Two Recent Stories on the Barnum Bombers Fastpitch Team in the Pine Journal, Cloquet

Barnum Bombers softball win conference championship
Kerry Rodd Pine Journal
Published Thursday, May 22, 2008

Barnum picked up a conference championship and an opening round win against Cromwell in softball last week. On Friday they ousted the Cards from the playoffs in a 13-0 shutout.

The Bombers capped an undefeated conference season on Thursday by sweeping Wrenshall and McGregor.

By virture of going 11-0 in the Polar League, the Bombers won the conference title outright after beating Wrenshall 11-0 and McGregor 12-2.

“A Polar League title in any sport is extremely difficult to win,” said Bombers coach Randy Myhre. “An example of that is in the past 15 years, Barnum has been to the state tournament in softball and basketball more times than we have won our league championship.”

The Polar League features a myriad of teams that in any given year can win a title, but in softball it can be extremely difficult with the likes of such powers as Esko, Barnum, Silver Bay and Moose Lake-Willow River on a year-in, year-out basis.

“Winning a conference title means that a team did very, very well over a period of time,” mentioned Myhre. “This is different from getting through a tournament where a team only has to win a few games. I am extremely proud of our team and I hope our girls are proud of their own individual efforts as well. They did a great job all season long.”

• The Bombers opened the Section 5A playoffs against Cromwell 13-0 as Megan Myhre tossed a one-hitter while fanning 12. Katrina Newman went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and Megan Myhre was 2-for-3 with a triple, a home run, two runs scored and six RBIs.

• Last Thursday, Barnum beat Wrenshall 11-0 in five innings of work. Newman picked up the pitching win by allowing one hit and she also delivered two hits along with a home run. Hannah Wekseth also had two hits with a double for the Bombers.

• Also on Thursday, the Bombers rode the three-hit pitching of Megan Myhre to a 12-2 win over McGregor. Myhre added eight strikeouts and no walks as well as three hits, one of which was a double. Newman went 2-for-3 and Wekseth was 3-for-3 with a double.

Barnum is 16-4 on the season.



Barnum softball team nips Eskomos
Kerry Rodd Pine Journal
Published Thursday, May 08, 2008

With an intense atmosphere and the game in doubt until the last out, the Barnum softball team pulled out a tight 1-0 game over Esko at home on Tuesday.

“Good teams find a way to win and that is exactly what we did against Esko,” said Bomber coach Randy Myhre following the game. “Esko has a very young but very good team and coach Brad Emanuel deserves a lot of credit for the team he has put together.”

The game featured Katrina Newman of Barnum and Esko’s Kelsey Saralampi on the mound and both were strong. Megan Myhre came in to pitch the final three innings for Barnum as they hung on for the win. Megan Myhre finished with a pair of hits and also drove in the winning run for the Bombers.

“We had runners on and in scoring position in four different innings with less than two outs,” commented Emanuel. “We just couldn’t score. Good teams get clutch hits, make clutch plays in the field and right now we aren’t doing either.”

Newman finished with five strikeouts, while Saralampi fanned 11 Bombers as she did her best to keep things close for Esko.

“Once again, we got outstanding pitching from both Katrina and Megan,” explained coach Myhre. “Hannah Wekseth was also spectacular behind the plate and both Katrina and Megan also had several good at-bats for us.”

The loss was particularly frustrating for the Eskomos because they also fell 4-0 to Denfeld on Monday night. They have found themselves unable to score runs even though Saralampi has kept her team in the game.

“Against Denfeld we gave up three unearned runs in the first inning and put ourselves in a hole right away,” commented Emanuel. “Basically we are not getting the offensive production and not making the defensive plays that should be made.”

Barnum has a strong tradition in girls fastpitch. They have been denied "state" by a number of strong teams in the past few years of playoffs, including Ogilvie and Braham. They only have two seniors on the roster, but make no bones about it... they'll be hungry to beat our Jaguars and get out of Section 5A. Our Jaguars will have to play another solid game as they did against Maple Lake last Thursday in order to win. At least we now know that the Jaguars fastpitch team "has it" and they can show it.

I'll also add, this has already been a special season for the Jaguars fastpitch team. Their sub-section title is the first playoff championship in girls sports for B-B-E since March 2005 when the girls basketball won Sub-Section 5A-South. Other than volleyball, sub-section titles have been very rare for girls sports at B-B-E. In 1993 and 1995, the girls basketball team won sub-section championships. Volleyball won sub-sections in 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Now the Jaguars fastpitch team of 2008 can be added to that illustrious list. They earned it. The team is made up of incredibly competitive and hard-nosed athletes, many of whom played on record-setting volleyball, tennis, and basketball teams this school year. I'll also say, I know they're not satisfied with just winning the sub-section in fastpitch. Section and "State" hardware is within reach for the team. It just might happen.