It's do-or-die time for the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team - Trip to Region 15C is on the line in Saturday's 1:30 game at Meire Grove

Randy Duevel sits on first after hitting a single in the New Munich game last Sunday.

Also, don't forget to attend the Elrosa Little League team's game at St.Martin on Sunday night in the Stearns County League championship game. First pitch is at 6:00pm at beautiful Ray Weber Field.

A couple video clips from Waterama weekend in Glenwood

The final video clip is the Waterama fireworks grand finale, viewed from the shores along the Lakeside Ballroom on Saturday night.

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Lensing and Roelike compete in All-Star volleyball match last night at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall

Below are scenes from the 2008 state volleyball tournament featuring Heidi Lensing and Emily Roelike.






On a separate note, the Elrosa Saints Legion team lost to Regal in the Stearns County League playoff quarterfinals by a 5-1 score. Elrosa was the 6-seed, while Regal hosted the game as the 3-seed.

More on that will follow later.

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Lensing and Roelike to play in All-Star volleyball match at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall on Wednesday night

(From the West Central Tribune)

Four area volleyball players preparing to test their skills in college this fall, will be participating in tonight’s 22nd annual Minnesota Volleybaall Coaches Association All-Star Match at St. Cloud State’s Halenbeck Hall.

There are three teams that will play two matches each beginning at 6:30 p.m.

On Team Baden is Megan Lambertson (North Dakota State) of Litchfield and Heidi Lensing (MSU-Moorhead) and Emily Roelike (Ridgewater) of B-B-E.

On Team North Country Region is Danelle Loomis (Concordia-Moorhead) of MACCRAY.

Kevin Weller of B-B-E is one of the coaches for Team Baden.

More photos from Sunday's Elrosa Saints amateur and Little League games available at the Sauk Herald online photo gallery

More photos can be viewed and purchased at the Sauk Herald's online gallery. Follow this link to the Herald's sports album: http://saukherald.mycapture.com Additional photos will be added on Thursday, July 30.

More will be posted here on Thursday regarding the upcoming action this weekend for the Elrosa Saints baseball teams.

Online subscriptions available for the Sauk Centre Herald

This is VERY cool! Now you can read up on B-B-E and Elrosa Saints sports on the internet every week.

The link is: http://saukcentreherald.mn.newsmemory.com/

Subscribers to the Herald can read the full story on the Elrosa-New Munich and Meire Grove-Spring Hill games that took place on Sunday, as well as more photos from the game in New Munich.

The online link to the Herald is: http://saukherald.com

Elrosa Saints amateur team loses 2-1 heartbreaker at New Munich, falls into loser's bracket to face Meire Grove on Saturday - Little League wins 8-5

Ethan Vogt reaches for a big pop fly grab for the third out in the bottom of the first inning, leaving one New Munich runner stranded in the process.

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team fell in the winner's bracket final game in the Stearns County League North division playoffs today, losing 2-1 at New Munich. With the win, New Munich punched the first ticket to the Region 15C tournament, August 8-9 and 15-16th in Spring Hill.

The Saints face Meire Grove on the Grovers' diamond on Saturday, August 1st, at 1:30. The loser is out; the winner advances to the SCL-North championship game on Sunday afternoon at New Munich.

A scene from the Saints' dugout midway through the New Munich game...there was no shortage of motivation for Elrosa, a win just wasn't in the cards.

On Sunday night, the Elrosa Little League team won 8-5 against third-seeded Lake Henry to advance to the Stearns County League championship game. Elrosa, the #2 seed, will travel to St.Martin on Sunday, August 2nd, to face the #1 seed Martins. That game is at 6:00pm. The Martins defeated #5 seeded Farming 8-2 in the other SCL semi-final game.

Adam Heinze winds up for a pitch against Lake Henry in Sunday night's Little League playoff semi-final game; the Saints won 8-5.


A clip of the Elrosa Little League team moments after earning the final out in the top of the 7th, earning the 8-5 win in the semi-final round. A large crowd cheers them on in the background.

The Elrosa Saints Legion team travels to Regal on Tuesday, July 28th for a 6:30 game in the Stearns County League playoff quarterfinals. The Saints are the #6 seed, while the Eagles are the #3 seed.

Scores from the SCL-South tournament on Sunday: Lake Henry 10, Richmond 4 St.Martin 4, Roscoe 2 Lake Henry will be another team at Region 15C from the SCL. The winner of next Saturday's St.Martin vs. Richmond game will be the other SCL-South team at regions.

An update from the Cornbelt North league: Cornbelt North Playoffs (double-elimination) Regal 17, Starbuck 5 Paynesville 4, NL-Sunburg 2 Paynesville keeps its season alive with the close win over regular season champion Norway Lake-Sunburg.

Regal punched a ticket to Region 15C with their big win over Starbuck. Much, much more will follow on Monday morning, including video clips and photos from today's action.

This Elrosa Saints baseball update brought to you by:

A poster for Belgrade's August Fest celebration coming up on August 7th-8th: (Click to enlarge)

Elrosa Saints baseball teams are in the thick of playoffs - Amateur & Little League play Sunday

Second baseman Marshall Zachman picks off a fly ball in the Elrosa Little League game on Sunday night. Backing him up is shortstop James Kuefler.

Don't forget to pick up this week's issue of the Sauk Centre Herald to see their "Boys of Summer" section, featuring seven area amateur baseball teams, including Elrosa. Copies are on sale at Micki's, Coop's Corner, and Rooney's Oil in Belgrade and Bayer's Gas and Grocery in Elrosa.

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team travels to New Munich on Sunday in a 1:30 afternoon affair. The winner will get a pass to the Region 15C tournament in August. The Saints are 7-8 against SCL opponents this year; the Silverstreaks are 10-4.

The Region 15C amateur baseball tournament will be held on August 8,9 and 15,16 in Spring Hill. The top two teams from the SCL-North, SCL-South, and Cornbelt North leagues will battle it out double-elimination style for the right to advance to the Amateur State baseball tournament. That will be held in Arlington and Gaylord this summer, August 20 – 23, 28 – 30, and September 4 - 7.

The Elrosa Little League team is in the Stearns County League Final Four round, and as the number-two seed they will host #3-Lake Henry on Sunday night (July 26) at 6:30pm. They went 8-1 in the regular season.

The Elrosa Legion team is seeded #6 and will travel to #3 Regal next Tuesday, July 28 for a 6:30 game. They went 5-4 in regular season play.

A photo gallery at the Sauk Herald's website includes photos from Sunday's game. The album with the Elrosa-Spring Hill amateur game is completed, with a total of 109 photos. The Little League album with New Munich-Elrosa photos has been completed, and it includes 94 photos from Sunday night's game.

The link to the gallery is: saukherald.mycapture.com

Honoring the American Flag...

A video clip from the Star Spangled Banner, prior to the New Munich vs. Meire Grove playoff game on Sunday.

This Elrosa Saints baseball update brought to you by:

Elrosa Saints Little League team wins playoff quarterfinal game 8-4 vs. New Munich

Elrosa's Austin Jaeger ripped out a triple in the bottom of the third inning of the Little League game.

In Little League action tonight, the #2-seeded Elrosa Saints led #7-seeded New Munich by a 5-4 score through 3 1/2 innings. The game is being held in Elrosa. A win would send the Saints into the Stearns County League Final Four round, with high seeds hosting semi-final games next Sunday (July 26) at 6:30pm.

Final score for the Little League game: 8-4 with Elrosa winning.

They will host the semi-final game next Sunday night at 6:30 against Lake Henry. Also this past Sunday night, #3-seeded Lake Henry defeated #6 Greenwald in their quarterfinal match-up to advance to the Final Four round. Number-four seeded Meire Grove was upset by #5 Farming in a 15-13, eight-inning game.


A video clip from Sunday night in Elrosa.

This Elrosa Saints Little League baseball update brought to you by:

Elrosa Saints win division opener! 4-1 final score vs. Spring Hill - Aaron Vogt pitches two-hitter as the Keg is sent northward

The Elrosa Saints won the "rubber" match against the Spring Hill Chargers today, avenging last week's 9-8 loss with a 4-1 win on the Chargers' diamond.

Pack up the family & neighbors next Sunday when the Saints travel to New Munich for the winner's bracket final in the Stearns County League-North division playoffs. It will be a 1:30 afternoon game.

More photos from Sunday's Elrosa-Spring Hill game can be found at the Sauk Herald's online photo gallery: http://saukherald.mycapture.com Also this week in the print edition of the Sauk Centre Herald, a special "Boys of Summer" collection will be published, including all SCL-North teams as well as the Sauk Centre Titans and the Freeport Black Sox.

Around the SCL playoffs on Sunday afternoon: New Munich 3, Meire Grove 1 - Lake Henry 8, Roscoe 7 - Richmond 6, St.Martin 3.

Meire Grove will host Spring Hill on Sunday at 1:30 in an SCL-North elimination game. Lake Henry hosts Richmond in the SCL-South winner's bracket final, while Roscoe travels to St.Martin in an SCL-South elimination game.


Following the game, Matt Middendorf returns the Keg to the Elrosa dugout.

More will follow throughout the day on Monday.

This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball update brought to you by:

Elrosa Saints win playoff opener vs. Greenwald 9-4

Randy Duevel cracks out a single to left field in the bottom of the third inning.

The Saints built an early 6-0 lead after three innings, with the Cubs coming back to make it 6-3 in the top of the 7th. The Saints answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the 7th, leading 9-3 before the Cubs scored once in the 9th.

More photos from the Elrosa vs. Greenwald playoff game have been posted at the Sauk Centre Herald's online gallery: http://saukherald.mycapture.com

(Below) A couple video clips from the game on Wednesday night. It was a nice, cool evening with a crowd of about 200 fans taking in the 3-hour long game.

Elrosa travels to Spring Hill on Sunday to face the regular-season champion Chargers in the first game of the double-elimination Stearns County League-North division tournament.

Click on the following link to find another link that will download a PDF file to your computer that details the SCL-North tournament format: http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=shchargers

Here's a story on the incredible damage done to Green Lake Diamonds in Spicer from the Tuesday tornado...from the West Central Tribune: http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/54702/

Thank goodness the ballpark was insured for that type of damage!

This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball update brought to you by:

Elrosa vs. Greenwald playoff game postponed one day - will be held Wednesday night at 7:30 at Saints Field

Bad weather in the western Stearns County area postponed the Cubs vs. Saints playoff game until Wedenesday night. Reports I have say that the game was rained out; tornadoes were springing up all over west central Minnesota on Tuesday.

On Monday night, #5 Roscoe defeated #4 Farming 1-0 in a Stearns County League-South play-in round. The final score was 1-0 with the Rangers' Brent Heinen pitching a four-hitter. Aaron Nett took the loss on the mound for the Flames. Roscoe advances to face #1-seed Lake Henry in the division series beginning on Sunday at 1:30 on the Lakers' diamond.

In 2008, Roscoe went the full three games against Lake Henry.

Here's a link to a story on the Elrosa vs. Spring Hill game, talking a little about the "Battle for the Keg" as well...It is the Chargers' official team website = http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=shchargers

**Update on Wednesday afternoon...regarding the Stearns County League playoffs. It's a whole new playoff format for the North/South division playoffs. The best-of-three series is out (for this year at least) and a traditional double-elimination format is in.

A link downloading a PDF onto your computer with the exact playoff format can be found on the Spring Hill Chargers' website front page.

Elrosa would still travel to Spring Hill on Sunday if they beat Greenwald tonight...but after that the format is a traditional double-elimination style. If they lose against Spring Hill on Sunday the 19th, they would then play the loser of the New Munich vs. Meire Grove game at 1:30pm on Sunday, July 26th. (The high seed hosts each respective game.)

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Elrosa Saints drop regular season finale in hard-luck fashion, lose 9-8 to 2009 division champ Spring Hill - *Playoff opener in Elrosa Tuesday night

More photos from the Elrosa vs. Spring Hill game will be posted at the Sauk Centre Herald's online gallery: http://saukherald.mycapture.com

Final Stearns County League-North division standings for the regular season:
Spring Hill (11-2)
New Munich (9-4)
Meire Grove (6-7)
Elrosa (5-8)
Greenwald (3-10)

Spring Hill's 11-2 league record is the best-ever in Chargers' baseball history, dating back to 1983 when they founded their amateur baseball team.

The Elrosa Saints will face Greenwald in a one-game play-in game, held on Tuesday night, July 14th, with a 7:30 start time in Elrosa. It's a huge game!

Meire Grove finished 3rd in the SCL-North standings, clinching the #3 playoff seed with a 7-5 come-from-behind win against Farming today on their home diamond. I heard that Farming had a 5-3 lead mid-way through the game.

Final Stearns County League-South division standings:
Lake Henry (10-3)
Richmond (8-5)
St.Martin (7-6)
Farming (4-9)
Roscoe (2-11)

In the SCL-South play-in round, Farming will host Roscoe on Monday night at 5:30.

The Lake Henry Lakers earned sole possession of the SCL-South division regular season title when they won two games on Sunday, defeating Roscoe 5-1 and then New Munich 5-2. They will take a 10-3 record into the division playoffs. Shown in the photos below is the end of the game, a 11-inning marathon, won by the host Lakers when Shane Kampsen (walking across home plate in the photo) belted a three-run Home Run.



More will follow later tonight.

Results from today's games:
Lake Henry 5, Roscoe 1
Lake Henry 5, New Munich 2 (12 innings)
Meire Grove 7, Farming 5
New Munich 4, Greenwald 3

In a Saturday exhibition game, Spring Hill defeated visiting New Germany 5-4.

This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball update brought to you by:

Richmond pulls into second place in Stearns County League-South standings, defeats host St.Martin on Friday 3-2

Richmond's Jeron Lieser hit a two-run single that highlighted a three-run third inning under the lights of Ray Weber Field in St.Martin on Friday night.

The Royals' Josh Engquist was the winning pitcher, as his team finished 8-5 in the SCL-South standings, one game ahead of third-place St.Martin.

Lake Henry must now win one of its two games today in order to lock up the #1-seed in the SCL-South.

The continuation of the New Munich/Lake Henry game will be played Sunday July 12 @ Lake Henry following the earlier game, if it affects standings. Tentative start time is 4pm. At 1:30 today, Lake Henry hosts Roscoe.

News from last night at Bonanza Valley Days...Miss Brooten is Laura Johnson. Tara Bishop & Alayni Hanson were crowned princesses. Anna Marthaler earned Miss Congeniality.

B-B-E locals will have two big-ticket items to choose from today at 1:30...either take in the Grand Parade in Brooten or the Elrosa vs. Spring Hill amateur baseball game in Spring Hill.

More will follow later today.

Bonanza Valley Days photos posted from Saturday morning activities - Grand Parade is on Sunday at 1:30

More photos will be posted at the Sauk Centre Herald's online gallery: http://saukherald.mycapture.com

A third day of activities will take place on Sunday, most noteably the Grand Parade at 1:30pm.

This B-B-E area summer activity update brought to you by:

July 10-12th Stearns County League schedule posted ... Elrosa Saints travel to Spring Hill on Sunday, **Link posted for a "Battle for the Keg" story

Friday night, Richmond is at St.Martin in an SCL-South division clash.

On Sunday, the following games take place at 1:30:
Roscoe at Lake Henry
Farming at Meire Grove
Greenwald at New Munich
Elrosa at Spring Hill

New Munich/Lake Henry continuation game
The continuation of the New Munich/Lake Henry game will be played Sunday July 12 @ Lake Henry following the earlier game, if it affects standings. Tentative time is at 4pm.

**Here's a link to the Elrosa Saints baseball team website, directly to the page that explains the story of the "Battle for the Keg" in great fashion. It's even got a couple photos to go with it. Saints' shortstop Matt Middendorf, the team's website operator, did a great job detailing the story of the "Keg" that travels between the two teams. This token of the rivalry between the two teams dates back to the summer of 2007.

The link is: "Battle for the Keg"



**Also, this weekend is Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten... A full range of activities will be taking place through the weekend. More on that also coming on Friday morning.

This Elrosa Saints/Stearns County League amateur baseball update brought to you by:

Video clip showing a few noteworthy notes written in the consession stand on "famous" games held at Saints Field since the lights were erected in 1991

Newly-inducted Hall of Fame member Vince Haider gave Matt Bauer and I a "tour" inside the concession stand at Saints Field, pointing out the noteworthy games held at the stadium since the lights went up in 1991. Two memorable 14-inning games took place there under the lights in both 1991 and 1995.

Happy 4th of July, and Happy Birthday America! (Video clips of fireworks added)

Elrosa Saints thrash visiting Greenwald on Friday night 9-2 - Hall of Fame ceremony held prior to the game

The Elrosa Saints improved to 5-7 in the Stearns County League North division standings with a 9-2 win over Greenwald on Friday night at the home diamond. The win evens the season series between the two clubs at 1-1, while also avenging a May 24th 2-1 loss for Elrosa.

Next Sunday the Saints travel to Spring Hill for the final game of the regular season. First pitch is set for 1:30pm.

**Update Monday morning - 4th of July weekend results in the Stearns County League:
Saturday: New Munich 5, Roscoe 0
Sunday: Richmond 4, Lake Henry 1 (LH's 2nd loss of the season)
Farming 3, St. Martin 1 (the Flames avenge an earlier season 3-2 loss to their neighbors to the west)
Spring Hill 2, Meire Grove 1 (SH holds onto first place in the SCL-North)

A photo from the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday night