To conclude a regular season in which they played 10 games in 10 days, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team fell 10-0 to Upsala today. They will enter the playoffs with a high seed and an 8-11 overall record. In the Central Minnesota Conference, the Jaguars finished with a 6-8 record.
Upsala finished the Prairie Conference schedule with a 6-2 record, which earned them a co-championship with neighboring rival Swanville. Overall, the Cardinals are 12-5 heading into tomorrow's regular season finale at Parkers Prairie. They have been on a tear with a 10-1 record since April 24 and recovered in the Prairie by winning out after an 0-2 start in the conference. Starting next week, the Cardinals will be in the hunt for a third straight trip to the Class 1A state fastpitch tournament. They were Section 6A champions in both 2022 and 2023.
B-B-E's fastpitch season started in Swanville almost exactly six weeks ago with a doubleheader. That was Friday, April 5, which does not seem that long ago. The Jaguars played 9 games between April 5 and April 23, and they were 4-5 at that point before the weather turned absolutely foul for their schedule and forced them into a 12-day layoff from competition. Then from May 6 through today, they finished the regular season with the final 10 games. A big sub-section contest against Benson got rained out on April 30 and was not made up.
Assuming that the Camden Conference does not gang up against us, I predict that the Jaguars will earn the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 3A-North tomorrow. Their resume has earned this! Regardless, the playoffs will open next Tuesday, May 21. The rest will be spelled out tomorrow after seeding is completed over the noon hour. Lac qui Parle Valley, 15-5 overall, is a lock for the No. 1 seed.
Update: in a Camden Conference doubleheader today in Tracy, the Renville County West Jaguars lost 2-1 and then 13-2 to the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers to close out their regular season with a 7-11 overall record. This should solidify their position at No. 3 in the subsection standings. Benson is 5-13 overall at the end of the regular season, and they should be ranked No. 4 from what I can tell.
In baseball news...
At Paynesville today, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team lost 3-2 to finish the Central Minnesota Conference schedule with a 9-5 record. Owen Paulson's solo home run in the sixth inning forced a 2-2 tie. The Bulldogs then pulled off the walk-off win on Bryce VanderBeek's RBI-double to score Reed Johnson.
With the win, the Bulldogs wrapped up the CMC title outright. One week remains in the regular season, and the Jaguars (11-6) are set to host a huge Section 6A game next Tuesday against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.
Five errors ultimately cost the Jaguars a chance to get to 10 conference wins, a feat they have not earned since 2008. The Bulldogs collected 9 hits compared to 5 for the Jaguars. Junior Luke Illies pitched an incredible game with three walks, five strikeouts and just one earned run. Earning two hits each to lead the Jaguar offense were Ethan Mueller and Owen Paulson (2 RBI).
Here's a video from ten days ago, when the Jaguars broke a 12-day layoff from competition with an 18-8 five-inning win over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City:
Action in the video features the top of the fifth inning.
More to come later. I have to get back in the garden before it gets dark!!
Area fastpitch scores on May 16:
Annandale 7, Kimball Area 2 (the Cubs take their first loss of the season after an 18-0 start)
Swanville 8, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 6
BOLD 1, Sauk Centre 0 (9 innings)
Yellow Medicine East 2, Ortonville 0
Minnewaska Area 12, Ottertail Central 7
Minneota/Canby 1, Lac qui Parle Valley 0 (the LQPV Eagles finish 12-1 in the Camden Conference and shared the title with Minneota/Canby due to this loss)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 10, West Central Area 0
Wadena Deer Creek 20, Swanville 5
Sauk Centre 5, BOLD 4 (8 innings)
