MSHSL to meet next week

On Tuesday, August 4, the Minnesota State High School League will meet to discuss their oversight and guidelines for fall sports across the state.

Locally, B-B-E schools will have information to parents sent out later in the day tomorrow, Friday, July 31.

Also, a special school board meeting will take place next Monday, August 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the high school library.

That's about all that can be announced at this point.

My two cents: get your fresh air, sunshine, Vitamin D, plenty of rest, drink lots of water...locally we can celebrate that our communities are in good standing health-wise. That can always change on a dime in this environment, so let's all do our part for continued good health!

State amateur baseball

The Class C amateur state baseball tournament will be played in Milroy and Springfield over the weekends of August 21-23, August 28-30 and September 4-6.

New Ulm forfeited hosting part of the tournament last week.

The Class C state championship game is scheduled for September 6 in Springfield.

Here's video from Friday night's Farming game, in the bottom of the seventh inning:


I haven't caught up yet on Elrosa Little Dipper baseball. They close out the regular season tomorrow night (Wednesday) at Freeport. I'll get more posted tomorrow.

Regular season is a wrap

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team concluded the regular season with a home non-league win over Becker by a 12-7 score tonight.

The Saints are 11-2 heading into the Region 15C tournament. Elrosa opens regions with the first-round game on Saturday, August 8 at 4 p.m. in Greenwald. Night games for the region tournament are being played in Elrosa.

*Sunday night, July 26...don't forget...the Elrosa Saints Little Dipper team hosts Regal in a key Stearns County League match up of teams gunning for a playoff berth. Just the top four teams (in the nine-team loop) will make it to the playoffs this year. First pitch at Elrosa is set for 6:30 p.m.

More to follow.

(VIDEO) Elrosa adds to the lead against Farming

*Here's action from the bottom of the fourth inning last night in Elrosa:


The Stearns County League has more games this weekend, including playoffs for the lower-ranked teams. More to follow.

Here's a link to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website, featuring additional video from the game (short link) https://bit.ly/32U0mjZ.

Game night: Elrosa vs. Farming

Tonight's amateur baseball game is on KASM, 1150 AM. You can find KASM online and on TuneIn. Elrosa is hosting Farming in a Stearns County League game.

Update: through three-and-a-half innings, Elrosa is ahead 3-1. James Kuefler hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning. Payton VanBeck was Elrosa's starting pitcher.

*Below, video from the bottom of the third inning, featuring Kuefler's home run. I completely screwed up recording that, as I lost the outfielder while zooming out to the outfield fence...I panned too far left at exactly the moment the ball fell over the fence for the home run. You can hear me saying "Dammit" as I lost the outfielder.


*Update: through six innings of play, Elrosa has a 4-2 lead.

Final score: Elrosa 4, Farming 2. VanBeck earned the win on the mound, with Jackson Peter throwing three innings of relief.

The Saints are the regular season Stearns County League champions! They hold a 10-2 overall record and went 8-1 in the SCL this summer.

#RocksAndCows

School this fall at B-B-E

Members of the Belgrade V.F.W. Color Guard marching in Flag Detail formation at the B-B-E high school Homecoming football game on September 29, 2017.

I'm at the July school board meeting tonight at the elementary school. While observing and listening to the discussion of school this fall at B-B-E, it should be known that the district is making "every effort possible" to get school open this fall with in-person learning available for all students enrolled here. In a nutshell: they are going above and beyond to do everything within their power to make school work out this fall for B-B-E's resident and open enrolled-in families.

The district is dubbing their top idea as a "Hy/Choice" model. This is a hybrid model that would also provide some choice. They have not received approval from the state for this plan as of yet, but are hoping to get as many students as possible back in our school buildings, provided they can do it as safely as the general public expects.

Distance Learning will still be part of any solution. This is a state requirement, and B-B-E is well-positioned to accommodate Distance Learning, as we saw last spring when it was put in play in April and May.

There's more details to go with the "Hy/Choice" model, but it should be known that the building space and logistics of each grade level are such that four-days-a-week school would work out. The district is assuming that some families will choose to keep their children at home, and that is perfectly acceptable. They are working with the expectation that families will have the choice to send their kids to school but won't be in a position where they must send them.

And by "four-days-a-week" school, that could still come in different forms. 

This all rides on what Governor Walz and the Minnesota Department of Health, will allow. So all eyes are on next week when he's expected to announce what will be allowed in Minnesota for K-12 education.

(VIDEO) Elrosa vs. Greenwald

In this video the Elrosa Saints baseball team is taking on Greenwald this past Friday night.


Action is from the bottom of the third inning when the Saints scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead over the Cubs.

Below, action from the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday night:


The Saints (9-2 overall) host Farming on Friday this week at 8 p.m. in the final Stearns County League game of the regular season. They also added an exhibition game at home against Becker that will be played on Saturday, July 25 at 7 p.m.

Elrosa has earned a trip to the Region 15C tournament, now it's just a matter of locking up the No. 1 seed if they beat the Flames.

Baseball Sunday

At Lake Henry today, Elrosa won 11-3 in a Stearns County League amateur baseball game.

They host Farming on Friday, July 24, to close out the regular season.

I haven't had a chance to get caught up on video uploading from Friday night's game. *Below, you can take in the last nine minutes of the Roscoe win from a week earlier...(VIDEO)


Tonight at Elrosa, the Saints Little Dipper baseball team defeated New Munich 8-3 to improve to 3-2 in the Stearns County League. It was a great game, and the Saints trailed 3-0 earlier in the game. They travel to Spring Hill this week on Wednesday night (July 22) with a 6:30 p.m. game on the schedule.

Next Sunday, a week from tonight, the Little Dipper Saints host Regal in a huge game that has playoff seeding implications. First pitch on July 26 is at 6:30 p.m.

Saints vs. Cubs: border battle

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team is hosting Greenwald tonight in a Stearns County League game.

Through three innings, the Saints have a 4-2 lead. They plated three runs in the bottom of the third to gain the lead.

*Update: through five-and-a-half innings, Elrosa has a 6-2 lead.

Below, video from the bottom of the fourth inning, featuring an RBI-single from Brandon Roelike:


Final: Elrosa 9, Greenwald 6.

Next: Elrosa (8-2 overall, 6-1 SCL) heads to Lake Henry on Sunday afternoon for a 1:30 p.m. game.

On Saturday morning, they announced a change for Greenwald vs. Richmond. The Greenwald Cubs will play at Richmond on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and not in Greenwald. The field in Greenwald got too much rain last night, and more is forecast for today. They are preparing the Greenwald stadium and field for the Region 15C tournament in August, so they are taking extra care to keep the field in terrific shape.

The rain is good for crops!

Shut out win

Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated Spring Hill 4-0 this afternoon in a Stearns County League game. Kevin Kuefler and James Kuefler each hit home runs. Elrosa scored runs in the second and sixth innings and then two more in the top of the ninth.

Payton VanBeck pitched a complete game win and held the Chargers to four hits. The Saints earned eight hits off of Anthony Revermann (IP-7) and Reagan Nelson (IP-2). Each team left four runners stranded.

Next: Elrosa hosts Greenwald on Friday, July 17 with an 8 p.m. start.

At Regal this afternoon, the Eagles defeated Starbuck 4-1 in a County Line League game.

A peaceful setting for a fundraiser

The evening of Friday, July 3 was a little muggy but still a wonderful night for a fundraiser in the quiet little town of Sedan.

Video:


The Sedan Fire Relief Association hosted a meat and gun raffle with a hamburger stand that night at Rooney's Bar. Photos from the event were published in the July 9 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. A total of 500 raffle tickets were sold in two separate raffles.

The B-B-E community is blessed with many wonderful groups such as the Sedan Fire Department who provide activities for our area while also coming to help us in times of need.

Friday night game (updated with videos)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team is hosting Roscoe tonight. This is an absolutely majestic night! Perfect weather, blue sky. A great crowd too!

Entering the bottom of the third inning, Roscoe has a 3-1 lead.

*Update: heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Saints trail 3-2.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Elrosa pulled in front by a 4-3 score when Matt Schmitz scored on a sacrifice fly-RBI by Ryan Illies.

*Final: Elrosa 10, Roscoe 5.

The Saints improve to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Stearns County League. They gear up for a huge border battle rivalry game this Sunday (July 12) at Spring Hill. The Saints and their neighbors to the southeast will do battle beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Chargers Stadium.

Below, here's video from the bottom of the third inning tonight:


In the video, I botched it in a big way after Matt Schmitz hit an RBI-single to right field. I followed the hit all the way out to the outfield, but then on the way back to home plate, I tracked too far left and missed the slide when Jackson Peter scored on two outs to make it a 3-2 game.

Below, here's a 10-plus minute long video from the bottom of the seventh inning, when Elrosa regained the lead for good.


It was terrific to see the B-B-E Jaguars youth baseball program in action today. The 12-U and 10-U Jaguar squads hosted a tournament in Brooten and Belgrade. I'll post some updates and video from that tomorrow.

#RocksAndCows

Saints win

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated Starbuck 3-0 in a non-league game last night on the home diamond. Luke VanBeck pitched the complete, nine-inning game with just four hits and two walks given up with four strikeouts.

Next: a home Stearns County League game tomorrow night (Friday) against Roscoe at 7:30 p.m.

After that, the Saints (5-2) travel to Spring Hill on Sunday afternoon for a 1:30 p.m. SCL game.

(VIDEO) God Bless America

Below is video from the tail end of outdoor worship at Big Grove Lutheran church this past Sunday (July 5)...it features the Lord's Prayer, followed by singing of the timeless song "God Bless America"


It was really wonderful to be part of their outdoor worship! This Sunday, July 12, Grace Lutheran church in Belgrade will hold outdoor worship at their church campus at 9 a.m. (weather permitting).

Other church-related items are published in this week's issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Stearns County League games

On Friday night at Farming, the Richmond Royals won 7-5 in a Stearns County League amateur baseball game.

In other news...Big Grove Lutheran church hosts outdoor worship tomorrow morning! They will worship at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 5.

Sunday night update:
On Thursday, Regal defeated New London-Spicer 5-4 in a County Line League game.

Martins prevail over Saints

Kyle Lieser hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift St. Martin over Elrosa in an incredible Stearns County League game tonight.

The final score at Ray Weber Field was 2-1.

Through the first 10 innings, Scott Lieser held Elrosa to six hits with 15 strikeouts while issuing just one walk. Ben Schroeder got the win by pitching two innings of scoreless relief.

St. Martin left 13 runners stranded, while Elrosa left eight on base through the 12-inning marathon.

Next: the Elrosa Saints (5-2, 3-1 SCL) play at Spring Hill on Sunday, July 12 in another SCL contest.

At Farming tonight, the host Flames upended Spring Hill by a 5-3 score. Farming hosts Richmond tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at Schleper Bros. Stadium.

Spring Hill travels to Lake Henry for a border battle game on Sunday, July 5 at 1:30 p.m.