State baseball!

The Saints huddle up following their state tournament opener in Hamburg.

The Elrosa Saints baseball team has a 1-0 lead through four innings against Pelican Rapids.

The game got very exciting in the top of the fifth inning when Ethan Vogt crushed a grand slam home run while the Saints put up a six-spot on the scoreboard. They took a 7-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning, and then they put up a four-spot in the sixth to go ahead 11-0.

Final: Elrosa 12, Pelican Rapids 6. Ethan Vogt got the pitching win, starting for the Saints and going 6 2/3 innings before being relieved by his brother, Aaron Vogt, in the seventh inning.

Here's video from the seventh inning:


The Saints are now 23-10 overall and play the Hampton Cardinals, the Region 4C champions, on Friday, August 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Round of 32 at the Class C amateur state tournament. Later tonight video and other highlights will be posted from today's game.

Here's the website for the Hampton amateur baseball team: http://hamptoncardinals.teams.mnbaseball.org.

Earlier today, Regal lost 6-4 to Green Isle in their state opener. The Eagles had four errors to one by the Irish, while Green Isle out-hit Regal by a 9-7 margin.

On Saturday, St. Martin lost in their state opener by a 4-0 score to Howard Lake, the No. 4 seed out of Region 12C.

That leaves Elrosa and also Lake Henry as the two teams out of Region 15C who will play in the Round of 32 next weekend. Lake Henry faces Region 7C's No. 4 seed, Young America, at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26 in Hamburg. Young America beat the Rochester Road Runners 5-0 in their state opener on Saturday.

Stay tuned to extended coverage of the Elrosa Saints at state in the upcoming issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper!

(HD video) Sedan Daze fire and rescue dance

Here's some video from the dance in Sedan tonight that had entertainment in it.


It was a terrific parade! All in all, a very good night in Sedan.

(HD video) Vacation Bible School

Here's video from Vacation Bible School singing on Thursday, August 10 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooten:

I was unable to get more than two pictures into this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper from the V.B.S. singing that day.

I hope to see many of you at Sedan tonight! Refer to page one of the most two recent Bonanza Valley Voice newspapers for all the details...and the half-page ad on page four this week.

Slow start

The sports department at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper has had a slow start to coverage of the fall sports preseason. Here's what I've gathered so far:

B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis - turnout under third-year head coach Katie Hanna stands at a respectable 17 in the first week of preseason drills. They have five seniors this season, and their photo was featured on page 13 of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice. The season begins on Friday (tomorrow) at the MACCRAY triangular; Redwood Valley is the third team. The following day, the Jaguars travel to Milbank, SD and then compete at the Litchfield quadrangular next Wednesday.

B-B-E Jaguars football - eighth-year head coach Chris Moscho, a 2002 graduate of Melrose Area and a nine-year veteran of the B-B-E elementary teaching staff, has somewhere between 32 and 35 young men to work with in grades 9-12 as of the first week of preseason. This extreme lack of depth is an issue the team will have to work through this season. The current breakdown is: seven freshmen, five sophomores, eight juniors and 12 seniors.

One exciting addition to his coaching staff is 2011 B-B-E graduate Kevin Kuefler. Coach Kuefler was a senior on the 2010 team that advanced to the Section 4A championship, which resulted in a tough 15-6 loss to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. He was also a sophomore on the first B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team to win a conference title (2008-09) and a senior on the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team that lost in the Class 1A state title game in March 2011. It's no secret that he was one of B-B-E's best athletes to ever walk the halls of our high school. He has been a terrific addition to our school's coaching staff after gaining the elementary phy. ed. teaching position last year.

Getting back to the football team, the Jaguars open the season on Friday, Sept. 1 when they host Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. That game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

I'll be gathering a light volleyball report on Friday.

(Video) Mixed Brew at August Fest

Here's video from the street dance on Saturday night during Belgrade's August Fest, featuring Mixed Brew. They were fantastic!


Not much blogging for the next day or two...we have another huge, 16-page issue coming out at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. If you're not a subscriber, you are missing out!

Rained out

The final day of the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament was rained out today. The seeds to state are as follows:
1. Lake Henry (automatic first-round bye)
2. St. Martin
3. Regal
4. Elrosa

The draftees have been announced, and they are as follows: Elrosa drafted New Munich's Jim Thull and Nick Stangler, Lake Henry drafted New London-Spicer's Patrick Courtney and Meire Grove's Matt Imdieke, St. Martin drafted New Munich's Ty Reller and Greenwald's Brandon Worms, and Regal drafted Starbuck's Michael Gruber and NL-S's Adam Nibaur.

Regal opens the state tournament on Sunday, August 20 at Green Isle at noon.

Elrosa opens the state tournament on Sunday, August 20 in Hamburg at 2:30 p.m.

Below, here's a video clip from the end of the game between Elrosa and Regal on Saturday night:


Even with the final day rained out, I believe that it was a very entertaining and exciting Region 15C baseball tournament. Good luck to all four teams advancing to state!

Region baseball

Here's video from the Belgrade August Fest Car/Truck/Tractor show awards:

Here's where we're at...the Elrosa vs. Regal game is underway in New Munich. In the top of the third inning, Regal has a 3-2 lead after the Saints scored two runs in the top of the third.

Final score: Regal 4, Elrosa 3. The Eagles advance to the next round of seeding in Region 15C. They play at 11 a.m. against St. Martin. If Regal wins, they advance to the championship game with a shot at the No. 1 seed to the state tournament. Lake Henry awaits the winner of the 11 a.m. game in the finals at New Munich.

And I'm finally posting this score from last night in the Region 15C tournament (Aug. 11)...Lake Henry won a thriller in 11 innings by a 3-2 score over St. Martin. Jason Kampsen scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th to end the game.

Showdown in New Munich

With four-and-a-half innings in the book, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team has an 8-5 lead over Richmond in a state-qualifying elimination game of the Region 15C tournament.

Earlier today, Regal ended Meire Grove's season with a 5-3 win. That also puts the Eagles at the state tournament for the second year in a row.

*Update: the Elrosa Saints are headed back to the state tournament! For the second year in a row! Elrosa bear Richmond 17-5 and advance at regions to play Regal in a seeding game later today.

*Update: Regal beat Elrosa 4-3 in the last game of the day. Elrosa goes to state as the No. 4 seed from Region 15C. Their state opener is at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 20 in Hamburg. Spread the word! Let's get a big crowd down to state!!!

By the way, you can watch the Belgrade August Fest grand parade at 4:15 p.m. today at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/07/27/streaming/belgrade-august-fest-parade/137.html.

August Fest kicks off

The Toilet Bowl races, sponsored by the B-B-E Area Jaycees, were a huge hit on Friday.

The Belgrade August Fest kicked off on Friday night and had a terrific turnout at the Belgrade Firemen's chicken dinner. Check out video from the street dance at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/08/10/news/hd-video-street-dance-helps-kick-off-august-fest/507.html.

Don't miss the full schedule of the Belgrade August Fest on page 12A of the Aug. 10 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. The full-page spread was sponsored by the Belgrade Commercial Club as well as 18 Belgrade-area businesses. We thank them for the support of our hometown newspaper!

Speaking of support...don't miss out on the great sales going on at the Belgrade Hardware Store during August Fest. They had a large, color ad on page 1B of this week's Voice while helping contribute to putting in four pages of color. They are open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

And Elrosa Saints fans! Elrosa and Richmond will tangle for a state tournament berth at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in New Munich.

KRA races

No racing tonight at the county fair in Willmar. (Thursday)

Below, here's some super-high definition video from Vacation Bible School at Trinity Lutheran in Brooten:


Look for many, many photos from V.B.S. at Trinity Lutheran Church in the Aug. 17 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

(Video) Raptor Center at the fair

The University of Minnesota Raptor Center was at the Pope County Fair last weekend. They gave a nice presentation and showed a number of raptor animals to fairgoers in the main office building garage. Below is a high-definition video of part of the presentation featuring a bald eagle.


Currently the Kandiyohi County Fair is underway in Willmar. Their fair board had a large advertisement using up almost an entire page in the August 3 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice. We appreciate the support of our hometown newspaper! We will be posting weather-related announcements regarding the Kandiyohi County Fair today and through the weekend.

Below is the schedule plus an advertisement for the Little Theater play "Three Murders, and It's Only Monday" that is directed by B-B-E 1996 graduate Thom Rosengren. You can click on the graphic and enlarge it for best viewing.

Tonight is the Kandiyohi Racing Association (KRA) races at the fairgrounds. I learned this morning that Willmar took a heavy rainfall last night, and the status of the races is currently up in the air.

KASM archives

This is very cool! Check out these archives of recent Region 15C amateur baseball tournament games at the KASM (1150 AM) website: http://www.mykasm.com/2017-region-15c-baseball.