Baseball earns vaunted No. 1 seed (VIDEOS)

On Saturday it became official! The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team has earned the No. 1 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South, which features seven teams. This feat, which was solidified by a 6-0 shut out win against Upsala/Swanville Area last Thursday, has also given them a first-round bye for the playoffs. The QRF rankings were used this season for the baseball seeding. I believe this has been the case for many, many years in Section 6A.

In the latest Class 1A QRF rankings, the Jaguars are No. 9.

B-B-E has a 13-7 overall record in the regular season, which marks the most regular season wins since 2016, when they were 15-5 going into the Section 6A playoffs. In the 2016 playoffs, the Jaguars made their deepest postseason run in school history and finished in third place in Section 6A. Prior to that, their deepest playoff run was all the way back in the 1995 season, when they finished as runners-up in Sub-Section 5A-3 when Minnesota had just two baseball classes. It was also in 1995 that the Jaguars won B-B-E's lone conference title, when they finished 12-2 in the West Central South Conference.

The No. 2 seed this year is Upsala/Swanville Area, who also has a 13-7 record. The U/SA Patriots were runners-up in the Prairie Conference behind Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, who is the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 6A-North.

B-B-E's baseball playoffs begin on Thursday, May 30 in Morris. More details to follow.

In B-B-E's side of the Section 6A bracket, they would open the playoffs against either No. 4-seeded Benson or No. 5-seeded Hancock. Those two teams face one another on Tuesday in the sub-section quarterfinals in Benson. The loser of that Tuesday game is done for the year. The winner faces our Jaguars at 2:30 p.m. in Morris on Thursday, May 30. I'd expect that the games will be played at the Chizek Field stadium on the north side of Morris plus the adjacent baseball field.

The Jaguars will have a second game on May 30 regardless of the outcome of game one that afternoon...but that's getting ahead of ourselves!

2024 Sub-Section 6A-South baseball seedings:
1. B-B-E (13-7)
2. Upsala/Swanville Area (13-7)
3. Border West (14-5)
4. Benson (7-13)
5. Hancock (8-10)
6. West Central Area (2-16)
7. Ortonville (3-14)

Here's a video from the Maple Lake game on May 10, during which Ethan Mueller got the pitching win:


B-B-E's No. 1 seed should pay dividends, as it saves pitching for the second and third rounds of the playoffs. The Jaguars automatically qualify for the double-elimination format of the Section 6A playoffs, although they still have every intention on starting strong with a win to start Thursday's action.

In Sub-Section 6A-North, state-ranked Parkers Prairie (18-1) is the No. 1 seed. LP-GE (11-4) is the two seed, while Breckenridge (7-10) is the No. 3 seed.

In other baseball sections...
In Section 3AA-North, Minnewaska Area earned the No. 1 seed, while Paynesville Area is seeded No. 2. Both of those teams earn first-round byes in the six-team section. In Section 6AA, Holdingford earned the No. 1 seed by virtue of QRF rankings plus head-to-head match ups in the regular season. Both Pierz and Foley are ranked higher than the Huskers by QRF, but the Huskers have earned one-run wins against both teams. Seeded No. 4 in Section 6AA is Eden Valley-Watkins. Overall, Section 6AA includes 16 teams, and they are seeded together in a 1-to-16 group.

I'll get a few notes posted here on the fastpitch playoffs, which have now concluded for our Jaguars. It took until tonight to get all my video uploaded from last Thursday's action. The past week (or really three weeks) have been intense! One thing after the other. Friday night's graduation ceremony was outstanding. It was marvelous. I've got more to write about that for the newspaper.

Here's action from the top of the 5th inning against Renville County West last Thursday:


Catcher Brooklyn Fischer threw out an RCW runner on a steal attempt at third base. That was one example of countless exciting plays made by the Jaguar defense during their four-game playoff run. They should be immensely proud of finishing in the Top 6 of Section 3A, which is arguably one of the toughest Class 1A sections in Minnesota. The Top 6 finish is the best showing in the postseason since at least the 2018 season, when they also went four games deep.

Now it's Sunday night...my evening is being dominated by preparing stories for the May 30 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. I'm also catching up on an extensive number of videos that have not been uploaded from May events, including the senior scholarship night (May 15) and the elementary school awards program (May 22) plus Sunburg's Syttende Mai events (May 19). What can I say? May is intense! It may be the most intense month of the entire year. That's certainly how May of 2024 is shaping up.