Elrosa Saints set to host the Stearns County League North division championship game on Sunday

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team (13-2) won its second game of the 2010 Stearns County League-North division playoffs in a 3-0 shutout over Spring Hill on July 25. Below is video from the final few plays of the game and the post-game announcements at Saints Field.


The SCL-North division championship will be on Sunday at 1:30pm at Saints Field, between host Elrosa and the winner of Saturday's Meire Grove vs. Spring Hill elimination game.

Here's a link to the official Pope County Fair website

Here's the link:
http://www.popecountyfair.org

The Pope County Fair runs from August 11-15. It overlaps Belgrade's August Fest, which is August 13-14 (Friday/Saturday).

Look for more updates as the dates approach!

Waterama held in Glenwood this past weekend - Video of the Brooten Fire Department in the watermen's fight below

After falling behind the 8-ball during their 90-second run in this video clip, the Brooten Fire Department crew regained their momentum near the end and ultimately won this round. The front firemen were Thor Amundson and Jim Fischer.


Rachel Scheller was recently crowned Miss Brooten during Bonanza Valley Days. She and her entourage were in the Waterama parade on Sunday afternoon.

Elrosa is in! Saints blank Spring Hill 3-0 to advance to the Region 15C tournament

Ethan Vogt, who went the distance today, fires a pitch during the top of the ninth inning today against Spring Hill.

Elrosa won today in the winner's bracket final of the Stearns County League North division, clinching their fourth trip to the Region 15C tournament in the past five seasons.

The Saints, who improved to 13-2 in SCL action this season, scored once in the first inning and twice in the second for an early 3-0 lead. Elrosa starter Ethan Vogt went the distance, just as his counterpart Shawn Schoenberg did for Spring Hill.

The Chargers face Meire Grove at home next Saturday in an elimination game, with the winner traveling to Elrosa on Sunday at 1:30pm for the SCL-North division championship game.

Other SCL playoff results:
Meire Grove 4, New Munich 3
St.Martin 5, Lake Henry 4
Richmond 11, Farming 1

Below, Tom Elliot with the St.Cloud Times interviews Ethan Vogt after the game.



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

Stearns County League amateur baseball playoff action continues today

Elrosa hosts Spring Hill, while Lake Henry hosts St.Martin in games involving neighboring division rivals all battling for a Region 15C berth.

In two elimination games, Meire Grove hosts New Munich, while Richmond hosts Farming.

Games start at 1:30pm.

Check back tonight to see the results.

Here's a scene from the Terrace Mill's "Twinderella" children's musical - a baseball game

The Terrace Mill hosted the children's musical Twinderella on July 21-22. The production was directed by B-B-E theater director Julie Lloyd.

55th annual Glenwood Waterama is this weekend, running through Sunday

Below are a few scenes from the 2009 Waterama that I took while helping out the Pope County Tribune...

Jaguars football opener is September 3 at Barrett, MN vs. the West Central Area Knights

Chris Moscho, who takes the reigns of the Jaguars football program this summer, is shown leading some pre-game drills.


Led by first-year head coach Chris Moscho, the Jaguars football team will open the 2010 season at Barrett on September 3, taking on the host West Central Area Knights. Moscho, who served as assistant coach the previous two years and is a 2002 Melrose Area High School graduate, will also have a new group of assistant coaches to work with.

WCA, who features 1,000-yard passer Colton Blascyk, senior, finished the 2009 campaign with an overall record of 4-5, including 0-1 in the Section 6AA playoffs. They finished 2-4 (4th place tie with Pelican Rapids) in the Heart O' Lakes Classic conference.

Click here to read a story on the Knights' 48-12 playoff loss to Pierz in the Section 6AA quarterfinals: http://craigolsonsports.com/newsarticle.php?yid=0910&tid=222&sid=1230444&nid=33565 It was a game that played out just as many meetings the Jaguars have had with Pierz, as WCA fell behind 14-0 only 80 seconds into the game and trailed 28-0 after the first quarter.

The Knights graduated two of their four top running backs from '09. One of the backs returning (quarterback Blascyk) ran for 265 yards and four touchdowns. Their top running back in 2009, Cole Amundson, ran for 700 yards but is one of the two who graduated.

The biggest change for West Central Area is in their coaching staff, which has been revamped in similar fashion to what has happened to the Jaguars. Their previous head coach who took over their program in 2007, Tim Pattrin, has been replaced by David Drexler. Two of their four assistants will also be new.

Drexler is a 2001 WCA graduate. I just did some quick research and saw that he was the Heart O' Lakes Conference MVP during his senior year in which the Knights went 7-3 overall and were runners-up in the HOL. He passed for 1452 yards his senior year, and had a 51% completion rate. He also ran for 6 touchdowns and passed for 13. As PAT kicker, he tallied 23 points his senior year as well.

More noteworthy was Drexler's junior year in 1999, when the WCA Knights went all the way through playoffs to the Prep Bowl, where they lost to a very tough Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers team. WCA went 13-1 that year, including an 8-0 regular season and an HOL conference championship. Drexler was the featured quarterback that season as well, and he finished with 1270 yards and a 52.8% completion rate. That year the Knights were a run first, run second, and then think about passing team led by senior Jake Sternhagen, who finished with 1,902 yards on 348 carries (5.5 yard average) and 27 touchdowns.

The Jaguars went 2-7 last season, including a 2-5 mark in the Central Minnesota Conference. They hosted WCA in the season opener and fell 20-7, as the Knights were on their way to a 4-2 start to the season before dropping their final three games.

Here's my early prediction: if the Jaguars have a solid turnout for pre-season practices and then turn that into a win in the season opener against WCA, they have a real shot at finishing 4-4 or 5-3 overall heading into the Section 4A playoffs.

That would be terribly exciting!

This Jaguars sports update is brought to you by:

Elrosa caps a 4-2 win over New Munich in the playoff opener

Below is footage from the end of the game between Elrosa and New Munich on July 18.

Elrosa Saints Little League fights a valiant effort against top-seeded Lake Henry, drops a 1-0 contest in SCL quarterfinals

The Elrosa Little League team finished their season with a 1-0 loss at Lake Henry tonight. They ended the 2010 campaign with a 4-7 record against Stearns County League opponents.

Look for more on the game in this week's local newspapers.

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Elrosa Saints win playoff opener vs. New Munich 4-2, in the south half of the SCL, Lake Henry no hits Farming

Gumby signals bunt against New Munich on Sunday...he finished 4-for-4 to help lead the Saints to a victory in their playoff opener.


The Elrosa Saints defeated league rival New Munich 4-2 today on the home diamond in the Stearns County League division playoff opener.

They are set to host Spring Hill next Sunday in a winner's bracket final game at 1:30pm at Saints Field.

Other Stearns County League playoff opener results:
Lake Henry 20, Farming 0 (7 innings)
Spring Hill 4, Meire Grove 0
St.Martin 5, Richmond 0

Here's some action from Elrosa today. Saints' starter Ethan Vogt went the distance on the mound to pick up the complete-game win.


Here's some action from Spring Hill today...Chargers' starter Shawn Schoenberg earns two strikeouts vs. the Grovers in the top of the second inning.


This Elrosa Saints and Stearns County League playoff update is brought to you by:

Elrosa Saints amateur and Little League teams are in action for the playoffs today

Here's a scene from the Belrade/Brooten vs. Elrosa Little League game on July 9 at the Brooten Tournament during Bonanza Valley Days.


The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team hosts New Munich today (Sunday, July 18) at 1:30pm for the division opener, while the Little League Saints travel to #1-seeded Lake Henry for a 6:30pm game in the Stearns County League quarterfinals.

Look back tonight for results.

Stearns County League division playoffs kick off this weekend on Sunday

Elrosa, the top seed in the North division, hosts #4-seed New Munich at 1:30 at Saints Field on Sunday, July 18.

Other SCL playoff openers on July 18:
#2 Spring Hill hosts #3 Meire Grove

SCL-South division:
#1 Lake Henry hosts #4 Farming
#2 St.Martin hosts #3 Richmond

Elrosa Saints Little League wins playoff opener

The Elrosa Saints Little League baseball team won its playoff opener on Wednesday night this week by an 8-2 margin over New Munich, in a game held in Elrosa. It was an 8-seed vs. 9-seed matchup, with the Saints having the better ranking of the two.

Elrosa now prepares for a battle at top-seeded Lake Henry on Sunday night at 6:30pm in the Stearns County League playoff quarterfinals.

In the other play-in game held on Wednesday night in the SCL Little League playoffs, 10th-seeded Regal fell to #7-seed Spring Hill in a 1-0 battle.

Stearns County League Little League final regular season standings:
1st - Lake Henry (9-0)
2nd - Farming (8-1)
3rd - St.Martin (6-3)
4th - Roscoe and Meire Grove, tie (5-4)
6th - Greenwald and Spring Hill, tie (4-5)
8th - Elrosa (3-6)
9th - New Munich (1-8)
10th - Regal (0-9)

Here are the final Stearns County League Legion team regular season standings:
1st - St.Martin (8-1)
2nd - Roscoe and Regal, tie (6-3)
4th - Spring Hill and Meire Grove, tie (5-4)
6th - Richmond, Elrosa and Greenwald, tie, (4-5)
9th - Lake Henry (3-6)
10th - Farming (0-9)

Last night (Thursday), Elrosa hosted Farming in a 7th-seed vs. 10th-seed matchup of the Legion playoffs. Elrosa lost the game 6-4 to end their season. Farming advances to face #2-seed Roscoe next Tuesday night.

This Elrosa Saints youth baseball update is brought to you by:

Tom Emmer - Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! No, Tom, you cannot "win this issue"

From the Star Tribune:
Emmer has complained that his comments are being misrepresented. He recently told the Republican Jewish Coalition that the press is "not reporting truthfully and honestly and accurately." An Emmer fundraising letter sent Tuesday said, "The adage 'don't believe everything you read in the newspaper' has never been more true."

Bill Walsh, deputy campaign manager for Emmer, said the candidate does not want to cut wages but merely cap server wages in the event of a future minimum wage increase. While the overwhelming majority of states have a tip credit, that is what Emmer meant by a Minnesota tip credit, Walsh said.

Tom Emmer, you are a bald face liar and we in the media will not let you get away with it. Your story has changed so many times in the past week about what you really think about how much money servers and waitresses earn, I think only God knows what you think at this point.

We won't let you off the hook. So if your criticism of the media continues, you haven't seen anything yet.

Click here to tune in live to the town hall meeting with Tom Emmer and servers in St.Paul: http://www.theuptake.org/ Coverage begins at 3:30pm today (Wednesday).

You will need a very good internet connection to hear and watch the town hall meeting.

**Update at 5:26pm...this was reported in the Star Tribune.

Bill Walsh, an Emmer campaign spokesperson, wouldn't say whether he thinks Emmer can, "win the issue." He did say "we've had a bad week" but added that was the media's fault.

Tom Emmer, stop blaming the media when we quote what you say in context and then report it to the public. Stop being a weasel!

From Minnesota Public Radio:

Ann Potter, who works at a downtown Minneapolis restaurant, said Emmer is attacking those who earn the minimum wage.

"We work so hard. Most of us don't have health insurance. Most of us don't have 401(k)s. Most of us don't have any type of financial protection," Potter told Emmer. "I am just absolutely enraged with what you had to say. I find it to be abhorrent."

Wait, wait! It gets even better! Read this...Tom Emmer would sign a CUT to the minimum wage!

Again, from MPR:
He refused to tell reporters what he meant when he initially said a tip credit had to be considered.

But in a phone interview earlier this week he said he would cut the minimum wage if the Legislature approves.

"If somebody is going to pass that through the Legislature, we would absolutely sign it," he said.

Tom Emmer rates about as low as the belly of a snake.

Elrosa Saints are tagged with a 3-1 loss at Spring Hill in regular season finale - up next: New Munich in the divisional opener

The Elrosa Saints capped an outstanding regular season in which they earned the Stearns County League North division title with a 3-1 loss at Spring Hill today. A crowd of over 200 fans watched a very solid game play out on a warm, sunny afternoon in Spring Hill.

Elrosa led 1-0 going into the eighth inning before the Chargers rallied for the come-from-behind win.

With the loss, the Saints relinquished possession of the traveling trophy between the teams, in the second "Battle for the Keg" of 2010.

Below are a couple video clips from the game today in Spring Hill...




Up next for Elrosa: the SCL-North division playoffs begin on Sunday, July 18, with a 1:30pm home game against #4-seeded New Munich (5-8 SCL-North).

In the south division playoff openers on July 18, top-seeded Lake Henry (11-2) hosts fourth-seeded Farming, while St.Martin hosts Richmond in a 2-versus-3 matchup.

Final SCL-North division standings:
Elrosa (11-2)
Spring Hill (8-5)
Meire Grove (6-7)
New Munich (5-8)
Greenwald (2-11)

Results today in the SCL:
New Munich 6, Greenwald 4
Meire Grove 10, Farming 7
Richmond 2, St.Martin 1

Final SCL-South regular season standings:
Lake Henry (12-1)
St.Martin (9-4)
Richmond (7-6)
Farming (3-10)
Richmond (2-11)

This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball update is brought to you by:

Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten kicks off today - Little League tournament is underway

Simon Weller is shown pitching for the Elrosa Little League against the host Belgrade/Brooten team at the Brooten City Park. It was the opening game of the Little League tournament, which concludes around 4pm today.


Other activities will be taking place through Sunday night for Bonanza Valley Days.

Happy Fourth of July!

Saturday night fireworks up North at a cabin I stayed at with my family this past weekend.

Elrosa wins for 11th time in SCL play on Friday night - winning 5-3 vs. Greenwald

Ethan Vogt earned the game's final hit, during the ninth inning, while also earning the win on the pitching mound with seven innings of work.


The Elrosa Saints improved to 11-1 in the SCL with the 5-3 win over visiting Greenwald on Friday night.

The Cubs fell to 2-10 in the SCL-North division standings and they have been eliminated from being eligible for playoffs - only the top four teams in each SCL division advance to the post season.

Elrosa travels to Spring Hill next Sunday for the regular season finale for a 1:30pm game in a revision of the "Battle for the Keg."

Read more on the game in this week's Belgrade and Brooten newspapers.

Current SCL-North division standings:
Elrosa (11-1)
Spring Hill (7-5)
Meire Grove (5-7)
New Munich (4-8)
Greenwald (2-10)

Weekend scores in the Stearns County League:
Farming 5, St.Martin 2 Friday night
Spring Hill 15, Meire Grove 3 Saturday afternoon

Then on Sunday afternoon...
Lake Henry 4, Richmond 3
New Munich 2, Roscoe 0
Meire Grove 8, Spring Hill 0

This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball update is brought to you by: