Purse Bingo night

The Belgrade Commercial Club is making a big push to sell more Purse Bingo tickets for their upcoming fundraiser. It has been advertised on the back page of the last two Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issues. You can read more here: https://bit.ly/3y8X38d. Included is a video from February 2020, which seems like a long, long time ago.

Baseball sweeps! (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team won both games tonight against Holdingford. Scores were 8-5 and 7-1 in their first games this spring played at Elrosa's Saints Field ball park. In game two, the Jaguars scored seven runs in the top of the fifth inning to help complete the series sweep. B-B-E squares their record at 4-4 overall with the much-needed wins. Ashton Dingmann homered in game one while also hitting a double to go with three runs scored and three RBI. Starter Talen Kampsen got the pitching win in game one with five innings on the mound, while Will VanBeck earned the win in six innings of a starting effort in game two.

Here's a video from the bottom of the second inning with Will VanBeck in action on the pitching mound at Elrosa tonight:


At Kimball Golf Course tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team shot a 174 to take second place behind Osakis (171) in the first Central Minnesota Conference meet of the season. In third place was Kimball/Eden Valley-Watkins with a 178. Paynesville Area took fourth with a 179, and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City took fifth with a 190.

K/EVW's Luke Ashbrook was medalist with a 38. B-B-E's Gannon Walsh took second with a 40. B-B-E's Brady Schwinghammer earned a three-way tie for fifth place with a 42.

That's all I've got to report. Tomorrow the track and field teams compete at the Kimball track complex for a meet that will be hosted by K/EVW.

Central Minnesota Conference baseball scores on April 28:
Paynesville Area 13, Royalton 3 (6 inn.)
Paynesville Area 13, Royalton 0 (5 inn.)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 21, Maple Lake 1
A-C-GC 6, Maple Lake 1

Area baseball scores on April 28:
Minnewaska Area 3, Sauk Centre 2
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 12, BOLD 2
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 4, MACCRAY 1
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 11, Border West 1

Boys' golf gets season underway: Walsh is medalist

 Gannon Walsh was medalist today at Greystone Golf Course in Sauk Centre while the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team had a strong showing in their season opener.

The Jaguars scored a 335 to take third place. Bemidi and Detroit Lakes, both Class 3A schools, took first and second, respectively.

Tuesday night results

I've got two scores to report from tonight's action.

At Murdock, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team forged a 2-2 tie after the first inning, but the Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints posted seven runs in the bottom of the second and went on to win 12-3.

At Paynesville, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team suffered a 4-2 loss to fall to 2-4 overall.

Home track and field today

The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams will host another meet today, with field events to start at 3:45 p.m. Teams included are Paynesville Area, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, BOLD, Benson, Browerville, Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball Area and St. John's Prep. It should be a good one! Let's hope the sun comes out.

The fastpitch team is in Murdock today to face K-M-S. The baseball team heads east to Paynesville for a conference border battle.

Breakfast in Elrosa

Today! Ham and egg breakfast in Elrosa at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic church. The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper has had all the details in the last two issues.

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team will have to wait another week to get their season opener in. Today's game at Greenwald has been rained out. Their next scheduled game, which hopefully will be their season opener, is on Sunday, May 1 at New Munich at 1:30 p.m.

Two losses on a wet Friday night

Five errors led to the demise of the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team tonight at Eden Valley-Watkins. The Jaguars led 7-4 after three innings, but the Eagles plated five runs in their final two at bats to claim a 9-7 Central Minnesota Conference win. The baseball team fell to 2-3 overall and in the conference. They play next at home (location TBD) on Monday against Paynesville.

At home, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team lost 13-8 to Benson. The Jaguars (0-4) plated four runs in a late rally in the bottom of the seventh inning. The fastpitch team's next game is on Monday at Paynesville.

Thursday night results (VIDEO)

In their home doubleheader tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team lost 15-5 and then 13-5 to Kimball Area.

*Here's a video clip recorded in game one tonight:


Still gathering information and updates on other sports.

Central Minnesota Conference fastpitch scores on April 21:
Royalton 24, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 9 (6 inn.)
Royalton 15, A-C-GC 14
Paynesville 6, Holdingford 5
Holdingford 9, Paynesville 5

Area fastpitch scores on April 21:
Rockford Area 18, New London-Spicer 1
Sauk Centre 14, Montevideo 4 (5 inn.)
Sauk Centre 17, Montevideo 9
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 15, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 12
T-M-B 11, K-M-S 0 (5 inn.)

Spring sports resume

In addition to home fastpitch action today, the track and field teams are at Benson. Also, the baseball team travels to Kimball Area for a doubleheader. The forecast high is 47 degrees, which is not too shabby compared to what we've had lately. As of 2 p.m., the temperature in Brooten is 43 degrees and cloudy.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow

 Tomorrow we have a forecasted chance of rain locally at just 6 percent. Good!

The track and field teams are set for a meet at Benson that starts at 4 p.m. Back at home, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team is set to host Kimball Area at 4 p.m. for a Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader. I hope we can get these events in the book! The high temperature is supposed to be 49 degrees, which sounds rather cool...but it sure beats 39 or 29 degrees!

The KMGK radio sports banquet is coming on Wednesday, May 4 at Lakeside Ballroom in Glenwood. Other information will follow, including how you can purchase tickets and attend in person!!

Job opening postings

The Bonanza Valley Voice has an extensive number of job opening ads both in print and online. You can see a handful of them at the newspaper's website: bonanzavalleyvoice.com/classifieds/category/employment.

Track and field season opener (VIDEOS)

*Here's a couple videos featuring boys' shot put attempts last Monday at the B-B-E high school sports complex:


And the other:


It will be a few more days until we get spring sports resumed...winter hasn't let up yet.

Tonight we have the Belgrade city council meeting plus the B-B-E school board meeting, with the latter taking place at the high school. Busy, busy, busy!

Easter Sunday worship (VIDEO)

If you click on the following short link, you can re-direct to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website and watch video from Easter Sunday worship at East Norway Lake Lutheran church: https://bit.ly/3OjTEZz. The church choir performs George Frideric Handel's Messiah Hallelujah Chorus at the end. The video lasts about 80 minutes.

Good Friday worship (VIDEO)

Here's video from the Good Friday worship at the Brooten Community church held last night:


Pastor Rick Krasky's sermon begins at about the 34-minute mark.

Today is the Brooten Easter Egg hunt!

Brooten community Easter egg hunt...and Maundy Thursday worship (VIDEO)

Click here to read all about it: https://bit.ly/3xwyBgE. This event is tomorrow!

*In case you missed Maundy Thursday worship yesterday, you can watch a video from worship last night at West Lake Johanna Lutheran church below:


Where will you worship tonight for Good Friday? I plan to be out at the Norway Lake community.

Breaking, breaking, breaking local news

Extra, extra! Read all about it...what am I talking about? I'm talking about this: https://bit.ly/3M2cWRm. An extensive level of information is at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website 1,100-plus word article to digest.

While it is unfortunate that a great deal of my time is still dedicated to reporting on the COVID-19 "pandemic"...the issue continues to dominate the major media across the United States and the globe. I continue to push off the decision on whether or not to keep reporting on this. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm wrong, I'll err on the side of sharing information to the public.

In sports-related news...
Today's sports activities have all been cancelled due to the snow and wind that's reigning over the area this afternoon. Tonight is Maundy Thursday, at time for local Christians to go to church as we continue in our Easter weekend.

Baseball season opener (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team opened up their season on Monday this week with a double header at Regal, where they faced the Maple Lake Irish.

Here's video from the bottom of the first inning in game two:


A full recap of both games was published in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Spring sports season opener results (VIDEO)

We have competition underway for the spring sports season in Jaguar Country!

In the home track and field meet, Branton Jones took first place in the shot put with a best throw of over 37 feet, 9 1/2 inches. Jones, a junior, took second in the discus throw (118-07). Tiyana Schwinghammer was champion in the high jump (4-10). Olivia Thieschafer won the shot put (30-11). Other results will be published in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

At St. Ben's University, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team lost 14-4 in five innings to the defending section champion Browerville Tigers. Browerville went 25-1 last year and finished as state runners-up.

At Regal, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team beat Maple Lake 14-2 in five innings in game one of their double header. Ashton Dingmann and Tanner Shelton were B-B-E's pitchers. Game one was a very sloppy game, as Maple Lake had five errors to B-B-E's six errors.

**Update: the Jaguars won game two against Maple Lake by a 13-4 score. They overcame a whopping seven errors in the field by out-hitting the Irish by a 13 to 6 margin. B-B-E baseball takes a 2-0 record into the "deep freeze" that is coming this week. I doubt we'll see varsity competition again until after Easter.

**Here's a video clip from the track and field meet that features girls' long jump action:


Tiyana Schwinghammer ultimately placed second in the long jump (13-06).

More to come on Tuesday.

Super Sunday is coming

The real SUPER Sunday is coming this weekend! That would be Easter Sunday, a Sunday that far greater in importance than "Super Bowl" Sunday that the entire nation cares far more about in America (unfortunately). The Padua Pub is hosting an Easter Dinner on Sunday. You can read more details by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://bit.ly/3v6Xixb. A video from Easter Sunday in 2019 was added there to help get you in the spirit!

And I have added important updates to the most recent blog post about today's sports action.

Also, I have good news to report...over 80 tickets have been sold so far for the upcoming Shaw Band live concert fundraiser in support of the B-B-E Fine Arts programs. You can read more about it and also order your tickets by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3red8Vx.

Track and field, baseball, fastpitch season openers

We'll get the track and field plus the baseball seasons underway tomorrow in Jaguar Country. The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams host an invitational tomorrow that begins at 3:45 p.m. Teams included are Sauk Centre, Holdingford, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Upsala/Swanville Area and St. John's Prep.

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team is set to host Maple Lake in Spring Hill *REGAL* for a Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader in their season opener. I did not confirm when first pitch is, but I will post that tomorrow here. The JV Jaguars will play Maple Lake at Spring Hill's diamond. **First pitch for the JV and varsity contests are at 4 p.m. sharp!

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team opens their season at St. Ben's University on Monday, where they will face Browerville in a non-conference game. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

Speech showcase is today! and archive sports videos

The B-B-E Speech Team showcase is today from 3 to 5 p.m. at the high school. More on that was published on page 3 of this past week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

I recently dug up an archived video that was never posted from the 2015 boys' basketball playoffs. It features first-year head coach Chris Anderson speaking after the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team knocked off top-seeded and heavily favored Kimball Area by a 50-44 score in the Sub-Section 5A-South semifinals. The game was held at Little Falls high school. The playoffs that year were topsy-turvy through the subsection tournament. B-B-E was seeded No. 5 in the playoffs and had to drive over 120 miles to East Central high school in rural Askov to begin the tournament. They thrashed the Eagles and then faced conference nemesis Kimball in the semis. Midnight struck for the upstart Jaguars when they fell to No. 3-seeded Upsala Area in the Sub-Section 5A-South championship game. Upsala had defeated No. 2-seeded and neighboring and conference rival Swanville in their semifinal game which was also held at Little Falls (Noise from that game is heard in the background of the video below.)

VIDEO:


A key factor in this last team's run to the state championship game was the incredible coaching staff we are blessed with at B-B-E. Coach Anderson and assistant Coach Mike Brower have been coaching in the trenches since Anderson assumed the head coach position after Hall of Fame Coach Dave Montbriand geared down to eighth grade basketball in 2014.

**Here's a fun video that I also haven't posted before. This was recorded the night before that Little Falls game that's referenced in this blog post.


In the above video, third-year head coach Kristina Anderson talks to her team after they beat Pierz on Parents and Seniors Night to conclude the regular season. It was also Coach Anderson's 29th birthday! That was seven years ago...my how time flies!!!

Time to get to the speech showcase!

A crazy busy weekend

First, a reminder! The Sunburg Fire Department invites everyone to their spring ham and turkey bingo fundraiser event on Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. at the fire hall/community center. Sponsored by the Sunburg Fire Department and Ambulance Service. One card is just $6, while three cards are just $12. DOOR prizes! FREE coffee! 

Also! Tonight The Hit List will be performing live at Heidi's Bar in busy downtown Sedan. The Belgrade V.F.W. Steak and Pork Chop Feed is tonight from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

TOMORROW! The big B-B-E speech team showcase takes place between 3 and 5 p.m. at the high school. Come one, come all! Before or after you go to that, you can take in the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church pancake and sausage supper at their parish hall between 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.

You can see the full list of area activities at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3vpO7bB.

More from the state tournament

We're still in a bit of a lull on getting spring sports competition underway.

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website has a video just posted from the middle part of the second half of the state championship game against Hayfield. You can find that by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3unwCJs.

Track and field meet cancelled

Today's meet at Minnewaska Area has been postponed due to the cold weather. Today we have a high of about 33 degrees with winds gusting above 30 miles an hour. Yikes!

If you want to re-live some of the excitement of the recently concluded winter sports season in Jaguar Country, you can click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's online photo gallery: https://bit.ly/3umsWb4.

At last count, the winter sports folder included 54 separate photo galleries. That is over and above a new record at the newspaper for the number of game photo galleries from a single season.

Spring sports! and more

Here's a link to be able to learn more about and then purchase tickets for the B-B-E Fine Arts program fundraiser event that's coming on Saturday, April 23...click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website to see more: https://bit.ly/3x1iCH8. Ticket prices for the supper and concert are $40 each.

For me it has been an utter blur since the Spring 2021 season...I can vividly remember playoff time last year. I remember one day when I traveled to Clinton for baseball playoffs and then headed north to Wheaton for sub-section track and field. That was quite a day, as the temperatures approached 90 degrees! More on that another time.

It will take another week to get Bonanza Valley Voice spring sports coverage up to full speed. I have this to report...

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team begins their 2022 season on Thursday this week at Swanville. The seniors on the squad are Kailey Fischer and Kylie Winter. **UPDATE: the new season opener date is Tuesday, April 12 at Browerville.

Seniors on the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams are Santos Sorenson, Levi Detloff, Olivia Thieschafer and Aaron Schulz. They have a meet to open the season at Morris tomorrow. The first meet appears to be the Minnewaska Invitational, which is scheduled for Thursday this week starting at 4 p.m. I spoke to one of the returning Section 6A qualifiers tonight and learned that the Morris meet was cancelled. The team, which numbers 35 strong, is very excited to host an invitational at the high school sports complex next Tuesday, April 12. All signs suggest that one will take place. Teams invited are Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Holdingford, Sauk Centre, St. John's Prep and Upsala/Swanville Area. Field events are set to start at 3:30 p.m., and the running events will begin starting with the 4x800 relays at 4 p.m.

Baseball and girls' and boys' golf practices are also in full swing. A home baseball game was scheduled for tomorrow, but that has been postponed to May 7 in Elrosa (vs. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg). This year's baseball team has seven seniors on the roster. The boys' golf team has four seniors.

I learned over the weekend that the B-B-E speech team took third place at the sub-section meet held last Friday in Melrose. They had two individual sub-section champions. Look for more coverage of the speech team in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. ***AND! Remember! The speech showcase is this coming Sunday at the high school from 3 to 5 p.m. Let's get a huge turnout for that!!

Remember! The Bonanza Valley Voice website's community calendar includes a long list of upcoming events. You can find that by clicking here (short link): https://bit.ly/3x2yskM.

More from the state tournament (VIDEOS)

I've finally been getting more videos uploaded from last week's state tournament games.

**Here's the team as they are greeted by fans and family at Williams Arena following the state semifinal win on March 25:


**Here's a video that starts with about 9:30 left in the second half of the state semifinals:


It appears that I was just shy of 800 pictures from the three days of state tournament basketball. Currently when I add them all up, I get to 793 pictures.

More to come.

Jaguars return from state tournament! (VIDEOS and more)

Late on Saturday afternoon, March 26, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team returned from the state tournament for a welcome home ceremony on their home court. Below is a video from when the bus pulled in.

VIDEO:


**And more video:


Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website and take in a video of entertainment provided at the elementary school's state tournament pep fest last Tuesday afternoon: https://bit.ly/3iYgnfs.

More to come.