguars could not muster the needed hits to catch up to the Huskers, who led 5-1 through three innings. When the Jaguars connected with pitches, they often resulted in quick pop fly grabs. For the game, the Jaguars were out-hit by a 12 to 9 margin, with Holdingford overcoming two errors. B-B-E had no errors, and they were led by two hits each by Anna Jaeger, Kenna Lieser and Kacey Fischer. Earning RBI hits were Jaeger and Mya Worms. Worms pitched a complete game with one walk and three strikeouts.

In game two, the Jaguars blasted the Huskers with a 14-hit attack. Earning doubles were Worms, Brooklyn Fischer and Kacey Fischer. Faith Radermacher was 3-for-3 with one RBI and three runs scored. Worms was 3-for-5 with two RBI. A 2-1 lead after four innings expaned to a 4-1 lead after five. The Jaguars then battered Holdingford with 10 runs in the top of the sixth. Worms pitched all six innings and scattered 7 hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

B-B-E's eight wins marks the most wins since the 2009 season. The Jaguars finished 7-16 in 2018 after a 2-2 showing in the Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs. In 2009, the Jaguars were 10-8 going into the Sub-Section 5A-West playoffs and finished 11-9 overall.

Here's a video from towards the end of the top of the sixth inning in game two:


Holdingford stands at 6-7 in the Central Minnesota Conference in fourth place. They play Royalton tomorrow to close out the regular season. The Jaguars finish the loop with a 6-8 record, which is their best CMC record since 2009.

In the latest Sub-Section 3A-North standings, the Jaguars have remained at the No. 2 spot, while Renville County West (7-9) has jumped above Benson (5-13) to the No. 3 spot. The Braves are at No. 4, while Yellow Medicine East (6-12) is at No. 5. The playoffs open next Tuesday at home for the Jaguars, although we won't know what seed they will get until Friday this week. I don't see them falling below No. 4 in the standings, which means they will have a home playoff game for the first time since 2012!!

More to come. It's going to rain soon, and I need to get more garden planted! Tonight is also the seniors awards banquet.

Area fastpitch scores on May 15:
Osakis 9, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 7
LP-GE 16, Osakis 1

Fastpitch suffers one-run loss (Updated Tuesday night)

In a Central Minnesota Conference battle between the second-place and fourth-place teams today, the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles defeated the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team by a 2-1 score. The Eagles finish the CMC schedule with a 10-4 record in solid hold of second place. The Jaguars slipped to 5-6 in the league heading into tomorrow's battle at third-place Paynesville Area. The Bulldogs are 8-4 in the CMC in third place.

Looming on the horizon in just two days is a home CMC doubleheader against Holdingford. Game one starts at 1 p.m., and the second game should start around 3 p.m.

More to come...I have to get to the school board meeting.

Back to fastpitch news...
While the one-run loss today was tough to swallow, the Jaguars are thrilled to see that they've moved up to No. 2 in the QRF rankings in Sub-Section 3A-North. This is tremendous news!!! They have a real shot at earning the No. 2 seed for playoffs. This is just plain fantastic!!! The next three days will determine how it all shakes out. They need more wins.

The Jaguars got a huge boost today by the news of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City defeating Paynesville Area. The final score was 15-10 in a game that featured 10 total errors: 4 by the Falcons and 6 by the Bulldogs. This shakes up the CMC standings somewhat, and it puts the Jaguars in a position to grab third place in the circuit depending how the next two days go. Currently, Paynesville Area is 8-5 in the CMC, while the Jaguars are 5-6. If the Jaguars win out in CMC games, they will tie for third place with the Bulldogs in the CMC!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team has a huge game on deck with the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles coming to Elrosa for a CMC game. First pitch at Saints Field is at 4:30 p.m.

Here's the tail end of the postgame huddle with Coach Klaphake on Friday night after the Jaguars blanked Brandon-Evansville:


I have much to write for this week's newspaper. I doubt I'll get to any more blogging tonight. I'm in a foot race to get the majority of the newspaper ready for press by mid-afternoon tomorrow. The plan is to head to Grove City with the track and field teams. We'll see how the next 16 hours go!!!

Area fastpitch scores on May 13:
Menahga 4, Upsala 2
Pierz 13, Osakis 3 (5 innings)
Dawson-Boyd 11, Ortonville 1 (6 innings)
Ortonville 6, Dawson-Boyd 5
Wabasso 3, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 1
Browerville 4, Brandon-Evansville 3
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 12, Royalton 2
MACCRAY 20, Renville County West 12
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 11, MACCRAY 1
Lakeview 14, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 4 (5 innings)
K-M-S 4, Minneota-Canby 3

Area baseball scores on May 13:
Sauk Centre 8, Brandon-Evansville 3
LP-GE 12, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 2
Parkers Prairie 2, Ottertail Central 0
Paynesville Area 6, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
MACCRAY 7, Central MN Christian 1


Tuesday night...I don't have time to get a new blog post up. I'll work on that tomorrow morning. The fastpitch team suffered a 3-1 loss at Paynesville Area. It was another tough loss in a winnable game. The sun rises tomorrow! It's a bittersweet night, as tonight marked the last time I likely will be at a track meet this season. I don't know if I can make it to the Section 5A meet, and I know I am not going to Maple Lake next week for subsections.

In baseball news...the baseball team hosted Eden Valley-Watkins tonight in a battle of two teams still in the hunt for a share of the conference title. The Jaguars out-hit the Eagles 11 to 8, but six B-B-E errors proved costly in a 14-7 loss to the Eagles. The Jaguars (11-5) led 6-0 after two innings, but the Eagles stormed back to regain the lead after scoring 5 runs in the fourth and 5 more in the fifth. All that B-B-E could get in the last five innings was one run in the bottom of the fourth. Luke Illies had four of the Jaguars' 11 hits as he went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and one run scored.

B-B-E Prom Grand March (VIDEO)

It's over a week later, but you can now watch the B-B-E prom grand march at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. Click here: https://rb.gy/a7pcaz.

Today in varsity sports...
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team travels to Paynesville Area today for a 4:30 p.m. game. (Initially I though this was at Eden Valley.) The Bulldogs are 9-9 overall and 6-4 (third) in the Central Minnesota Conference; this has them one game ahead of the Jaguars (7-7, 5-5) in the standings.

Tomorrow! The fastpitch team travels to Eden Valley-Watkins to face the second-place Eagles, who are 9-4 in the CMC and 12-4 overall. They are 3-0 in non-conference games with the following wins: 7-3 over Litchfield on April 12, 15-1 against K-M-S on May 3 and 9-2 against Osakis on May 10. In Section 6AA, EV-W holds the No. 6 position by QRF out of 16 teams. Paynesville Area is not far off at No. 8 in the section standings.

Jaguars and DeRoo's no-hitter performance blanks Hancock

Behind a tremendous no-hitter performance on the mound by senior Kaden DeRoo, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team extended their winning streak to five games as they won 11-0 in five games tonight to conclude the Max Bats wood bat invitational. They now hold an 11-4 overall record. The 11 regular season wins marks the most since the 2016 season, when they were 15-5 before the playoffs and 9-5 in the Central Minnesota Conference. They finished in third place in Section 6A with a 19-7 final season record.

DeRoo, who is a dual sport spring athlete and also a member of the golf team, fired 10 strikeouts and issued just one walk.

The next game for the Jaguars is on Tuesday in Elrosa when they host Eden Valley-Watkins in a big Central Minnesota Conference game. In the May 13 QRF rankings, the Jaguars were ranked No. 9 overall in Class 1A, a huge jump from No. 29 in the May 6 rankings.

More to post much later. I realized that I haven't updated my newspaper website with fresh articles! Yikes.

A handful of members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams broke personal records at last Thursday's Dave Sieben invitational in Melrose. The event featured 12 teams with weather conditions that were absolutely picture-perfect for an outdoor athletic event. I'm still combing through results.

Here's a video with Presley Detloff and Bree Thieschafer in the shot put that night:


Bree Thieschafer, a junior, broke her personal record in the shot put with her throw featured in that video.

Here's a boys' triple jump video from Melrose:


The track and field teams are gearing up for the Central Minnesota Conference championships, which will be held on Tuesday, May 14 at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school. The field events start at 3:30 p.m.

It's Sunday afternoon now, and the outside is calling! I have to get back out for the afternoon and enjoy that sunshine.

Baseball Jaguars win fourth straight (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team picked up a big sub-section win tonight in the Max Bats wood bat invitational by defeating Brandon-Evansville 7-0 behind a terrific pitching performance by junior Luke Illies. They've now won four straight to improve to 10-4 overall heading into tomorrow's game against sub-section rival Hancock at 5:30 p.m. in Elrosa.

Here's a video from the bottom of the sixth inning tonight:


The Jaguars scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Here's a video featuring most of the top of the seventh inning:


Illies, a junior, threw a total of 101 pitches and held the Chargers to just three hits with only two walks while striking out nine. The Jaguars racked up 10 hits, including two each by Luke Dingmann, Aiden Mueller and Jack Lundberg.

The Chargers fell to 7-4 overall; they are currently the No. 4-ranked team in Sub-Section 6A-North.

More to come much later tonight. I've also got boys' golf results to look over.

At a home doubleheader today, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team took on undefeated Kimball Area. In game one, they pushed the Cubs through seven innings in an 11-3 loss. The Cubs regrouped to hammer the Jaguars 23-0 in game two. Kimball is good! They are likely to finish undefeated in the regular season and go into the Section 6AA playoffs with a head of steam.

Aside from the funeral for Justin Rooney, B-B-E Class of 1996, today was a pretty outstanding day. I've got quite a bit to write about tonight and tomorrow. We're finally getting caught up on spring cleaning of our yard, lawn mowing and some major cleaning at home and in the office. Earlier today, I was able to take in part of the elementary track and field meet. Following the funeral, I was embedded at the varsity track and field practice. It is probably the only day I'll get to do that this spring. I ran a 400-meter two different times in just under 2 minutes (which is quite slow), and I finished the practice by running a 100 sprint and getting a time of 18.43 seconds. This about equals the time I got at track practice one year ago. This means two things: I haven't gotten faster, and I haven't gotten slower! So that's that.

I'm about 30 seconds off of times I could turn in last fall for running a 400, which is one exact lap around the track. I could easily clip that in 90 seconds or less last fall, which was generally about the time it took to announce the starters for the visiting football team at Friday night home games. If this took place now, I'd be too slow, and I'd miss a portion of the announcing of our Jaguar starters. Training for the 2024 football season officially began today! I have work to do.

Central MN Conference fastpitch scores on May 9 and 10:
Royalton 2, Maple Lake 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 11, Holdingford 1 (5 innings)
EV-W 10, Holdingford 8
Paynesville Area 7, Maple Lake 6
Paynesville Area 8, Maple Lake 2

Three in a row! (Times two!) ...VIDEOS added

I had a lengthy delay to get to blogging tonight to get some lawn mowed. I have to get that completed before some of it reaches knee high (almost!)...but now I'm back in the saddle with a great amount of great things to write about. This makes all the hours I put into this worth it!


In a Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader today, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team made it three straight after sweeping Royalton on the home diamond. Propelled by two complete-game performances by freshman pitcher Mya Worms, the Jaguars won 12-2 in six innings in game one and then completed a late comeback to take game two by a 7-6 score. In game one, Worms held Royalton to 4 hits. At the plate, the Jaguars piled up 14 hits, including three each by Anna Jaeger and Faith Radermacher.

Radermacher's third hit of that game marked her 100th career hit. She is far and away having the best offensive career of any Jaguar fastpitch player since Emily Roelike played for the Jaguars between the 2005 and 2009 seasons. Roelike, a member of the B-B-E Hall of Fame, graduated in 2009 and had 147 career hits for the Jaguars with a monster .452 career batting average.

In game two, the Jaguars had to come back from a 5-4 deficit in the sixth inning. They scored three runs in the top of the seventh and then gave up one in the bottom of the frame to close out the win. Worms went the distance in the circle and scattered six hits while earning three strikeouts and giving up no walks.

Here's a video featuring a glimpse of the final out recorded in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two...


...and here's part of the post-game huddle with a super proud Coach Funk speaking to the team:


The Jaguars are now 7-5 overall as they prepare to host CMC-leading Kimball Area (14-0) tomorrow in another home doubleheader. More to come later. Video is uploading.

The fastpitch team's three straight wins is the most consecutive wins since the 2009 season. In 2009, the Jaguars went 11-9 overall and had a six-game winning streak in the middle of the regular season. In the CMC that season, they had an 8-6 record. The team is 5-3 at this point in the CMC with six conference games remaining.

In baseball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team traveled to Royalton today for a CMC doubleheader. In game one, the Jaguars overcame four errors and also being outhit by a 6 to 5 margin in a 7-2 win. The Royals tied the game with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 2-2 score before the Jaguars posted a 5-spot in the top of the seventh. Ethan Mueller earned the pitching win with 6 1/3 innings on the mound while scattering six hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

In game two, the baseball team built an early 6-1 lead through two innings and rode out strong defense the entire game with a 6-2 final score that also marked their third straight win. Freshman Aiden Mueller had an absolutely outstanding day on the mound while earning the win while pitching the first six innings. Luke Dingmann threw just 8 pitches in the bottom of the seventh to close the door and help his team complete the CMC sweep. The baseball team now has three separate three-game winning streaks this season. They are 9-4 overall and 8-3 in the CMC. In the CMC, they are very much still in the hunt, although they currently trail CMC leader Paynesville Area by two games. The Bulldogs (13-1, 9-1) had a CMC doubleheader at Maple Lake today.

Next for the baseball team: the Max Bats wood bat invitational tomorrow and Saturday. The schedule, which was published in the Bonanza Valley Voice sports section this week, features both JV and varsity games. For tomorrow's action in Elrosa, two varsity games will be played. The first game at 4:30 p.m. features Browerville facing Hancock. The second game, which should start at around 7 p.m., features our Jaguars taking on sub-section rival Brandon-Evansville.

The track and field teams and the boys' golf team were also in action today. I hope to get updates from those squads to post on Friday.

Area baseball scores on May 9:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 6, New London-Spicer 2
HL-W-W 5, NL-S 4
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 10, BOLD 3
MA/CA 6, BOLD 1
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 26, Lakeview 7
Dawson-Boyd 12, Renville County West 2 (6 innings)
Minneota 12, Yellow Medicine East 5

B-B-E's Class of 1996 suffers a devastating loss

Justin Rooney of Belgrade, a member of the B-B-E Class of 1996, passed away this past weekend. His funeral information can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://rb.gy/ee1w1s.

This has weighed on me all day since I heard the news earlier today. Justin was the epitome of the "nice guy" who you always wanted to have in your school or your community. This is devastating especially to his family. Please pray for his parents, Darrell and Joy, and their family as they work through this terrible time.

Justin is the third member of the Class of 1996 who we have lost to natural causes. In 2011, we said good-bye to Heidi (Gregory) Deters, who passed away on February 5 after a 26-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Four years later, we said good-bye to Wanda (Holtberg) Gjerde, who also was taken from us by cancer on August 6, 2015.