Friday night football scores in Week One

The Minnewaska Area Lakers avenged a 40-7 playoff-opening loss at the hands of the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters when they traveled to Sauk Centre's O'Gara Stadium and built a 28-0 lead in the fourth quarter. Sauk Centre got two late and unimportant touchdowns to make the final score 28-12. Their last touchdown featured their varsity players battling the Lakers JV team with just 8/10ths of a second left.

Click here to read more on that game:
http://heraldsportsblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/tough-opener.html

Other football scores /updates tonight:
Melrose Area 6, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0 (halftime)
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 44, Ashby 0
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights 31, Kimball Area 0
Browerville 27, Osakis 8
Montevideo 38, Benson 7
Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 29, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 6
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 39, Spectrum 8
Moorhead 18, Alexandria 13
Wadena-Deer Creek 22, West Central Area 6
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 34, Yellow Medicine East 7
Melrose Area 14, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 6
Paynesville Area 32, BOLD 13


Here's some photo albums of events from earlier in August:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Sports/2014-BBE-Jaguar-summer-sports/Elrosa-Saints-Little-Dipper-vs

http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Events/2014-BelgradeBrootenElrosa-are/Belgrade-August-Fest-activitie

http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Events/2014-BelgradeBrootenElrosa-are/Belgrade-August-Fest-parade 

Friday Night Lights I: Raiders shut out the Jaguars

Norwood Young America won 28-0 tonight over the Jaguars football team in the season opener. The Class AA Raiders held a 14-0 lead at halftime.

When the dust settled, the returning experience NYA brought to the game proved to be too much for the Jaguars, who are breaking in four new players on the offensive line plus a new quarterback and a whole new backfield. NYA's senior quarterback, Isaac Hormann, was a 1,000-yard passer as a sophomore and junior.

Considering all that, it's remarkable that the Jaguars were able to stay within striking distance by halftime. As rough as the offense may have been tonight, the defense clearly was up to par by making it a two-score game after the first half. I was as curious as anyone about how the Jaguars would look in the season opener, but judging from the initial reports I've gotten I have a lot of hope for what could happen this fall.

Now the Jaguars set their sights on Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles come to town for our home opener next Friday.

Scores from games involving Central Minnesota Conference teams:
Pierz 38, Milaca 21 (the Pioneers led 25-0 at halftime at Milaca, a Class AAA school that went 2-7 last year)
Maple Lake 42, Mora 6 (the Irish had 362 rushing yards! Wow)
St. Cloud Cathedral 14, Holdingford 6 OT
Rockford Area 17, Watertown-Mayer 7
Eden Valley-Watkins 28, Mayer Lutheran 14 (the Eagles jumped out to a 22-0 lead in the second quarter and had a 22-7 lead at halftime; their quarterback was sophomore Reese Jansen)

Area football scores in Week 1:
Albany 58, Belle Plaine 28
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 40, MACCRAY 7
Little Falls 43 Thief River Falls 40
Prairie Valley 36, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 6
Royalton 34, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 20
Minneota 62, Lakeview 6
Dawson-Boyd 42, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 8
Verndale 45, Hancock 6

(Video) Jaguars in action this week

From Tuesday night's volleyball home opener:


And from Wednesday's football practice:


Check back later tonight to find out how the season opener went for the Jaguars football team at Norwood-Young America.

Season opener is Thursday

Kickoff return drills today.

Linemen drills.

The Jaguars football team begins their season tomorrow night at Norwood-Young America. They've been working hard during the preseason and are as ready as they'll ever be for Friday Night Lights Part I. Turnout is a solid 45 in grades 9-12. Of that group, 19 are juniors and seniors who will be heavily relied on this year.

Tri-captains for the 2014 Jaguars are seniors Tommy Cebulla, Dalon Bitzan and Jordan Wosmek. Offensive linemen include Taylor Knight, Zach Walz, Shawn Felling, Adrian Belden and Ben Thompson. The entire backfield is basically brand new to the varsity level with the exception of Cebulla. Many of the first-year starters got varsity time last year in the blowout wins.

I've talked with quite a few of the varsity players and their coaches. They are very excited to get the season going. I'm very optimistic about how the season will go. They have the right attitude and will go out with guns blazing against the Raiders. Good luck Jaguars!

2-0

Karlee Kern served up a string of points at the end of game three, including an ace serve for match point against A-C-GC. Shown are her teammates giving her high fives as the Jaguars moved to 2-0.

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City became the latest team to fall at the hands of the Jaguars volleyball team. The Falcons lost in three games tonight by scores of 25-11, 25-12, 25-15.

A-C-GC is 0-2; they lost to Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart in their season opener on August 21. They're in a major rebuilding project after going 0-21 last season and have a new coach to break in as they look to end a 24-match losing streak.

The Jaguars have a break in action as they gear up for the Central Minnesota Conference opener next Thursday, September 4 at home when Eden Valley-Watkins comes to town.

Season opener!

Coach Weller had a lot to smile about tonight, shown here during a timeout taken by MA/CA with the Jaguars ahead 14-8 in game two. The Tigers had an early 5-1 lead but faded quickly after B-B-E went on a 5-0 run.

Not getting through! Katelyn Heinze goes up for a block.

Hailey Braegelman gets high-fives from her teammates right after getting a kill that ended game one in favor of the Jaguars by a 25-19 score tonight in Morris.

The Jaguars volleyball team won 3-0 tonight at Morris during their season opener. The Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers, who advanced all the way to the Section 3AA championship last season, jumped out with 5 to 6-point leads in all three games but lost 25-19, 25-15, 25-22. B-B-E hasn't lost to Morris Area or MA/CA since 1998.

Here's some video from tonight in Morris:


Be sure to come out tomorrow night for their home opener against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City with the varsity match starting at 7:00pm.
 

43

The 9th-12th grade roster for the Jaguars football team swelled to 43, up from 36 earlier last week.

On that list of 43 athletes, seven are seniors. The rest of the breakdown includes 12 juniors, 7 sophomores and 17 freshmen. The 17 freshmen enjoyed a rare 8-0 season last year on the 8th grade team.

I knew the team had a large crop of freshmen, but at 36 I was a little worried about the turnout. Now at 43, I'm definitely feeling better about it and am very excited to see the season get started. We'll know what they're made of on Thursday night, when the Jaguars travel to Class AA Norwood-Young America. The Raiders were a section finalist after an 0-7 start to the season. They beat Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Medford in last year's Section 2AA playoffs before losing to Pine Island 29-28 just one game short of the state tournament and finishing 3-8 overall. In 2012, they also went 1-7 in the regular season with a 2-8 finish; they were 1-1 in the Section 2AAA playoffs and a season-ending loss to state quarterfinalist Jordan. In 2011, NYA had a stellar 9-2 season including a 6-1 mark in the Minnesota River Conference (1st place). In the 2011 Section 4AA playoffs, NYA beat St. Agnes and Sibley East before losing 24-21 in the championship to Maple Lake. NYA went 7-3 in 2010 and competed in the Section 3AAA playoffs where they went 1-1.

Starting in 2015, the Jaguars will compete in what is currently known as the Prairie Conference, although I have no clue what the league will be called by the MSHSL. It includes Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Prairie Valley, Royalton, Upsala/Swanville Area, Browerville, Kimball Area and West Central Area.

Prairie Valley is a coop between Parkers Prairie and Eagle Valley schools. West Central Area is a huge consolidated district including Hoffman, Kensington, Barrett, Erdahl, Wendell and Elbow Lake.

Kimball Area and B-B-E will be replaced in the Central Minnesota Conference by Sauk Centre and Melrose starting in 2015.

And a final comment. I wholeheartedly agree with what B-B-E administrators have stated recently: the Jaguars should remain in the CMC for all other sports besides football. The changes in football have been brought forward by the MSHSL.

For the playoffs, I have no idea what group the Jaguars will be placed in for 2015. For 2014, this fall the Jaguars are still part of Section 4A, where they've competed since the fall of 2009 and have three section championship appearances. (Prior to 2010, the Jaguars played in just one section championship football game since the formation of the B-B-E Jaguars athletic program in 1988.)

Here's a score from "Week 0" of football:
Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 22, St. Clair 6 

Terrace Mill Children's Theater

Here's the final moments of last night's play in Terrace and thank yous and other comments from the actors and directors of "The Mad adventures of Mr Toad"



And thank you to everyone who gives support in any way to the B-B-E theater and Fine Arts community!! It does not go unnoticed by the staff or students.

Remembering Tully - Part II

Anthony working to turn Sauk Centre's Bret Illies, who he beat by pin during the Jaguar quadrangular on February 2, 2006.

Anthony with his fellow Jaguar placewinners at the Jaguar Invitational on December 2, 2005. Tully advanced to the third-place match that night and won that match by fall with just seconds to spare in the second period to help his team finish in fourth place.

It's still so hard to believe. As painful as these times are, we should make sure to reflect on the good times. Even if it brings out more pain and more tears.

At B-B-E, Anthony was a three-sport athlete in junior high with football, wrestling and track and field. He continued his wrestling career through 11th grade and was part of the Jaguars wrestling varsity squad as a sophomore and junior. In his junior season, he was a full time starter and a key member of B-B-E’s 12-16 squad in the 2005-2006 season. It was a remarkable turnaround after the team only managed two dual wins in 2004-2005 due to multiple open weights.

As a junior, Anthony wrestled at 145, 152 and 160 pounds and finished with a fine record of 20-16. In the Section 5A individual tournament, he went 2-2 and took fourth place at 145 pounds.

Anthony was a guy who would do anything for his team, his coaches and his friends. Mild-mannered, easy-going, always looking for a joke to tell or a prank to pull, he left an impression on anyone who knew him that will never be forgotten.

He and Coach Vos are undoubtedly hanging out right now, watching over all of us from above.

Click on this link to see more pictures and a video clip from the 2005-2006 wrestling season:

http://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2014/08/remembering-tully.html

Jaguars at Minnewaska Quad

Coach Olson gives a pep talk to Katie Boie during her singles match against Minnewaska Area.

The Jaguars girls' tennis team competed at the Minnewaska Area quadrangular today along with Parkers Prairie and Montevideo. Results will be posted later.

Tully the wrestler

A photo taken on December 2, 2005. Anthony placed 3rd at the season-opening Jaguar Invite.

It's been a difficult day for many people in Jaguar Country today. We celebrated the life of Anthony Tullis, 2007 graduate, at First Lutheran Church of Norway Lake. Hundreds attended. All will miss him dearly.

The more stories you hear about him, the more you realize he was truly one of a kind.

Reviewing some football numbers

The Jaguars football team has a roster with 36 players on it in grades 9 through 12. It's the second-smallest roster in school history. In 2004, the program had just 35 players in grades 9-12. In this year's group, six are seniors, including leading starting quarterback candidate Dalon Bitzan. Last year's second-string quarterback (a sophomore last year), Austin Trustheim, did not come out for football this year.

Other seniors with Bitzan on the team include Josey Tensen, Tommy Cebulla, Jordan Wosmek, Tanner Halvorson and Shawn Felling. Just one of the six seniors is a lineman, so to say the Jaguars are breaking in a new line is a huge understatement. In that respect, they have a deep crop of candidates for the offensive and defensive lines. It's a matter of seeing where they fit in the puzzle.

Numbers are especially strong in the eighth grade, where they have a turnout of 20 for the football team. In seventh grade, they have a turnout of 13.

Grand jury

I described the shooting by Lake Gilchrist last week to a retired Minnesota State Patrol officer today. He retired in 1999 at the end of a 31-year career serving east central Minnesota.

He said that a Grand Jury will review all the evidence presented by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Pope County Sheriff's Office and then decide if charges should be pressed and what type of charges. The BCA will review text messaging, phone call logs as well as Facebook and other social media accounts while also looking at results of the toxicology reports and material gathered at the scene of the shooting as well as oral interviews.

These comments of his stood out while we talked, "Law enforcement and the judicial system takes the loss of life very seriously in any case where someone takes the life of another person. It doesn't matter what the past history is of the deceased or the circumstances of what happened. They will get to the bottom of it. Many of the questions people may have right now about what happened will be answered once the Grand Jury has reviewed everything. Right now there's very little information that can be released in a case like that."

Click here to read more on what a Grand Jury is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_jury

Here's more specific information on Minnesota's Grand Jury:
Hennepin County keeps a grand jury impaneled at all times. Each grand jury serves a term of four months, typically meets one day each week, and focuses almost exclusively on homicide cases.

Remembering Tully 09/02/1988 - 08/13/2014

A recent photo of Tully with his beloved dog Bear.

A celebration of the life of Anthony Tullis will take place next week Tuesday and Wednesday, August 19-20.

Tully's visitation will be from 5:00 to 9:00pm on Tuesday at First Lutheran Church of Norway Lake in rural New London. The funeral will be at 2:00pm on Wednesday also at First Lutheran Church of Norway Lake. His family asks that people wear something camouflage to remember his love for the outdoors.

Anthony is a 2007 graduate of B-B-E and leaves behind countless grief-stricken family members across Jaguar Country.

Here's a four-second video clip from December 2, 2005. At 8:21pm that night, Tully and his fellow Jaguar wrestlers are heading back to the mats in preparation for the finals round of the season-opening Jaguar Invite. He was gearing up for the third-place match in the 145-pound bracket, where he faced Darren Berg of Eden Valley-Watkins. And lo and behold, Tully pinned Berg in a time of 3:57 while helping his Jaguars take fourth place that night.

Tully shown with Coach Vos and Coach Schmitz during one of his matches at a home quadrangular on February 2, 2006. He was a member of the varsity squad during his junior year of high school.

Tully vs. Bret Illies of Sauk Centre (145) at the B-B-E Quad on February 2, 2006.

Tully is shown after getting a win during that February 2, 2006 quad when he beat Sauk Centre's Bret Illies with a pin in 4:40 at 145 pounds. The Jaguars fell 41-34 to the Mainstreeters.

Now is a time for everyone to remember Tully and all the warm, wonderful memories everyone has of him. May he find peace and comfort with those who have passed before him, including Coach Vos. Whatever demons he was battling are a thing of the past. We can all find comfort knowing his incredible love and passion for life and his friends and family will live on in everyone who knew him.

Regardless of what happened on that dark night, it was an unimaginable tragedy for the families involved and the rest of Jaguar Country. We're all confused and mourning at varying levels depending on how well we knew those involved and their families. The only way our community will get through it is to pray, comfort one another and give it over to God.

R.I.P. Anthony Tullis September 2, 1988 - August 13, 2014

Another police report

This backs up the account I was given last night on what happened on Wednesday night in the Gilchrist Township shooting.

The police report added this information:
Once law enforcement personnel responded to the 9-1-1 call about the shooting Wednesday night, they found a woman outside the home. The deceased person, Anthony Tullis, was inside the home. The woman admitted she shot him.

The report added that the woman said she was forced into a bedroom and assaulted for over five hours. The source I have says she was bruised "from head to toe". Also in the account I heard, the gun didn't just magically appear right before the shooting. The gun had been a part of the five hour-ordeal that the woman went through.

My take:
What stands out for me is this: the woman is not and never was in custody. She was questioned after the shooting, but the cops didn't have evidence at the time to detain her. If evidence of manslaughter or murder existed, she'd be in custody. It's a terribly unpleasant thought to think that the domestic violence story above is true. After a thorough review of the evidence charges could still be pressed. The system has to work through it.

Also, it's a huge understatement to say that hard feelings and feelings of anger are racing through our community right now. Unanswered questions. Confusion. Speculation. Continued rumors. It'd be helpful if people calmed down and had patience while more information is released by law enforcement. On Facebook, I was horrified to read one statement by an individual from Pillager, MN who suggested the woman who shot Tullis should essentially watch her back...and other comments I can't repeat on here. What the hell is that all about? How sick and twisted is that? The fact is she's barely an adult and also has a family who cares deeply for her and needs support and prayers to get them through this.

As I said yesterday, please continue praying for Tullis's family. In a small town and a small school, we should set an example of compassion for those who are in mourning and who are recovering from a tragedy that could be ripped out of a day time soap opera story line. It's sickening. But we don't live in a perfect world. We have to cope with the cards we're dealt and make the most of the lives we're given. We can rise above this. We can comfort one another and do whatever we have to do to help those who are hurting and pray for healing.

When I hear about funeral arrangements, I'll post that ASAP.

Season-opener!

Cassandra Hoppe is one of four seniors on this year's girls' tennis team; she holds the number-one singles spot.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team picked up an exciting and down-to-the-wire 4-3 win today in their season opener. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area and the Jaguars battled to a 2-2 tie, then split the next two points which set up the dramatic ending at number-one singles.

Cassandra Hoppe, B-B-E's one-dubs player, ultimately picked up a two-set win with a second-set tiebreaker to clinch the win for the Jaguars.

And some video from one-singles action:


Up next is a triangular at Melrose Area next Wednesday. The other team is Becker.

Girls' tennis begins

The Jaguars girls' tennis team begins their 2014 season with a home dual meet on Friday against Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd. It starts at 8:30am.

The team has four seniors on the roster and an overall turnout of 15.

Check back for results on Friday afternoon.

More details on the Gilchrist Township shooting

The shooting took place at a rural residence along a 3/5-mile long dead end road that jots off of the southernmost mile of Lake Linka Road. The residence is also approximately a half mile east of the southwest corner of Lake Gilchrist.

The dead end road running north/south also is lined up closely to the East Branch Chippewa River, which runs into the east side of Lake Gilchrist.

When I drove out there with some rough directions to the location from one of my sources, I searched up and down Lake Linka Road looking for the house in question. To my surprise, the dead end road I described above was blocked off by an undercover police officer. Knowing that and knowing what sources say about where this rural residence is, I finally determined the shooting took place at a residence along that dead end road. The undercover police officer said that no member of the public is allowed to drive down that road, due to an active investigation taking place. It could be days before that road block is lifted.

A person who lives near Lake Gilchrist has said they heard the gun firing when this happened on Wednesday night. Based on where they live, that would only be possible if the shooting took place outside the house. The initial police report said the deceased man was found inside the house. I am anxious to have that discrepancy of what I've learned and what was in the police report cleared up.

It's also important to note that the individual who fired the gun is not in custody. The only scenario I'd say that's possible if it was a case of self-defense. Many theories are running around the rumor mill about what happened, and although I have what I feel is solid information painting an accurate picture of the shooting, none of that can be released as this took place just over 24 hours ago. I have a third-hand account of the shooting, but I want to hold onto that until law enforcement releases more of their findings.

It's too soon...and the rumor mill will have to just keep churning.

*Update: a friend told me not to read too much into the continued police presence at the location of the shooting. In a situation like this, the place needs guarding from looting.

Shooting death in Gilchrist Township

A man was shot dead last night in a rural Pope County home on the far southwest edge of the B-B-E school district. I don't have any other confirmed information, but once I gather it I will post asap.

And the police report:

Pope County Sheriff's office, BCA investigate shooting

The Pope County Sheriff's Office and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) are investigating the circumstances surrounding a death which occurred late Wednesday night in rural Pope County.

Around 11:24 p.m. Wednesday, Pope County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a 9-1-1 call about an individual who had been shot inside of a home in Gilchrist Township in southern Pope County. Upon arrival, deputies located a distraught female outside of the home and a deceased male inside of the home. Investigators believe both individuals live at the residence.

BCA agents and crime scene personnel have responded to the scene at the request of the Pope County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's deputies and agents are conducting interviews with the female as well with any possible witnesses.

Investigators do not believe there is an ongoing risk to the public.

The man's body was taken to the Anoka County Medical Examiner for autopsy and formal identification.

I have other information on identification of the deceased and the suspected shooter. I can't release that until it is confirmed by law enforcement. My information suggests that both individuals are B-B-E graduates, with the deceased being a 2007 graduate. Because of what I will call bizarre circumstances surrounding the shooting, I won't be releasing any information on who the suspected shooter or how the shooting occurred until a full report is released by law enforcement. (That may be days or weeks.)

**Update: the deceased man is Anthony Tullis. I remember him from his days as a Jaguar wrestler. Please lift up his family in prayer that God may grant them comfort during this shocking and tragic time.

And by all means, have patience with learning more about what happened.

Fall school board elections

Six people filed for four positions on the B-B-E school board during the filing period that ended on Tuesday this week. The school board elections will be held on General Election Day, November 4.

The six who filed include incumbents Paul Gregory, Scott Voss, Brian Knight and Ginny Borgerding. Two newcomers who filed are Nicole Szczesniak and Pat Thieschafer.

Tough news at Renville County West school, where voters defeated a bond referendum that would have raised $4.9 million to add onto the existing K-12 school building in Renville and make other much-needed improvements to their school facility. The vote was 484 "no" to 400 "yes".

(Video) Jaguars in the parade

Here's your 2014 state champion B-B-E Jaguars!

Fall sports preseason is underway

Receivers and running backs are shown during practice drills this morning.

The Jaguars football team has a turnout of around 42 in grades 9-12 after I did a rough head count at their first day of practice this morning. I haven't had a chance to talk to the coaches about if there's anyone missing who they expected to come out or if some players were absent today. Generally, coaches don't like to report exact turnout figures until the first week of practice is complete.

The Jaguars are gearing up for the season opener, which is Thursday, August 28 at Norwood-Young America high school.

Below is the rest of the regular season schedule (Central Minnesota Conference games):
September 5 vs. Eden Valley-Watkins
September 12 AWAY vs. Kimball Area
September 19 vs. Holdingford
September 26 AWAY vs. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
October 3 vs. Rockford Area
October 10 vs. Maple Lake
October 15 AWAY vs. Pierz Healy

I've already posted information on the Jaguars volleyball team, who has a bright outlook for the upcoming season with a strong nucleus of returning players. The Jaguars girls' tennis team must have been indoors when I stopped at football practice, as the tennis courts were empty around 11:00am.

The volleyball season opener is Monday, August 25 at Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta. Their first home match is the following night against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

The girls' tennis season opener is this Friday on the high school courts with a triangular including Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area and Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd. The first match is at 8:30am between LPGE/USA and B-B-E. After that triangular, the varsity team won't play at home again until the first day of school (September 2) against New London-Spicer.

St. Martin wins region title

A three-win Sunday propelled the St. Martin Martins to earn the Region 15C amateur baseball championship after they beat Spring Hill by scores of 4-3 and 3-2 in the championship series.

New Munich settled for the #3 seed to state after St. Martin beat them 9-3 in the first region contest held on Sunday in Elrosa. Read more from the tournament in the August 14 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald.

Richmond, New Munich advance to state

New Munich won in dramatic fashion in the 10th inning of their elimination game of the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament against Regal today by a 5-4 score. Elrosa's Aaron Vogt was the winning pitcher in that game.

Richmond ended Lake Henry's season with a 2-1 win by scoring one run in the bottom of the 9th inning.

New Munich then defeated Richmond 9-8 in 11 innings to advance into Sunday's action of the region tournament. With that loss, Richmond is locked in as the number-four seed to the Class C state tournament.

Catch more details on today's games in Elrosa at Herman Lensing's fantastic amateur baseball sports blog:
http://midmnbaseball.blogspot.com

I have had Internet connectivity issues today. I will post Belgrade August Fest photos/video on Sunday.

Spring Hill vs. St. Martin

Great crowd tonight at Saints Field! Here's a glimpse of the press box and crowd in the second inning.

The Spring Hill Chargers punched a ticket to the Region 15C championship game in a thrilling game against St. Martin tonight on a perfect night for baseball at Elrosa's Saints Field. The Chargers took a 2- 0 lead in the 3rd inning, the Martins got on the board with one run in the 5th inning, and the Chargers then went ahead 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning before the Martins tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Spring Hill got a lead off solo home run by Cody Eichers in the top of the 9th inning against St. Martin closer Josh Stangler and ultimately scored two more runs to win by a final score of 6-3. Ethan Vogt, draftee from Elrosa, got the complete-game win for Spring Hill. The Chargers advance to Sunday's championship game, while the Martins play next at 11 a.m. on Sunday against the winner of Saturday's 4 p.m. game.

Here's some video from tonight at the Melrose Beacon website:
http://melrosebeacon.com/content/spring-hill-vs-st-martin-region-15c

And here's more coverage at Herman Lensing's amateur baseball blog:
http://midmnbaseball.blogspot.com/2014/08/friday-aug-8-2014-region-15c.html

Saturday's elimination games include New Munich vs. Regal at 11:00am and Richmond vs. Lake Henry at 1:30 p.m.

More will follow later.

(Video) FarmFest agriculture forum

Here's 10 minutes or so from the U.S. Senator candidate debate at FarmFest on Wednesday this week. It's part of what has been an extremely busy week for me.

http://saukherald.com/content/us-senator-debate-farmfest

Preseason volleyball rankings!

Whew! The Jaguars volleyball team must have impressed at least a few people over the summer, as they've come in ranked in a tie for #3 with Fillmore Central in the preseason Class A state rankings. I honestly don't believe the Jaguars have ever been ranked that high in a preseason volleyball poll. They've been ranked in a state poll ever since August of 2005, when the preseason poll was released for that season. WOW! That is something everyone associated with the program should be proud of. It also sets a high bar for the current team, one that I know they're up for.

Ranked 13th in Class A is section nemesis Nevis.

Ranked #7 (tied with Jackson County Central) in Class AA is conference rival Maple Lake. Also ranked in Class AA is Melrose Area, coming in at 13th place. Absent from the state rankings is Sauk Centre, but as good as they're program is I bet they'll have something to say about the rankings once the regular season is underway.

Belgrade's August Fest

Click to enlarge the poster graphic.

The two-day Belgrade August Fest community celebration is today and tomorrow. Click on the following link to read about it at the Sauk Centre Herald website:
http://saukherald.com/articles/2014/08/08/august-fest-2014

(Video) Region 15C baseball

Here's a clip from last Saturday night, featuring Samantha Wiener singing the National Anthem:
http://saukherald.com/content/region-15c-baseball-national-anthem

Elrosa Legion season ends

The Elrosa Saints Legion baseball team lost 8-2 at Roscoe in the Stearns County League semifinal round on Tuesday night. Their final record was 8-4.

Youth football camp!!

(Above) Members of the 2012 fall Youth Tackle (5th-6th grade) Jaguars football team after they beat Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 6-0 in Willmar in the Super Saturday championships.

Spread the word!

For B-B-E students going into 1st grade up through those going into 6th grade, a youth football camp starts tonight at the high school varsity football field. It's a non-contact camp that focuses on the basics.

The camp runs three nights from 6:00 to 8:00pm: tonight, Wednesday and Thursday night this week.

August Fest coming

The annual Belgrade August Fest celebration is next weekend, Friday and Saturday, August 8-9.

The event has a special "kick off" concert at the city park in Belgrade on Wednesday night at 7:00pm.

This might be the first year in many years that I can take in the toilet bowl races on Saturday (1:00pm). We all need something to look forward to, right?

Little Dipper, Region 15C baseball notes

The Elrosa Saints Little Dipper baseball team lost their bid for a Stearns County League championship by a 17-5 score at Farming on Sunday night. The Saints took a brief 4-3 lead after scoring three runs off of one hit in the top of the 3rd inning.

Elrosa finishes the year with a terrific record of 10-3 overall after finishing 8-2 in the SCL regular season standings (tied for second with Lake Henry).

At the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament on Sunday, St. Martin beat Lake Henry 10-2 to advance to the state tournament for the 10th time in program history. (Their first state trip was in 1966 and last one was in 2010.)

Regal ended Meire Grove's season by a 6-1 score, and Richmond bounced Norway Lake-Sunburg from state contention in a 5-3 win to finish this weekend's games.

Up next for Region 15C fans is a fantastic match up between St. Martin and Spring Hill this Friday night, August 8, at 7:30pm in Elrosa. For Regal, they play an elimination game against New Munich on Saturday at 11:00am.

Spring Hill gains state berth

Nate Terres advanced on base in his first at bat against New Munich tonight on an error but was one of three Charger left stranded in the bottom of the second. In his second at bat he struck gold with a three-RBI double that erased an early New Munich lead.

Thanks in large part to four RBI by number-five batter Nate Terres, plus a huge pitching performance by reliever Jordan Welle, the Spring Hill Chargers are heading to the Class C amateur state tournament for the second year in a row.

Nate Terres did a big chunk of his damage in the bottom of the third inning, when he hit a bases-clearing double to bring in three RBI and erase a 2-0 deficit on the scoreboard at Saints Field in Elrosa. A lead off double by Eric Terres, a walk to Jamie Terres and a successful bunt single by Shawn Schoenberg loaded up the bases on no outs. After Corey Schoenberg was struck out by New Munich starter Ty Reller, Nate Terres knocked the ball to straightaway center.

The run scored by Shawn Schoenberg was ultimately the game winner, with the Chargers holding New Munich off the scoreboard in the final six innings in a 4-2 win.

St. Martin and Lake Henry face one another on Sunday at 11:00am in Elrosa in another state-qualifying game.

And a shout out to Gumby and the rest of the Elrosa ground crew and staff! The field was immaculate for the Saturday evening game. Gumby and Company had to deal with a one-hour rain delay after the Meire Grove vs. St. Martin game started at about 4:00pm. Mother Nature didn't put a dent in the crowd, though.

Get a load of this! Over 500 fans attended the Friday night game between Lake Henry and Regal. Then on Saturday the gate drew 715 fans prior to the night game.

Way to go Stearns County! Represent!!

Region 15C baseball update

Scores from today:
Spring Hill 3, Richmond 2.
New Munich 10, Norway Lake-Sunburg 2.

And in the third game today, St. Martin has a 2-1 lead through 3 1/2 innings over Meire Grove.

County fairs

Above is an art project submitted by a B-B-E student at the Pope County Fair; it won a Grand Champion prize.

Two area county fairs are underway this weekend: the Pope County Fair in Glenwood and the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre. Both fairs draw scores of people from Jaguar Country, and B-B-E students make up a nice contingent of 4-H members in both counties as well.

See you at the fair!

Lake Henry vs. Regal

The Lake Henry Lakers edged the Regal Eagles in a very close ball game by a 4-3 score on Friday night in the opening game of the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament tonight in Elrosa.

Saturday's games in Elrosa feature: Richmond vs. Spring Hill (11:00am), New Munich vs. Norway Lake-Sunburg (1:30pm) and Meire Grove vs. St. Martin (4:00pm).

A night game will be held on Saturday night between the winners of the 11:00am and 1:30pm games; the winner of that game gets a ticket to the Class C amateur state tournament.