Playoff opener

The fifth-ranked and second-seeded B-B-E Jaguars baseball team won 3-1 tonight against Kimball to open the Sub-Section 6A-East playoffs.

Next is the semifinal round, still in the single-elimination bracket, this week Thursday at 1 p.m. at Minnewaska Area high school. The opponent will be third-seeded New York Mills, who blanked No. 6-seeded Brandon/Evansville 10-0 in their playoff opener tonight.

Memorial Day broadcast

The Brooten Memorial Day program will be broadcast live on the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's streaming station. Here's the link...the video goes live just before 10 a.m. today!
http://citylinktv.com/channel/brooten-bonanza-valley-voice

(HD video) Mock crash

Here's an extended video clip (17 minutes) from the mock crash held in late April:


It was quite an afternoon to experience.

And here's the link to watch the Bonanza Valley Voice archive of the broadcast of the B-B-E Baccalaureate service on Wednesday night:
http://citylinktv.com/archive/bbe-baccalaureate-service

And here's coverage from graduation!
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2016/05/19/bbe/b-b-e-graduates-class-of-2016/280.html

This is a very busy time of the year. Stay safe, everyone!

(HD video) Sub-section discus throw

Here's senior Sidney Shacter in the discus throw event. He took second place at Sub-Section 6A-21 and qualified for the Section 6A meet.


This is the third year in a row that he has qualified for the section meet in this event.

Back to .500

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team slipped back to .500 on the season when Farming beat them on Friday night under the lights by a 9-5 score.

On Sunday this weekend the Saints travel to Richmond (2-2) to face the Royals.

(HD video) Jaguars vs. Tigers

Here's video from the Saturday baseball game against Browerville/Eagle Valley.


The Jaguars start playoffs next Tuesday at home!

Subsection track and field

Wow! How cool is this!!?? The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams are sending at least 14 athletes to the Section 6A meet, which is next week Thursday, June 2 at Moorhead State University. Even better, every senior on the team is part of that section-qualifying group!

At today's Sub-Section 6A-21 meet at the University of Minnesota-Morris, the Jaguars had a fantastic start when the boys' 4x800 relay team took the championship with a season-best time of 8:50. Both the boys' and girls' squads had fantastic performances up and down the lineup. In numerous field events the Jaguars shined, especially the boys' discus throw (Sidney Shacter, second place) and the girls' triple jump (Jen Boyle got second and Ebba Reimers took fourth).

I am currently working on a sub-section track and field story with video to be posted later tonight at the Bonanza Valley Voice website. http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. (Updates on Friday afternoon)

Section golf

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team is headed to the Section 5A finals! They are in 4th place after the first day of action in Benson today.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' golfers are in 2nd place and also section finals-bound. They shot a 360 yesterday, while Minneota had a 358. Ortonville is in third with a 371. B-B-E had five golfers shoot 98 or better and four golfers shoot 94 or better.

The Section 5A finals for the boys' and girls' golf teams is at the Benson Golf Course on Wednesday, June 1.

Baccalaureate Service

Here's the archived video of the Baccalaureate Service for the B-B-E Class of 2016 held tonight at Big Grove Lutheran Church. Brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's broadcasting team and its business sponsors!
http://citylinktv.com/archive/bbe-baccalaureate-service

Sub-section baseball

The rankings are in! The 13th-ranked B-B-E Jaguars baseball team is the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 6A-East and currently on a four-game winning streak. They host No. 7 Kimball Area next Tuesday May 31 at 5 p.m. in the sub-section quarterfinals in Elrosa.

Sub-Section 6A-East baseball seeding:

1.) Parkers Prairie (15-2 overall)

2.) B-B-E (14-5 overall)

3.) New York Mills (11-7 overall)

4.) Browerville/Eagle Valley (12-8 overall)

5.) Upsala/Swanville Area (10-9 overall)

6.) Brandon/Evansville (5-14 overall)

7.) Kimball Area (3-15 overall)

State-ranked Ortonville (15-3) is the No. 1 seed in Sub-Section 6A-West, followed by West Central Area (9-8) and Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (16-4).

If the Jaguars beat Kimball, they advance to the semifinals which will be on Thursday, June 2 at 4 p.m. at Minnewaska Area high school.

Area playoffs underway

Sub-Section 6A-East fastpitch quarterfinal scores on May 24:

Browerville/Eagle Valley 9, Swanville 5

Parkers Prairie 20, Upsala 3

Royalton 21, B-B-E 3 (game delayed in the third inning due to hail)

Area playoff fastpitch scores on May 24:

Maple Lake 14, Paynesville 1 (Irish are sub-section finals bound to face Annandale)

Annandale 9, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 5

Sauk Centre 1, Holdingford 0 (Mainstreeters are heading to the sub-section finals for the second time in the past three seasons; they ended Holdingford’s season with a rare triple play)

Albany 5, Pierz 4 (Huskies are the top seed and face Sauk Centre for the sub-section title on Thursday at 5 p.m. at River’s Edge park in Waite Park)

Kimball Area 11, West Lutheran 2 (Cubs are section finals-bound for the third time in school history, joining the 1993 and 2012 squads; they need one win to get to state)

Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 7, New London-Spicer 6 (MA/CA is the top seed in Sub-Section 3AA-North)

NL-S 14, Canby/Minneota 1 (loser’s bracket game)

Benson/Hancock 19, Minnewaska Area 17 (crazy!! The Brave-Owls had a 14-run fifth inning thanks largely to eight Lakers errors! They trailed the Lakers 17-1 after four innings!!)

Montevideo 14, Benson/Hancock 9

Area baseball scores on May 24:

Sauk Centre 13, Melrose Area 1

Upsala/Swanville Area 5, Staples-Motley 1

Paynesville Area 12, Holdingford 2 (6 innings)

St. Cloud Cathedral 11, Paynesville 2

MACCRAY 7, Renville County West 4

Minnewaska 8, MA/CA 0

K-M-S 9, Minneota 1 (Fighting Saints win the Camden Conference title)

(May 23 games)

BOLD 3, MA/CA 0

Minnewaska Area 10, Benson 0

Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 7, Hancock 2

Paynesville Area 4, Montevideo 1

Champions!!!!

Three Jaguars scoring in the 40s helped lead the way for the B-B-E girls’ golf team to win the Central Minnesota Conference title after the final day of the schedule was played at Paynesville this morning. Alyssa Dalen’s 43 led the Jaguars, who scored a 192 to take second place behind Osakis (189).

Overall the Jaguars won the CMC title with a score of 1,300 compared to Osakis’s 1,304.

Last season the Jaguars defeated the Silverstreaks by six strokes overall to claim their second CMC title in school history.

Both the boys’ and girls’ squads for B-B-E now prepare for the first round of the Section 5A meet this Wednesday in Benson.

A great season so far, and hopefully more glory to come!

Max Bats Invitational

In a battle of two of the top teams in Sub-Section 6A-East, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team defeated the Browerville/Eagle Valley Tigers 4-2 in the final game of the Max Bats Wood Bats Invitational.

B-B-E is now 12-5 on the season. They host Kimball Area (3-13, 1-10) in the final series of the Central Minnesota Conference schedule.

Browerville/Eagle Valley, who defeated Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg yesterday in the tournament 3-0, is now 11-8 overall.

Streaming live tonight

At the B-B-E Jaguars vs. Browerville/Eagle Valley Tigers baseball game. Any time between 5:30 p.m. and probably at least 7:30 p.m., you can tune in to watch the game live! Courtesy of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper and our business advertisers.

Here's the link:
http://citylinktv.com/channel/brooten-bonanza-valley-voice

Very busy Friday

Much happened on Friday! Mostly good! Here's the run-down:

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team earned their second win of the season against Swanville.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team narrowly lost two Central Minnesota Conference meets, but they still hold a seven-stroke lead over Osakis in the overall standings. Just one meet remains: at Paynesville on Monday morning.

And! The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team won in dramatic fashion 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat a very strong Minnewaska Area squad in the first night of the Max Bats Invitational. Both teams are 11-5 following the game. The Lakers are in second place, just one-and-a-half games out of first place, in the West Central South Conference. The Jaguars host Browerville/Eagle Valley, a sub-section rival, at 5:30 p.m. today in Elrosa. I plan to live-stream that game, details to follow.

Third place

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team narrowly missed out on first place at the home meet this morning, the fifth meet of the Central Minnesota Conference schedule.

Sophomore Jayden Miller was tri-medalist with a score of 39. As a team the Jaguars shot a 176. Osakis took second with a 175, and Maple Lake won the meet with a 173.

No word yet from the girls' CMC meet in Osakis this morning.

Fastpitch playoffs

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team (1-15 overall) will enter the postseason as the No. 6 seed in Sub-Section 6A-East next Tuesday, May 24. They will travel to No. 3-seeded Royalton for a 5 p.m. game.

The top seeds in Section 6A fastpitch are New York Mills (in the east sub-section) and Brandon-Evansville (in the west sub-section).

Sub-Section 6A-East fastpitch seeding:

1st) New York Mills

2nd) Parkers Prairie

3rd) Royalton

4th) Browerville/Eagle Valley

5th) Swanville

6th) B-B-E

7th) Upsala

PLEASE!

YES.

And then read this:
http://wellnessmama.com/12908/kids-need-dirt

and then this:
http://wellnessmama.com/5437/gardeners-live-longer

Slipping in the standings

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team took it on the chin today at Paynesville Area, with the Bulldogs earning a split in the season series with a 4-0 win. The Jaguars fall to 7-5 in the Central Minnesota Conference and sit in fourth place with two games remaining.

Maple Lake and Pierz each earned a share of the CMC title; they both finished 11-3 in the league. Pierz, who lost twice to B-B-E this year, finished the CMC schedule with two wins over last-place Holdingford on Monday by 10-0 and 5-0 scores. Maple Lake, who split with Pierz this year, beat Kimball Area 19-0 in five innings on Monday to finish their conference schedule.

Read more in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice, including results from the Central Minnesota Conference track and field championships that were held today at the B-B-E high school athletic complex.

Read this too!

http://www.faithit.com/worst-nightmare-raising-the-bully-leslie-blanchard/

Especially read this if you are a parent or grandparent!

Read it

https://baptistnews.com/2016/05/13/seven-things-im-learning-about-transgender-persons/

Knowledge is power. And being ignorant is a terrible way to live your life.

Boy Scouts fundraiser

B-B-E Boy Scouts Hot Dog & Bean Feed

The Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Boy Scouts Troop 667 will hold their spring Hot Dog & Bean Feed fundraiser on Friday, May 20 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Belgrade. It's an all-you-can eat event! Free will donation. Funds raised will help pay for summer camp costs for troop members.

Parade video!

Catch the parade in Sunburg online if you can't see it in person!

The video goes live at 3:30 p.m. today:
http://citylinktv.com/channel/brooten-bonanza-valley-voice/

On a big stage

Tonight at Dick Seibert Field on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the 14th-ranked B-B-E Jaguars baseball team defeated eighth-ranked Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg by a 12-5 score. Starter Jacob Weller pitched six innings to get the win.

The Jaguars improved to 10-4 on the season, while K-M-S falls to 10-4.

A busy night

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team came away with a split against Eden Valley-Watkins tonight. They suffered an error-plagued 8-4 loss in game one, and then in game two came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 5-4. The loss definitely puts their state ranking (No. 14 in Class 1A) in jeopardy and puts a huge dent in their chances at a conference title. The good news is that Paynesville Area split with Maple Lake tonight in a pair of games decided by one run. The Jaguars remain (roughly) one game out of first place in the Central Minnesota Conference.

Central Minnesota Conference baseball scores on May 12:
Pierz 18, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0
Pierz 10, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 2
Holdingford 5, Kimball Area 1
Holdingford 3, Kimball Area 1
Maple Lake 4, Paynesville Area 3
Paynesville Area 5, Maple Lake 4

CMC baseball standings as of May 12:
1st) Maple Lake 10-3
2nd) Pierz 9-3
3rd) B-B-E 7-4
4th) Paynesville Area 6-4
5th) HL-W-W 4-6
6th) EV-Watkins 4-9
7th) Holdingford 3-6
8th) Kimball Area 1-9

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team went 0-2 at Eden Valley-Watkins with losses by scores of 12-0 and 10-1. I just read in the St. Cloud Times that Kimball Area (16-0, 13-0) won the CMC title this season after sweeping Holdingford tonight in a doubleheader.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team defeated Osakis by a seven-stroke margin in a Central Minnesota Conference meet at Pierz. They shot a 178 to a 185 by the Silverstreaks. Now overall B-B-E is at 740 in the CMC standings compared to 750 by Osakis. Three meets are left on the schedule at Osakis, B-B-E and Paynesville.

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team finished third today in a CMC meet at Kimball with a score of 190. Osakis took first with a 183, and conference front-runner Maple Lake took second with a 184. The Jaguars sit 29 strokes out of first place in the CMC with three meets remaining.

Area fastpitch softball final scores on May 12:
Sauk Centre 14, Minnewaska Area 5
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 5, Melrose Area 4
BOLD 10, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3
Osakis 12, Swanville 7
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 16, Royalton 15
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 10, Royalton 8 (LP-GE sweeps the Prairie-Conference leaders and takes over first place alone) 

Area baseball scores on May 12:
Sauk Centre 5, A-C-GC 4
Sauk Centre 8, A-C-GC 2
Melrose Area 7, Benson 2
Upsala/Swanville Area 6, Osakis 2
Royalton 12, LP-GE 6

Pre-section meet

In what has been dubbed a "pre-section" meet at the Benson Golf Course, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team took top honors with a school-record 18-hole score of 350. Senior Alyssa Dalen shot a 79 to secure the medalist title.

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team shot a very solid 362 to take fifth place at the same meet.

Taking a bite out of the Pioneers

The 14th-ranked (Class 1A) B-B-E Jaguars baseball team won by shut out by a 3-0 score tonight over the visiting 16th-ranked (Class 2A) Pierz Pioneers in a battle of top teams in the Central Minnesota Conference. The Jaguars are now 6-3 in the CMC, a half-game behind the Pioneers who are 7-3 in the standings. Maple Lake (7-2 CMC) had a doubleheader at Eden Valley-Watkins, but it was rained out and postponed.

As always, read more in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice.

Wet day ahead

So far all events are on for today. It rained most of the night but has since stopped. I do not see more rain in the forecast.

Here's a video from the track and field meet...the 4x400 boys' relay race:


Time to get cracking on my May 12 issue!

Jaguars in Minneapolis!

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team will be playing Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Friday, May 13 at Siebert Field on the Campus of the University of Minnesota.  The JV will be playing at 4:00 PM, and there will be a time limit so that the varsity can begin at 6:30 PM.

Bus parking and fan parking - there is no parking on 8th Street SE next to Siebert Field and its a weird jurisdictional border with U of M, City of Mpls and BNSF Rail road in which the latter has its own parking enforcement officers that will ticket your fans. Please remind your fans to check and obey the no parking signs. On-street parking in the adjacent neighborhoods off 15th Ave SE is suggested or the 4th Street Ramp is always an option.

(HD video) Elementary spring concert

Here's video from last Wednesday's elementary concert. I have gobs of video and photos from tonight's high school concert. It will take a couple days to get through all of it.


As always, look for photos from the concerts in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Postponed

Today's home game between our B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team and the Swanville Bulldogs has been postponed. A much-needed steady rain is falling across the Bonanza Valley area, and the rain is forecast to continue the rest of the afternoon into the evening.

Don't miss tonight's 7-12 spring band and choir concert! It begins at 7 p.m.

And I'm finally getting more spring sports photos uploaded to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper photo gallery...here's the link to the master folder:
https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/BBE-Jaguar-Spring-2016-Sports

First loss

The undefeated start to the season came to an end for the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team today in a 6-3 loss to St. Martin. The big factor in the game was five errors by Elrosa, while the Martin's were errorless in the field.

Back on top

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team earned a six-stroke win over Osakis on Thursday at Kimball. They shot a 183 to Osakis's 189 and pulled back in front in the Central Minnesota Conference standings (565 to 562). Four meets remain on the conference schedule: Pierz, Osakis, B-B-E and Paynesville.

In the May 4 Associated Press state rankings, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team found themselves at the No. 7 slot, the first time in school history that they have been ranked in the top 10 in a state baseball poll. They went from not being ranked at all in the April 27 poll (not even receiving votes) to number seven! It was great to see the program getting some recognition...

...and the bad news, with those lofty rankings all but vanishing tonight. At Maple Lake, the Jaguars baseball team saw their hopes for a Central Minnesota Conference title take a huge hit when they were swept by the Irish. Game one went south quickly with Maple Lake taking an 8-0 lead in the first inning. They named the score and decided to beat the Jaguars 13-1 in five innings. In game two the Irish pummeled the Jaguars by an identical 13-1 score (five innings) while holding the visitors to just two hits. The Jaguars trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth inning, when the Irish scored 11 runs. (Ouch!) Maple Lake had 12 hits in the game.

Not much to say about the sweep. The Jaguars will likely have to run the table and win out in conference play in order to have a shot at conference hardware. If not, they need to get their act together and look to make a run at a Section 6A title in the playoffs. B-B-E is 7-3 overall now (5-3 CMC) and hosts 17th-ranked (Class 2A) Pierz next Tuesday. Currently Pierz and Maple Lake are tied for first place in the CMC at 7-2 each.

In a home CMC doubleheader, the No.-10 ranked Maple Lake Irish defeated the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team 11-0 and 14-1. The Jaguars host Swanville (3-3) on Monday at 4:15 p.m. (I hope to live stream the game online...stay tuned on that!)

Concerts

School concerts this week

The B-B-E elementary school hosts a 5th and 6th grade band concert at 2:30 p.m. this week on Wednesday. One highlight is the unveiling of the newly-formed 5th/6th grade jazz band. Next Monday the B-B-E high school hosts a 7th-12th grade band and choir spring concert starting at 7 p.m.

Another win!

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team completed a season sweep over the Holdingford Huskers with an 8-1 win tonight in Elrosa. That win, coupled with Maple Lake's 2-1 loss to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, launched the Jaguars into first place alone in the Central Minnesota Conference.

Pierz beat Paynesville 14-5 to keep pace with the Jaguars and Maple Lake in the hunt for a CMC title.