Another Very Busy Night in Jaguars Country - Baseball Goes 1-1 in DoubleHeader - Fastpitch Drops Two Heartbreakers at Maple Lake

In a nutshell... the Jaguars girls golf team picked up 3rd place in their CMC meet at Maple Lake (1 shot behind Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball), the Jaguars baseball team split their doubleheader with Maple Lake (held in Lake Henry, 4-1 L and 6-2 W), the Jaguars track and field teams hosted the 3rd annual Lions Invite at the High School sports complex and had personal bests broken while picking up a handful of first places.

Area baseball scores:
Albany 7, Sauk Centre 3
Foley 8, New London-Spicer 5
New London-Spicer 3, Foley 2
Rockford 13, Holdingford 1
Royalton 8, Upsala-Swanville Area 1 (Royalton, defending Section 5A Champ, is 5-0)
Paynesville 12, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Eden Valley-watkins 9, Kimball 4
Kimball 11, Eden Valley-Watkins 8
Pierz 18, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0

The Jaguars led the CMC for a night after their huge win at Pierz yesterday, which was fun, and hopefully they can claw their way back on top. Pierz somehow is still in first place (5-2), a half game ahead of the Jaguars and Kimball (both 4-2 in the league).

I just heard that the Jaguars Fastpitch team lost both games of their doubleheader at Maple Lake. The first game ended as a heartbreaking loss where (I heard) they gave up a lead in the 7th inning. It's crushing when you think that both Maple Lake and B-B-E could win out the rest of their CMC games, and a split tonight by the Jaguars would have brought a first place tie for the conference title.

The scores were 5-4 and 12-8, both losses as mentioned. The Irish won the first game with the help of three Jaguars' errors, which brought in three unearned runs for the host team to take the game. The Jaguars were incredibly competitive with the high-powered Irish (who have won 40 straight CMC games over the past 4 seasons) and should feel good about their effort. I'll explain a little on that...

At the track meet I was talking to a couple Maple Lake coaches who felt that B-B-E & Maple Lake were the top teams in the CMC this year. (Fair analysis) I asked if the Irish had a fastpitch game last night (Monday), and they said the fields were not ready for their game so it was scrubbed (a game at Eden Valley-Watkins).

Meanwhile, our Jaguars were duking it out with Pierz in a home game that went eight innings, with our starting pitcher going the distance on the mound.

All I thought was "Whew, we did not have a chance going into this doubleheader tonight."

I was proved quite wrong, and the Jaguars had their chances in both games.

More on these games will be in next week's Observer and Bonanza Valley Voice.

They will remember tonight at playoff time. Maple Lake, who is now 7-0 in the CMC and overall, is a fellow Section 5A team for playoffs (for both baseball & fastpitch).

Area Fastpitch scores from tonight:
Albany 4, New London-Spicer 3
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 9, Pierz 0
Minnewaska Area 6, Yellow Medicine East 0 (Minnewaska is 9-1 and leads the West Central South Conference at 6-0)
Osakis 16, Royalton 3 (Osakis is 4-1)
Morris Area 5, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 4
Rockford 14, Holdingford 8
Rockford 12, Holdingford 6 (Rockford is 5-3 in the CMC, one game behind the Jaguars in third place)
Kimball 16, Eden Valley-Watkins 5
Kimball 12, Eden Valley-Watkins 4 (Kimball is 4-3 in 4th place in the CMC)

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Jaguars Baseball Takes Season Series from 2-Time Defending CMC Champion Pierz -- Fastpitch Wins in Eight Over Pierz

The Jaguars move to 3-1 on the season and in the Central Minnesota Conference with their dramatic 3-1 win in eight innings on the road at Pierz tonight.

The Jaguars trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, sitting on two outs. In fact, I heard the Pioneers were one strike away from the win. Josh Beier scored from third base to tie the game at 1-1 and force an extra inning.

Josh Roelike went all eight innings on the mound for the complete game win.

The Jaguars baseball team hosts Maple Lake in a double-header at Regal on Tuesday. They will have a huge head of momentum going into this game, and hopefully the pitching can carry them through to two more wins.

Pierz is the 2-time defending conference champions.

While their current three-game winning streak is very impressive, it is way too early to talk about a conference championship. I've seen this before with other teams in other sports at B-B-E, and four games into a 14-game conference schedule is nothing to make predictions off of.

The Jaguars Fastpitch team hosted Pierz tonight and overcame a 6-4 deficit to win 7-6 in eight innings.

They will travel to Maple Lake for a double-header against the three-time defending CMC champion Irish. Maple Lake is 5-0, while the Jaguars are 4-1 overall. It is undoubtedly the biggest matchup any boys or girls Jaguars team has faced this school year since September 28 last fall when the Jaguars volleyball team went to Eden Valley-Watkins with first place in the CMC on the line.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars track and field hosts the third annual Lions Invite at 4:15 on the high school sports complex.

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Winter is Still Here

Amazingly, this was taken on Saturday morning, April 26, in Belgrade. Later that day the B-B-E Prom was scheduled!


I thought after the April 11th snowstorm, we had seen winter's last Hurrah.

I was wrong.

And I'm not amused. It is affecting sports teams all over, not to mention the havoc this is putting on our farmers.

The B-B-E area picked up 4-5 inches of snow on Friday night. It came down heavy through the night hours and tapered off by mid-morning. Prom still took place on Saturday afternoon/evening.

On Monday, the following is on the schedule: Jaguars boys golf at Kimball (4:15), Jaguars Fastpitch hosts Pierz (5:00), Jaguars girls golf at Pierz (4:15), Jaguars baseball at Pierz (5:00).

On Tuesday, the Jaguars track and field teams will host the third annual Lions Invitational, with the first events beginning at 4:15.

This week the weather forecast looks pretty bad, with low 60s on Tuesday after a high of 46 forecast for Monday. It goes downhill as the week goes on. I don't even know if all the snow will be melted off the playing fields for our teams on Monday.

Jaguars Baseball Wins 7-6 over Holdingford in Bottom of 7th RBI-double by Austin Kampsen for Go-Ahead Run

The Jaguars (2-1) hosted Holdingford at Regal to finish their rain-delayed game from Monday.

In Fastpitch yesterday...
Kimball 3, Rockford 0
Maple Lake 9, Pierz 1 (Maple Lake is 4-0, they host our Jaguars next Tuesday)

Winter weather is back for a couple days on Thursday & Friday?

A Busy Day in Jaguars Country - Fastpitch is 4-0 in CMC, Track and Field Excels at A-C-GC Meet

The Jaguars boys track and field team 4 x 100 Relay team broke the school record today at the A-C-GC meet, earning a time of 46.19 seconds. This breaks the old record of 46.40 seconds.

The Jaguars Fastpitch hosted Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in CMC action and won 4-2. They moved to 4-0 in the CMC (4-1 overall).

The Jaguars Baseball team (1-1) was scheduled to play at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, but the field at Howard Lake was flooded and the game was cancelled.
The baseball team hosts Holdingford on Wednesday at 4:30 in Regal, to continue their game in the first inning that began on Monday. Rain interrupted their play and forced the re-scheduling.

Yesterday the Jaguars girls golf team took third place in the first Central Minnesota Conference meet of the season. Five teams participated, with Rockford taking top honors.

Track and Field at A-C-GC on Tuesday Afternoon

The Jaguars track and field teams travel to Grove City for a 4 p.m. meet, featuring host ACGC, Hutchinson, Minnewaska Area, Montevideo, Renville County West and Willmar.

The baseball and fastpitch teams were rained out in their games on Monday night.

I have one baseball score from the CMC: Rockford 7, Maple Lake 6.
Fastpitch: Kimball Area 6, Pierz 2. Game held at Pierz, who is still winless on the season.

The Jaguars girls golf team placed third out of five teams at the first Central Minnesota Conference meet of the season. The rain-shortened meet was held at B-B-E's own Prairie View Community Golf Course.

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Elrosa Saints Town Team Opens 2008 Campaign at Spring Hill

The game is at 1:30 on Sunday, April 20.

The following was taken from the Saints' team website, operated by team member Matt Middendorf of Sauk Centre..

The Elrosa Saints will begin their 2008 campaign at Spring Hill on April 20th at 1:30p.m. The Saints and Chargers will collide for the traveling "Keg" trophy that the the Saints retained last year after beating the Chargers in the Stearns County North playoff game. The Saints bowed out to Lake Henry last year at the Region tourney while the Chargers made their first trip to the Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Tournament.

The St.Cloud Times had an excellent article in their Sunday edition about the Stearns County League. I encourage everyone to get a copy while they're still in th newsstand.

The results I have from Stearns County League games today:
St.Martin 1 @ Lake Henry 4
Elrosa 3 @ Spring Hill 4 (10 innings!)

The Jaguars baseball team hosts Holdingford on Monday at 5:00 in Regal. The Fastpitch team travels to Holdingford.

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Jaguars Baseball Pounds on Pierz at Regal in a 9-4 Win over Defending CMC Champs- Fastpitch Drops 18-17 Slugfest in Seven Innings at Paynesville

The Fastpitch team falls to 3-1 overall, while the Baseball team squared their record at 1-1 in the CMC as they finally got their season off the ground.

Photos will be posted soon.

No word yet on how the Jaguars girls golf team did today at the 19-team meet at the Little Crow Country Club, hosted by New London-Spicer.

Area results:
Baseball
Paynesville defeated Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 19-2 in 5 innings.
Melrose 6, Minnewaska 3
K-M-S 13, NL-Spicer 10
Maple Lake 7, Eden Valley-Watkins 5
Melrose 5, Minnewaska 3
Sauk Centre 9, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 2
Albany 10, Holdingford 0 (6 inn)

Fastpitch
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 9, New London-Spicer 1
Upsala 15, Eagle Valley 12
Sauk Centre 5, Holdingford 0
Maple Lake 9, Eden Valley-Watkins 1

This Jaguars sports update brought to you by:

Jaguars Fastpitch Wins Home Game Over Eden Valley-Watkins 8-1, Jaguars Baseball Falls in Nine Inning Marathon 5-4 on Walk-Off Home Run at Eden Valley

The Jaguars Fastpitch raised their record to 3-0 on the young season with a solid 8-1 win over visiting Eden Valley-Watkins (0-1 CMC, 0-1) in their third Central Minnesota Conference game. It was also a key win over a fellow Section 5A team, as the Eagles drop from Class AA (Section 5AA) down to 5A.

The Jaguars' 3-0 record is the best start for the Fastpitch team since the 1990s. I hope to do some research over the weekend to find out more information about past seasons for this program at B-B-E.

The Jaguars baseball team fell in a very heartbreaking game 5-4 in nine innings at CMC rival Eden Valley-Watkins in the season opener for both teams.

On Friday, the Baseball team hosts Pierz (5:00) at Beier Field in Regal, while the Fastpitch team travels the short trip to Paynesville Area for a 4:30 non-conference game. It is the first matchup between the Bulldogs and our Jaguars since the early part of this decade.

Other Fastpitch scores from the area:
Browerville 15, Eagle Valley 5
Maple Lake 7, Kimball Area 0

Other Baseball scores from the area:
Kimball 14, Maple Lake 5

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Home Track Meet is On! Snow still surrounds the athletic complex-- Fastpitch Wins at Kimball 5-3 in 8 Innings

Though pole vault pit was still under snow, the meet went well and a fair amount of fans were on hand during the very windy track meet. Even with a fair number of B-B-E junior high athletes taking part in the meet, it was pleasing to hear the names of Jaguars being sounded off on the loudspeaker as placewinners.

The tracksters go to Melrose on Thursday.

The Jaguars fastpitch team (2-0 CMC, 2-0 overall) won in an extra-inning game on the road at Kimball by a 5-3 score. They host Eden Valley-Watkins on Thursday at 5:00, and then travel to Paynesville Area on Friday for a 4:30 non-conference game. They have a strong chance of moving to 3-0 on the season, which would be the best start since the 1990's for the Fastpitch team.

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Activities This Week Still in Limbo...

Shown in the photo is the east end of the track at the High School sports complex on Monday night. A home track meet was scheduled for Tuesday, but most likely won't take place.

Winter is Back...at Least for the Weekend

Photos taken around 6:00am on Friday in Belgrade while I was on my way to work. Not much more to say to that!

Are You Kidding Me? Up to 13 Inches of Snow Coming Our Way

I'll be posting a picture of what's going on outside here shortly...

Needless to say, there will be no sports activity Thursday or Friday this week.

Hopefully the Speech team can make it to Melrose on Saturday for the Section 5A meet.

Jaguars Fastpitch Wins Season Opener 3-2 Over Rockford

In a very well-played game for the Jaguars fastpitch season opener today, the Rockford Rockets fell in a 3-2 game in 7 innings. The temp at opening pitch was 39 degrees! The field conditions were pretty good considering the weather we had last week around the area. With both teams not having much outdoor preseason action, I was impressed by the plays made by both sides through the hour-long game.

The Jaguars (1-0 Central Minnesota Conference, 1-0 overall) now pack their travel gear for the long road to Pierz on Thursday for the 2nd game of CMC and regular season action.

A big thanks to Tammy Evenson, who took pictures during the game. My camera will have a new battery next week.

The Jaguars baseball team and track and field squads had their events for today cancelled. The baseball team's game against Rockford will be re-scheduled, and no word on whether or not the Paynesville track meet will be made up. My guess is it will not be, as it's too difficult to get 6 or 8 teams back again further into the regular season.

On Thursday the Jaguars baseball team will host two-time defending CMC champion Pierz at Beier Field in Regal. First pitch is set for 5:00.

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Schedules Through the Following Week for Jaguars Fastpitch, Baseball, Track and Field, and Girls Golf

First of all...Congradulations goes to the B-B-E Jaguars Speech team, who won the Sub-Section 5A-19 championship on Saturday at Sauk Centre. It is the second year in a row that they will advance to the Section 5A meet as a team. What an accomplishment. They were also runners-up in 5A-19 for four seasons prior to 2007. The Section 5A meet is this Saturday, April 12, at Melrose Area.

Here's what I have for the following week or so for the Jaguars. The items in bold are games that happen on Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th. Then I just heard (Sunday night right now) that the Alexandria area is getting hammered with an ice-storm, which may spread over the B-B-E area overnight. The forecast for the next five days sounds pretty bad, mainly with highs in the 40s, along with precipitation on Tuesday for sure.

FASTPITCH
Monday- @ Paynesville Area (4:30)
Tuesday- H vs. Rockford (5:00) *Conference opener
Thursday- @ Pierz (5:00)
Friday- @ Osakis (4:30)
Monday 14th- H vs. Maple Lake (5:00)
Tuesday 15th- @ Kimball (5:00)
Thursday 17th- H vs. EV-W (5:00)

BASEBALL
Monday- H vs. Osakis (4:30)
Tuesday- @ Rockford (5:00) *Conference opener
Thursday- H vs. Pierz (5:00)
Monday 14th @ Maple Lake (5:00)
Tuesday 15th @ vs. Kimball (5:00)

TRACK AND FIELD
Tuesday @ Paynesville (4:30)
Friday 11th @ Rockford (4:00)
Tuesday 15th HOME meet (4:15)
Thursday 17th @ Melrose

GIRLS GOLF
Thursday @ Melrose
Friday @ Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted *Conference opener

BOYS GOLF
Tuesday @ Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted *Conference opener

I also want to give mention to special accomplishments of the B-B-E Blaze Junior Olympics volleyball team for the past two weekends. Today at St.Cloud, the JO-17 team was champions, defeating a solid Bemidji team in the title match. Last Sunday, they won a tournament at Rockford. From what I heard, they won in 2-0 sets in every match today and last Sunday! Whew!

After making "State" in 2005 for the first time ever, then losing two all-state hitters and other talented seniors to graduation in May 2007, I was unsure if we'd see any "hiccups" in the volleyball program. Obviously, that's not happening.

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Coming This Weekend... Spring Sports Schedules!

I'm finally getting my hands on spring sports schedules for the Jaguars track/baseball/fastpitch/golf teams. I received a baseball schedule over a week ago, and this weekend I'll begin putting schedules on here.

Next Monday the Jaguars Fastpitch team travels to Paynesville to face the Bulldogs. It is the first meeting of the teams in at least 3 years. I'm actually not sure how far back in the archives I'd have to go to see when we last played our neighbors to the east. Paynesville is the defending Sub-Section 5AA-20 champions. They had the best season in school history last spring, when they made the section final and narrowly missed out on a state berth. The game begins at 4:30 at the Paynesville Area High School athletic complex.

On Monday the Jaguars baseball team hosts Osakis in a non-conference game to begin the season. I have reports that the Regal diamond should be ready to go for that game, which would also begin at 4:30.

That same day, the Jaguars track and field teams are at Paynesville Area for their first outdoor meet of the season. I have heard that the junior high team will be going as well. The first two days of the week will be busy and let's hope for some warm weather.

Good Luck to the Jaguars Speech Team - Sub-Sections on Saturday at Sauk Centre

The 2008 Central Minnesota Conference Champion Jaguars Speech team will attempt to defend their Sub-Section championship from 2007 at the much-anticipated meet on Saturday (Apr 5) at Sauk Centre High School.

Good luck to all team members and coaches, it would be remarkable to make it two in a row at sub-sections!

News from the Minnesota State High School League, "Mercy" Rules Approved For Football And Basketball

From Kyle Gylsen, Vikinglandsports.com =

On Tuesday, the Minnesota State High School League's board of directors approved mercy rules for football and basketball, but decided not to cut the number of wrestling classes.

In basketball, the mercy rule will go into effect when a team has a 35-point lead in the final nine minutes of a varsity game. The clock will go to running (non-stop) time. The game will return to stop time when the margin is 30 points or when a timeout is called.

In football, when the lead is 35 points in the fourth quarter, the clock will go to running time. The clock will return to stop time when the margin is trimmed to 30 points. The rule will go into effect this fall.

The MSHSL rejected two motions designed to reduce the number of weight classes from the current 14. The first motion was to drop to 12 weight classes on a two-year trial basis. A second motion was to drop to 13.