extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. ALL VIEWS posted are strictly and without exception the opinions of the newspaper owner and no one else; they're written in first hand format. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Sunday, July 30, 2017
SCL Little Dipper finals
The Farming Flames won 6-0 over Elrosa in the Stearns County League Little Dipper championship game tonight in Elrosa. Elrosa finishes the SCL season with a 9-2 record, while Farming ended at 10-1.
Below, video from the player intros and top of the first inning:
This all but wraps up the summer youth sports season for the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. All I see left on the horizon is the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament, and hopefully the state tournament as well!
Matt Middendorf watches his hit sail into center field, good for a single in the bottom of the third inning. He later scored Elrosa's first run of the game against New Munich.
One run was the difference this afternoon as New Munich defeated the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team 3 to 2 in the division championship game this afternoon. The Silverstreaks, aided by a stellar complete-game effort by starter Jim Thull, scored two runs in the first inning and added to it in the second.
In the bottom of the second, Kevin Kuefler and AJ Hadley both had back-to-back two-out singles. Thull got out unscathed with the next play being an unassisted put out at third base on the force out.
In the bottom of the third, the Saints got back-to-back one out singles by Matt Middendorf and Matt Schmitz. On Schmitz's single, both runners got an extra base on a would-be put out throw. Cody Eichers then hit a shot to first base, and the ball slipped through Ty Reller's glove and bounced into the outfield on the right line. Middendorf and Schmitz both scored on the play. New Munich's lead stood up, though, after the Silverstreaks got a double play on a fly ball to right field and then a tag out on Eichers.
Elrosa had a threat going in the fourth with leadoff singles by Ethan Vogt and Kevin Kuefler. AJ Hadley sacrifice bunted, but then James Kuefler hit a fielder's choice to the third baseman. The play was a 5-2 put out throw at home to get Vogt, and the next batter was out on a ground ball play to first.
In the bottom of the sixth, Austen Hadley hit a leadoff, stand up double. He was left stranded on two ground balls and a fly out to right field.
New Munich earned a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the eighth after Matt Schmitz hit a leadoff single.
In the bottom of the ninth, Kevin Kuefler launched a triple that sailed over the glove of New Munich's centerfielder. AJ Hadley then earned a walk to put runners on the corners. James Kuefler and Pat Illies were the next batters, and both hit hard shots towards the shortstop, but both were snagged for fly balls to end the game.
Starter Aaron Vogt pitched a marvelous game, going eight innings before being relieved in the ninth by Austin Imdieke.
Below is video from the player introductions today:
*Elrosa opens the Region 15C tournament on Friday night, August 4 at 8 p.m. in Farming. They will take on the runner-up out of the County Line League. Spread the word!!!
Draftees for SCL-North teams: Elrosa picked up Austin Schoenberg from Spring Hill for the region tournament; New Munich grabbed Brandon Worms of Greenwald, and Meire Grove drafted Jordan Welle of Spring Hill.
In other Sunday amateur baseball games:
Regal qualified for Region 15C with a 2-0 win over Norway Lake-Sunburg in the County Line League. The Eagles now take on New London-Spicer in the championship game.
Richmond beat Lake Henry 6-3 in the SCL-South championship game.
Other games are in progress.
*Updates: Meire Grove won 7-4 to end Spring Hill's season. Regal lost 8-1 to New London-Spicer and advances to regions as the County Line League's No. 2 seed.
The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated No. 4-seeded Meire Grove by a 5-4 win after Matt Schmitz earned a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday afternoon. They advance to the Stearns County League North division championship on Sunday at noon, when they'll host New Munich. Read more on the Elrosa/Meire Grove win at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/07/20/sports/elrosa-earns-region-berth/492.html.
New Munich also won in walk-off fashion over Spring Hill in the other SCL-North division contest on Saturday. New Munich and Elrosa both earned spots in the Region 15C tournament, while Spring Hill and Meire Grove will play at 3 p.m. on Sunday in Elrosa for a trip to regions. The loser of that game will see their season end.
The Regal Eagles amateur baseball team will face Norway Lake-Sunburg at noon on Sunday, July 30 in Paynesville for the final elimination game of the County Line League playoffs. The winner advances to regions, while the loser is eliminated. The Regal-vs.-Norway Lake-Sunburg winner advances to the CLL championship game, when they'll take on New London-Spicer.
In the Stearns County League South division, No. 1-seeded Lake Henry beat Roscoe, and No. 2-seeded Richmond beat No. 3 St. Martin.
Here's video from the bottom of the ninth inning when Elrosa hosted New Munich last Friday night in a Stearns County League North amateur baseball game.
It is well worth mentioning the incredible back-to-the-plate, running pop fly catch that center fielder Kevin Kuefler made in the top of the seventh inning. The Silverstreaks were ahead 2-0 and threatened to extend the lead when they got two runners on base with no outs. It was a game-changing play, and while it did not lead to an Elrosa win, it kept the game close and exciting all the way to the end.
The sports department at the Bonanza Valley Voice has taken a beating in the past months...there has been a great deal of other types of news taking place, such as the Big Grove Lutheran church 150th anniversary last weekend. It has drained the sports department of precious resources in terms of time and energy.
We'll see how August goes! There are multiple events taking place with the Catholic church that will consume much of the news department's time. All worth celebrating!! It's great to be a part of the rich quality of life we have here in the Bonanza Valley!
*Don't forget! On Saturday the Elrosa Saints begin the division playoffs with a home contest at 1:30 p.m. against No. 4-seeded Meire Grove. Be there or be square! It will be nice to take in that game and then head north to the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre. (See the full fair schedule in this week's Voice!)
Here's a video clip showing the end of the Bonanza Valley Days youth baseball tournament championship game between the B-B-E 3rd-4th grade Jaguars and New London-Spicer. The Jaguars won 4-2 to claim the title on Friday, July 7.
In other youth baseball news, the Elrosa Saints Little Dipper baseball team won their Stearns County League semifinal game tonight against St. Martin by a 4-2 score. The Saints advance to the championship game and will host Farming next Sunday, July 30 at 5:30 p.m. In the other SCL semifinal game tonight, Farming defeated Freeport 9-4.
Much has suffered in the newspaper in the past few weeks with coverage of this church celebration and also Bonanza Valley Days has consumed the majority of the resources of the newspaper's news and sports departments. Being able to be part of a church's 150th anniversary won't come along very often in my journalism career.
New Munich defeated Elrosa 2-1 tonight in a Stearns County League North amateur baseball game. The Saints (10-2 SCL-North) travel to Meire Grove on Sunday to wrap up the regular season with a 1:30 p.m. contest against the fourth-place Grovers.
On Wednesday, the Saints hosted defending Class C state champion Raymond in an exhibition game. Elrosa defeated the Rockets 10-4 to improve to 18-6 overall.
More to follow on Saturday night.
Don't forget that Big Grove Lutheran church celebrates their 150th anniversary on Sunday! Details have been published in the last 5 or 6 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team finished as runners-up in the six-team West Central 17-U playoffs. They went 1-1 in the tournament held tonight in Osakis. In the semifinals, the Jaguars beat Brandon/Evansville 6-2. In the championship, the Jaguars lost 13-3 in four innings.
Elrosa's Saints Field is one of two host sites for the Legion District VI baseball tournament that runs Thursday through Saturday.
The B-B-E Jaguars Legion team opens the tournament in Elrosa at 10:30 today (Thursday ) against No. 1 seeded Pierz. You can listen to the game live at http://youaretheresports.com.
*Update: the opening game between B-B-E and Pierz got underway at 11:12 a.m.
*Update: Through four innings complete, Pierz held a 6-4 lead.
Final score: after getting the deficit down to 6-5, the Jaguars went on to lose a tough battle with top-seeded Pierz by an 8-5 score. B-B-E plays in the elimination bracket at 4 o'clock today.
More updates to follow!
**Game two: Holdingford defeated the Jaguars 9-8 in nine innings with a walk-off sacrifice-fly RBI ending the game.
And here's a video clip from the opening night of 'Peter Pan' in Terrace last night...featured here is 2016 B-B-E graduate Riley Schumann (Captain Hook) and 2007 B-B-E graduate Lucy Lloyd (Smee) with the video showing parts of Act I.
The B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch team will be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed for the upcoming league playoffs, which is set for Thursday night this week at Osakis. The Jaguars will play at 6 p.m. in Osakis against either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, depending on a coin flip that will determine the top two seeds. Osakis and B-B-E tied for the regular season championship with 7-3 records. This is the first regular season championship for the fastpitch program since the spring of 1989, when the very first B-B-E Jaguars team won the Prairie Conference title.
Following their playoff opener, the Saints high five one another after giving high fives to the Roscoe players.
The Elrosa Saints Little Dipper baseball team defeated Roscoe 11-0 to open up the Stearns County League playoffs tonight. The Saints scored in every inning but the sixth and advance to the Final Four round for at least the fourth year in a row.
Below is video from tonight's game:
Next: the SCL semifinals at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 23 at Saints Field, when they face the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed quarterfinal game.
Here's video from the tail end of the fireworks at the New London Water Days celebration on Saturday. I was parked near Goat Ridge Brewing in downtown New London. Goat Ridge is a premier business advertiser for the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
It was a very busy, hectic weekend! Starting in Elrosa on Friday night, then the B-B-E Jaycees golf on Saturday, a trip to New London on Saturday night, then Big Grove Lutheran church on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon brought a trip to Terrace to kick start my coverage of the Terrace Mill Children's Theater production of 'Peter Pan'. That musical will be held on Wednesday and Thursday this week, July 19-20.
The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated Farming 16-6 on Saturday night to clinch sole possession of the Stearns County League North division title.
As always, stay tuned for more coverage in the upcoming issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Out of their three remaining Stearns County League games on the schedule, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team needs just one win to clinch the SCL-North title outright. The magic number is down to one after the Saints defeated Meire Grove 11-4 on Friday night in a division battle with the fourth-place Grovers. Aaron Vogt started for Elrosa and pitched six innings while picking up the win. The Saints led 6-2 when Austen Hadley took the mound to close in relief. Other highlights include Cody Eichers hitting a solo home run to power the offense.
Below is video from the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Saints put up three runs on five hits:
Elrosa is 16-6 overall and 9-1 in the SCL-North with a virtual three-game lead over Spring Hill (8-4) and New Munich (7-4). The Silverstreaks are the only SCL team to beat Elrosa so far this season. New Munich comes to town on Friday, July 21.
It's game night in Elrosa! The Saints host Meire Grove at 8 p.m.! Be there or be square! The Saints need two more Stearns County League wins to clinch the SCL-North division title outright.
The B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch team earned a split with Long Prairie-Grey Eagle in a home doubleheader on Thursday night. The Jaguars dropped game one 4-1 while being unable to earn clutch hits. In game two, the Jaguars jumped out to an 8-1 lead and hung on for a 10-7 win. The win clinched a tie for the regular season championship in the West Central division. B-B-E went 7-3 against league opponents, as did Osakis.
Below is video from the top of the fourth inning of game two:
Next is the playoffs, which takes place next week at Osakis. The Jaguars will be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed!
In an amateur baseball game on Wednesday night, the Elrosa Saints defeated visiting Sauk Centre by a 7-1 score to improve to 15-6 overall this season. The Saints host Meire Grove in a tough battle with the Grovers while looking to improve on their hold on first place in the Stearns County League North division.
The No. 8-seededB-B-E Jaguars Legion baseball team lost a heartbreaker tonight in the Melrose Sub-District quarterfinals. Ahead 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Jaguars saw the win slip away when No. 1-seeded Holdingford scored two runs to earn a 4-3 walk-off win and advance to the Final Four round.
B-B-E gets an automatic bid to the District VI tournament, which will be held July 20-23 in both Elrosa and Sauk Centre. The Jaguars will be the No. 5 seed out of their sub-district.
On Sunday night, the Elrosa Saints Little Dipper baseball team defeated New Munich 7-0 to complete the regular season with a 7-1 record in the Stearns County League. They locked up the No. 1 seed for the upcoming playoffs in the process.
Below, video of the final out and the post-game huddle in New Munich:
Up next: the SCL playoffs begin for Elrosa with a home quarterfinal game on Sunday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m.!
The second day of Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten absolutely rocked it from start to finish! We had 92 runners in the BVD Walk/Run event, a fundraiser for the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling club. The BVD Car Show had over 50 cars and trucks. The first annual BVD vintage snowmobile show brought in 40 sleds!
Fast forward to the evening, and the Ladies of the 80s rock tribute band tore up main street with a show that we're gonna talk about for years! Check out this short video clip from early in their show...
The band ended their night with an encore performance of Bon Jovi's iconic song "Livin' on a Prayer". The song brought out the goosebumps!!
Tomorrow we have Dad's Belgian Waffles in support of the B-B-E Boy Scouts, who are helping serve a delicious breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon at the city park shelter. Following that is the grand day parade at 1:30 p.m., an event that will be live-streamed by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper at this link: http://citylinktv.com/channel/brooten-bonanza-valley-voice.
After the parade, the Bonanza Valley State Bank will host a free ice cream social at the Brooten Pavilion. That wraps up BVD 2017!
The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated visiting Greenwald on Friday night 10-4 to improve to 8-1 in the Stearns County League North division. Highlights included a two-run home run by Cody Eichers.
In the Little Dipper level of the Stearns County League, the Elrosa Saints are looking to clinch the No. 1 seed for the playoffs when they travel to New Munich on Sunday night for a 6:30 p.m. game. They are 6-1 in the SCL standings.
What a day so far! The B-B-E 3rd-4th grade Jaguars baseball team is in the championship game of the Bonanza Valley Days tournament. They beat Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 11-6 in the opener, and then they defeated Minnewaska Area 8-3 in the semifinals.
The B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch team improved their summer season record to 6-2 with a series sweep of Sauk Centre on Thursday night. The Jaguars won 7-0 and then 10-8.
Here's video from game one of the doubleheader:
Next is a game at Long Prairie next Thursday, July 13.
Don't forget the busy Friday! During the day is the 3rd-4th grade and 5th-6th grade Bonanza Valley Days youth baseball tournament. And then on Friday night the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team hosts Greenwald in a Stearns County League North division clash.
Click on the poster to enlarge for best viewing of the schedule of events.
...and I wanted to re-post this on behalf of the Osakis Country Club golf course: The Osakis Country Club had approximately $6000-7,000 in damages yesterday, July 2, around 12:30. A group of 5 men with 2-11 year old boys (approx) came out to golf. (The men were approximately 30-45 years old) They left one power cart in a swamp, another cart with a broken hood and many damaged items on the course. 2 of the men were dressed in "Scottish" looking golf attire with knickers, hats, etc. They were very noticeable. If anyone has information as to who these individuals might be, please call the clubhouse at 320-859-2140. The police are looking for them and a photo of them will be posted later today or tomorrow. Please share with EVERYONE!!!
There was no game on Saturday night in Elrosa, as Long Prairie didn't have enough players to make the trip and play the exhibition game with the Saints. Next for Elrosa will be a Stearns County League North clash with neighboring rivals to the east, Greenwald, on Friday, July 7.
The Stearns County League defeated the County Line League 12-3 in the annual SCL vs. CLL All-Star game on Friday night in Elrosa. Ethan Vogt from Elrosa pitched the first two innings, and Aaron Vogt closed in the ninth inning. Also playing for Elrosa on the SCL roster were Kevin Kuefler and Cody Eichers.
Here's video from the player introductions and the National Anthem prior to the start of the game:
Next for Elrosa is a home exhibition game on Saturday night (July 1) against Long Prairie at 7:30 p.m.
