So much happening! Much to digest - much to do (VIDEO)

First, Lincoln's Bar and Restaurant is open in Brooten. They are serving food through 9 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this weekend. Their bar is open until 10 p.m. each night. Click here to read more at the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://shorturl.at/hQT7O.

Also! The Pope County Fair is underway in Glenwood. The Birch Coulee Ranch Rodeo runs this evening in the grandstand. Their full schedule was published in the July 24 and 31 issues of the newspaper.

Here's the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's community calendar found online: https://shorturl.at/VAz01.

And on Friday...
The Pope County Fair is in is second full day of activities today. Here's a link to watch a video from Thursday night at the fair: https://shorturl.at/DstRt. They had a terrific day on Thursday.

Here's a video featuring part of the Babe Ruth state tournament medals ceremony at New York Mills last Sunday:


Can you believe it? In just 10 days, the preseason begins for varsity fall sports!

Let's talk about Friday, August 1...
The Pope County Fair had one of their best days of activities in recent memory with strong crowds coming to Glenwood. To get a glimpse of one of the activities, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/z5wYM.

I won't make it to Elrosa tonight for either of the Region 8C amateur baseball games. I expect they had terrific crowds with such nice weather. Remember! The Elrosa Saints face Regal tomorrow (Saturday) at 11 a.m. in the first day of the Saturday schedule of the Region 8C tournament. The remaining games after tonight at regions will all be played in Spring Hill.

It was Brooten's turn...it could have been worse! (VIDEO)

Severe straight line winds battered the Brooten area (and perhaps more) on Monday night. Just before 8 p.m., a storm passed over Brooten that delivered heavy rainfall and 50 to 70 miles per hour straight line winds.

It was bad news!

Here's a video featuring wind on the western side of Brooten at 7:59 p.m. tonight:


The video should be processed and ready to view just after 9:00 tonight.

I'm heading to Belgrade to see how they fared. I heard that it was not good! Update: it was not as bad as the initial report I got. However, danger existed on both Lowery Avenue and Washburn Avenue with downed power lines. They were being guarded by Belgrade Fire Department members.

STATE CHAMPIONS! They did it! (VIDEOS*)

The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth baseball team has earned a state title! With game schedules moved around today due to the threat of severe thunderstorms, the state title game was moved up by 2 1/2 hours today at Russ Jacobson Field in New York Mills. Earlier today, the Jaguars prevailed 5-3 against Pine River-Backus/Menahga in the state semifinals. In the other semifinal, Sebeka defeated Paynesville.

In today's state title game, the Jaguars scored 2 runs in the top of the 3rd inning and rode an outstanding pitching performance by starter Lance Radermacher, who pitched 6 innings and earned the win. Baron Breitbach took the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning as closer.

State championship final score: B-B-E 6, Sebeka 0. Video is uploading.

Here's video from the bottom of the 4th inning today in New York Mills:


Here's a video from the top of the 5th inning today:


Lance Radermacher hit a single in that video. He started on the mound and pitched into the 7th inning before he was relieved by Baron Breitbach.

To see additional online coverage, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://shorturl.at/Q6fB3. Featured at that web article is a video of the initial postgame celebration.

Summer sports have now officially concluded in Jaguar Country!
That's all she wrote! What an incredible way to close out summer sports! Amazing. In just a couple weeks, we turn our attention to cross country, tennis, volleyball and football!

Here's a quick plug for the upcoming Pope County Fair in Glenwood! Here's their website link: https://www.popecountyfair.org. They are a big supporter of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper - and likewise! We support them in kind. Make plans to take in as many of their events next week as you can!

Here's a link for the Brooten city council agenda on Monday night: https://shorturl.at/O00y6.

THANK YOU to Paul J. Gruber of Elrosa for sponsoring this state tournament baseball blog post!

16-U Jaguars to play for STATE TITLE!

This is incredible! The Cinderella postseason continues at the highest level for the B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team, after they defeated Pine River-Backus/Menahga by a 5-3 score this morning in the state semifinals. This marks the team's third win in New York Mills since they began pool play action on Thursday. They are 3-0-1 so far at the state tournament.

The other Babe Ruth state semifinal game starts at 12:30 p.m. today between Paynesville and Sebeka.

Next: the Jaguars play in the state championship at 3 p.m. this afternoon (Sunday) at Russ Jacobson Field in New York Mills. It looks like it will get real bad weather-wise at 5 p.m. today in New York Mills.

The Jaguars punched down in the first inning and erased an early 1-0 deficit by plating 4 runs during their first at bat. Tyler Myers, Grayson Rooney and Lance Radermacher all had base hits, and Cameron Loe hit a fielder's choice with an RBI. Baron Breitbach added a double to get the offense rolling.

PRB/Menahga scored twice in the top of the second inning to cut the lead to just one run. The Jaguars scored once in the bottom of the second, and the 5-3 score stood on the scoreboard for the final 5 frames.

Aiden Mueller pitched a complete game with 8 strikeouts. How cool is that!

**State finals update: the Jaguars nabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning.   

16-U baseball primed for State Final Four!

The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth baseball team has earned the No. 1 seed out of pool play at the state tournament in New York Mills. Facing neighboring rival Sauk Centre today in their third and final pool play game, the Jaguars and Mainstreeters battled for 7 innings and settled for a 3-3 tie.

Dylan Koob started and pitched 4 innings. Walker Winter then took over and pitched 2 innings, and Jace Mueller was the closer in the 7th inning.

In another pool play game today, Sebeka defeated Detroit Lakes Red 11-6, which earned them the No. seed out of our pool for the state final four.

Next: the Jaguars play in the Babe Ruth state semifinals at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday) in New York Mills. Their opponent will be Pine River-Backus/Menahga. The other semifinal game features Paynesville against Sebeka.

17-U fastpitch Jaguars falls in sub-region championship (VIDEOS)

One of the best 17-U fastpitch seasons in school history came to an end tonight. The B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch American Legion team fell 16-6 in six innings to a hard-hitting Melrose team.

The Dutchmen claimed the West Central Sub-Region title and advance to the American Legion state tournament.

Each team scored in the first inning, and Melrose scored 2 runs on 3 hits in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 lead. The Jaguars had something going in the second but left 3 stranded. In the bottom of the second inning, the Dutchmen went down in order on two grounders to Kacey Fischer at shortstop and a fly ball on a line drive to Mya Worms in the pitching circle.

In the top of the third, Kenna Lieser led off with a walk, and Mya Worms singled. Kacey Fischer then hit a home run to score 3 runs with her hit sailing over the left field fence. The 4-2 lead was short-lived, however, as Melrose scored 5 runs in the bottom of the third on 4 hits.

Here's a video featuring Kacey Fischer scoring after she hit a three-run home run in the third inning:


I'll get more updated on this blog post tomorrow.

The Jaguars finish the summer season 6-3 overall.

Here's a video from the postgame huddle on Thursday after the Jaguars defeated Albany:


**Quick note: don't forget about the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters Jakes Day! That is Saturday (tomorrow) from 10 a.m. to noon at the Belgrade shooting range.

In Babe Ruth state baseball news...
At New York Mills today, the B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team defeated Sebeka 9-2 to improve to 2-0 in pool play action at the state tournament. Their final state pool play game is at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) against Sauk Centre. The entire state tournament this weekend is hosted in New York Mills.

Another big day of playoff action

The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team is facing Sebeka in their second pool play game of the state tournament. Their game today started at 5 p.m. at New York Mills. A win would be huge! I've got more explanation of just how big the game is, but I won't say more until their game has concluded.

I'm at Minnewaska Area high school tonight covering the B-B-E American Legion 17-U fastpitch team as they battle for a state tournament berth against Melrose Area. The West Central Sub-Region championship game begins at 6 p.m. More to follow later with game updates from both games at NYM and MAHS.

**Update: in the 6th, the baseball team has a 7-2 lead! Final: B-B-E 9, Sebeka 2.

**Update: after 4 innings, the Jaguars trail Melrose 10-5. 

B-B-E fastpitch 17-U Jaguars heading to the 'Ship!

The exciting news continues pouring our way at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department.

In the American Legion playoffs today, the B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch team trounced Albany 9-2 in the West Central Sub-Region playoffs. The Jaguars built a 3-1 lead going into the fifth inning.

Next: the Jaguars face neighboring rival Melrose Area tomorrow, Friday, at Minnewaska Area in the West Central Sub-Region championship game. First pitch at MAHS is at 6 p.m. Please spread the word!

Here's a video featuring the final out being recorded in the fastpitch game:


The Jaguars hold a 6-2 record going into tomorrow's championship game.

Good grief! Baseball Jaguars shut out Detroit Lakes at State!

Don't look now, but the B-B-E baseball program has a second team winning at the state tournament! No time to say much, but this is huge! The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth baseball team defeated Detroit Lakes Red 7-0 tonight in New York Mills. They play next tomorrow at 5 p.m. against Sebeka.

B-B-E built a 4-0 lead through 5 innings.

I am at Minnewaska Area covering the 17U fastpitch team in their American Legion playoffs. They face Albany in the semifinals.

**Update: the 17-U fastpitch team holds a 3-1 lead in the 5th inning. More to come in a new blog post.

Big event tonight for the Belgrade Lions! (VIDEO)

Click to read all about it at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Link: https://shorturl.at/sNTT7.

Before this event, or during this event, don't miss out on the Brooten Farmers Market. You can read more on that here: https://shorturl.at/yPtdA. That runs 4 to 7 p.m., so you can take in both events in each town. Yes, you can!

Let's go back to Bonanza Valley Days! This event featured in the video was sponsored and hosted by the B-B-E Jaguars Wrestling Club.

Here's a video from the finish line of the Bonanza Valley Days Walk-Run event:


Other news has been updated at the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Tonight! The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch 17-U American Legion team will play in the West Central Sub-Region playoffs. Their first game is at 5 p.m. at Minnewaska Area. It is a two-game evening. Depending on the outcome of the 5 o'clock game, the Jaguars will play for third place or for first place in the second game this evening.

In the 5 p.m. game, the Jaguars face No. 3-seeded Albany. It's a HUGE game! More to come later tonight.

West Central Sub-Region fastpitch seeding:
1. Melrose Area
2. B-B-E
3. Albany
4. Glenwood-Lowry
5. Sauk Centre

Diving into another week of crazy in the Bonanza Valley area with more STATE news!

From the top! As best as I can summarize.

The Belgrade city council meets tonight with a robust agenda ahead of their annual August Fest celebration (which is August 7,8,9 and 10). The council meeting agenda can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/fxgOE.

The B-B-E 14-U fastpitch playoffs will be held at the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle softball complex on Tuesday this week beginning at 5 p.m.

The B-B-E American Legion 17-U fastpitch playoffs will be held on Thursday, July 24 this week at Minnewaska Area. This is the Sub-Region tournament, and the champion of the 5 teams will advance to the state tournament. The Jaguars are the No. 2 seed behind Melrose Area. B-B-E's first game is at 5 p.m. in the semifinals against No. 3-seeded Albany.

BIG news!
The B-B-E Babe Ruth 16-U baseball team has earned a spot in their state tournament. They open on Thursday this week at New York Mills. I'm guessing it's a similar format to the 14-U state tournament that was held last week. (Update! I've got the full brackets now, and the Jaguars 16-U team opens state on Thursday this week, July 24, at 5 p.m. against Detroit Lakes Red. The entire 8-team tournament is held in New York Mills.

Also! The Pope County Fair begins next week. It will be featured in a full page advertisement in this week's (July 24) issue and the July 31 issue. You can see other information on the fair at their website: https://www.popecountyfair.org.

This is crazy...on Sunday, July 13, I took over 400 pictures across the waffle feed, Mass at St. Donatus Church and the grand parade for Bonanza Valley Days.

State Babe Ruth third-place updates, SCL baseball playoffs (VIDEOS)

Today at Henning, the B-B-E Jaguars Babe Ruth baseball team is facing Long Prairie in the Final Four of the state tournament. They are going for third place. The game started at noon. In the state championship, Parkers Prairie will face Barnesville later today.

Update: in the fifth inning, the Jaguars hold a 3-2 lead.

Update: in the seventh inning, the Jaguars have expanded the lead to 8-2. The game was put into a small rain delay. The final score will be posted here at about 2:30 p.m.

Final score: B-B-E 8, Long Prairie 2.

I'll post this again in the future, but before it gets lost in the shuffle of this coming week, I want to take a moment to give a shout out to Parkers Prairie baseball fans for the terrific sportsmanship they displayed today while visiting with B-B-E Babe Ruth fans. (This was relayed to me second-hand, so I'm just the messenger here.) They were gracious and supportive, and it's always nice to hear when anyone involved in athletics goes the extra mile to display good sportsmanship. Kudos!

Here's Coach DeRoo talking in a postgame interview after the Paynesville win yesterday in Henning:


The Elrosa Saints defeated Greenwald 8-0 today to advance to the Region 8C tournament. They open the region tournament in Spring Hill on Saturday, August 2 at 11 a.m. I'll get more posted later.

Here's a video from the top of the 5th inning today in Elrosa:


I still have to get a look at the Region 8C brackets to see the full schedule.

And in community and business news!
Help spread the word on a major supporter of not only the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper but also B-B-E Jaguar sports and the Elrosa Saints! The Padua Pub will host their sweet corn/pork chop feed on Wednesday this week. Click here to read more details: https://shorturl.at/jpGcG.

And don't miss this! Belgrade Lions Community Night Out is Thursday this week
The Belgrade Lions Club invites everyone to their Community Night Out on Thursday, July 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the grounds of the Crow Memorial on South Highway 71 in Belgrade. The evening features grilled hamburgers and hot dog meals (free will donation) plus bounce houses and yard games. Join local Lions members for fun, food and games for all ages and learn about what Lions Club International is all about.

Babe Ruth State Baseball Semis! Updates

In the Babe Ruth state semifinals tonight in Henning, the B-B-E Jaguars are battling Parkers Prairie for a berth in the state championship game. After two innings of play, the score was tied 3-3.

In the 4th inning, the Jaguars took a 4-3 lead.

In the top of the 5th inning, the Panthers took a 6-4 lead.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, Noah DeRoo hit a solo home run! This cut the deficit in half to make it a 6-5 score.

The game got tough in the top of the 6th inning, and Parkers Prairie scored 3 additional runs to take a 9-5 lead.

At 11:20 p.m., the bottom of the 7th inning is underway. The game has been going for 2 hours by this point. The Jaguars need baserunners in a bad way.

Final score: Parkers Prairie 9, B-B-E 7. The Jaguars had the tying runs on base, but they ran out of outs in what was a bitter loss. In the postgame awards, Jaxxon Koetter was B-B-E's Defensive Player of the Game, and Dylan Roering was the Offensive Player of the Game.

B-B-E (17-3) now plays for third place tomorrow morning.

In Stearns County amateur baseball news...
Top-seeded Spring Hill survived a tough challenge by No. 4-seeded Greenwald in a 3-2 win today to advance to the Stearns County League North division championship game. For Elrosa, they play at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday) at home against Greenwald in an elimination and region-qualifying game. At 11 a.m. tomorrow in Elrosa, New Munich and Spring Hill square off in a seeding game and the division playoff championship.

State ELITE 8! Starting soon (VIDEO ADDED)*

The Elite 8 round of the Babe Ruth state tournament begins today in Henning. The B-B-E Jaguars Babe Ruth baseball team will get their state quarterfinal game going at about 1:20 p.m. this afternoon. Game updates to follow! I'm excited to report live from Henning throughout the game.

The opponent today is Paynesville, who the Jaguars defeated in the region tournament last weekend. The game should get going by 1:30 p.m. More to come!

Final score: B-B-E 5, Paynesville 4. Woo Hoo! The Jaguars play at 7:00 tonight in the state semifinals! Back in Henning. 

Update: to read a light game recap of the Paynesville win, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website at this link: https://shorturl.at/OSSqJ.

Here's a video from the top of the 6th today:


Updates tonight coming!

At Elrosa today, the town team Saints lost 7-3 to New Munich. They play in an elimination game tomorrow back in Elrosa, and the winner of that game advances to the region tournament. The elimination game starts at 2:30 p.m.

 **Update: the Jaguars will play Parkers Prairie tonight for a berth in the state championship game. The Panthers went 10 innings to get the win over Staples.

**Update: the Parkers Prairie game started at 9:20 p.m. For B-B-E, Jace Mueller is the starting pitcher.

State semifinal updates will be in a NEW blog post.

17-U fastpitch Jaguars seeded for playoffs! (UPDATED)

The B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch team has earned the No. 2 seed for the upcoming American Legion Sub-Region tournament. They travel to Minnewaska Area next Thursday, July 24 to face No. 3-seeded Albany. Game time is at 5 p.m.! Win or lose, the Jaguars play again that night at 6:30 p.m. After the regular season, the Jaguars hold a fine 5-2 overall record. Awesome!

The No. 1 seed is Melrose Area, who won two close games against B-B-E in Brooten earlier this month. The No. 4 seed is Glenwood, and Sauk Centre is the No. 5 seed.

That's all I've got time to post. I'll get more updated tonight. I'm out scaring up some business for Lincoln's Restaurant in Brooten! They are serving food until 9 p.m. tonight. My family had supper there tonight, and their burgers are outstanding! Staffing is still limited, but they have added more staff than what they had over Bonanza Valley Days.

Let's circle back to BVD!

Here's a short video clip from the Bonanza Valley Days grand parade last Sunday:


The July 24 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper will feature a healthy dose of additional BVD coverage from last week, including from the chicken BBQ, the kids' activities, the car/truck/tractor show, the bean bag tournament, the Scouts waffle feed and more!

State Babe Ruth update (Updated)

In Urbank in state tournament pool play action today, the B-B-E Jaguars Babe Ruth team defeated Frazee 10-0. They have one more pool play game tonight, when they face Ottertail Central in Urbank.

UPDATE! Good grief! Don't look now, but the Jaguars are 2-0 at the state tournament! They defeated the OTC Black team 13-3 tonight. Now the rest of the pool play state games have to be played tomorrow, and then the state tournament will be seeded for Saturday. That's all I know right now. The B-B-E Babe Ruth team is 16-2 overall this summer! Amazing.

The Babe Ruth state tournament games on Saturday and Sunday will be played in Henning at Tony Kawlewski Field. Based on the state bracket I have, B-B-E is the No. 1 seed from the tournament's National pool. This means they would play at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a state quarterfinal game. The state quarterfinal games are single elimination, and the Final Four features third-place and championship games. (I confirmed all that...the Jaguars play at 1 o'clock in what will be the third game in Henning that day.)

Another update to this information is posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. Click here: https://shorturl.at/PVU4V.

In business news...
Lincoln's Restaurant is open this weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can read more by clicking over to the newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/ffQJx. My family enjoyed time there on Friday and Saturday last weekend during Bonanza Valley Days. Please come out and enjoy what they have to offer! Here's their website: https://lincolnsseafoodsteak.com.

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's community calendar has been updated and edited...click here to see that and stay in the know! https://shorturl.at/uy0yu.

Feel-good news! And business news

How's this for some feel-good news? This is awesome! Click: https://shorturl.at/tY1Tc.

For other news, including a reminder note about the Brooten Farmers Market, click: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Here's a shout out to Earthy Elements of Brooten, one of our newest locally-owned businesses and a new advertiser in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Here's Ashley's business website: https://earthyelementsmn.com. She was featured on page 10 in a business article in the July 10 issue.

Bonanza Valley Days grand parade and Babe Ruth baseball heading to state (VIDEOS)

As reported in the July 10 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper, Brooten Electric LLC was the grand marshal of the BVD grand parade on Sunday. Brooten Electric, LLC, is owned by two B-B-E graduates: Adam Imdieke (Class of 2001) and Adam Heinze (Class of 2013).

Here's a rough video on a hand-held camera of the Brooten Electric parade unit:


It was a simply outstanding day that we had to wrap up the BVD "Feeling Alive in 2025" yesterday. Day IV included a pancake feed, Catholic Mass, the grand parade and then the Miss Brooten pageant.

Here's another video from the grand parade in Brooten yesterday:


Unfortunately for me, I took over 1,000 pictures across the four days of Bonanza Valley Days. This will create a challenge to go through and pick the best ones for the printed newspaper! Yikes! You think I would learn?

After tonight, my daughter's fastpitch softball summer season is over. This will free up time for more sports blogging and to focus on the newspaper. We'll see how this week goes and what comes of the July 17 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Fingers crossed!

In sports news...
The B-B-E Babe Ruth (7th-8th grade) team qualified for their state tournament by winning the region tournament last weekend in Paynesville. This is a first for the program. They open state at Urbank at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday this week with pool play games. The state tournament playoffs run on Saturday. B-B-E's Kaden DeRoo, a 2024 graduate, is their coach.

Bonanza Valley Days is absolutely off the hook! Wall to wall excitement (VIDEO)

Good grief! What a weekend we are having in Brooten! The weather has practically been 100 percent cooperative. This is amazing.

Check out the scene in downtown Brooten tonight for the Saturday night street dance:


No time to sit on a computer!

Sunday updates:
Here's the link to share with others for seeing the BVD Grand Parade lineup: https://shorturl.at/menoq.

Here's a link to view the Miss Brooten coronation on Sunday: https://shorturl.at/E4rho.

Another update:
The Brooten city council meets on Monday night, and the agenda can be found here at the newspaper's editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/2ywwy. Also, the B-B-E school board meets on Monday night at the elementary school. It will be just the 2nd school board meeting in 10 years that I won't be attending. I'll be in Osakis on Monday night with the 11-U Jaguars fastpitch team for their playoff games.

Here's what's been consuming much of my free time! (VIDEO)

Goodness! Gosh! Goodness sakes! Oh, I have so many words of thrill and excitement...I can say it over and over again: nothing of value can be earned without hard work! This is obviously true in the world of sports.

I have to get outside in the garden to add more cages to our tomato crop right now, as it appears we are in for another round of rain tonight. I've got video uploaded from New London-Spicer high school from a Pepsi League girls' basketball game, so I'll leave you with that before I can expand on other sports-related news. The contest featured in this video shows Class of 2032 players (6th grade) taking on Sauk Centre.

Action from late in the second half with the game in the balance!


In that video, both my daughter and Coach Moscho's daughter made huge close-range buckets that ultimately helped propel their team to a hard-fought 8-6 win. The teams played 40 minutes of basketball to combine for a total of just 14 points. It was crazy. With 1:21 left in the game, Willow (my daughter) shot a basket near the right block that tied the score at 6-6. Ava Moscho's go-ahead layup swished through the net with roughly 45 seconds remaining.

What made it really intense was that the Jaguars overcame a 6-2 deficit in the closing minutes. Needless to say, field goal shooting was difficult the entire game. B-B-E's first 2 points were both scored on free throws.

All this comes on the heels of 2 days of preparation last week and then a good portion of Saturday spent focusing on Hoops by the Lake 3-on-3 basketball, which was also in NL-S Wildcat Country. It's been a rush, and now we shift gears 100 percent towards Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten.

Speaking of Bonanza Valley Days!
**TO STAY up to date with Bonanza Valley Days, reach for your nearby copy of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper! Also, you can see additional BVD coverage at the newspaper's website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Elrosa wins 10-inning thriller (VIDEO)

On the home diamond today in a battle of teams tied for second place in the Stearns County League North, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team prevailed 4-3 in 10 innings against New Munich. The Silverstreaks held an early 2-0 lead before the Saints cut the deficit in half with one run in the 5th inning.

Elrosa then pulled ahead 3-2 in the eighth inning. New Munich tied the game with one run in the top of the 9th inning. A sacrifice fly-RBI by Peyton Winter drove home Derek Wiener for the walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th.

To close out the regular season, the Saints host Meire Grove on Friday, July 11 with first pitch at 8 p.m. New Munich hosts Greenwald on Sunday, July 12 for their last regular season game. The SCL division playoffs start on Saturday, July 19 at the high seeds. Richmond will be the SCL-South's top seed, and Spring Hill is the No. 1 seed in the SCL-North.

Here's a video from the bottom of the 5th inning:


The Region 15C tournament coming in August will be hosted by Spring Hill.

In Bonanza Valley Days news...
I finally have Clay City posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. You can read all the details for this exciting event (for all ages - especially children age 10 and younger)...by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/Tfrjc.

Other BVD news can be found by clicking here: https://rb.gy/j04480.

And in other news...this morning, our home garage received garage door repairs from Excel Overhead Door of Willmar. I was super impressed by their work! So here's my shout out to their company. Their website is https://www.exceloverhead.com.

Hoops By the Lake moved to New London

Due to the sketchy weather forecast for Saturday, the 28th annual Hoops by the Lake has been moved to the New London-Spicer high school. This wildly popular event is normally set up to be played at Green Lake in Spicer in the parking lot next to Zorbaz. It was a tremendous experience to be a part of last summer. I'll be coaching my daughter's team at NL-S today, and their first pool play game is at 8 a.m.

Update: our mixed grades 5-6 team went 2-1 for a successful time at the Hoops by the Lake tournament. They did great! And a huge thank you to Angela Jenniges for stepping in and providing great coaching for the girls! I quickly stepped into an assistant role. She is a former standout Minnewaska Area athlete who played for Coach Arden Hyland in the early 2000s. It is always great to see student athletes give their very best, find success and learn ways to improve themselves

Let's shift gears to Bonanza Valley Days...
On Friday, July 11, a big Great River Regional Library event is coming to BVD in Brooten. The event is called "Now. Make. Art. Clay City" at the Brooten City Park. This will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. All the details are here: https://events.griver.org/event/14740737?hs=a. It is for ALL ages! But it has a special emphasis for children ages 10 and younger. Please, pass the word!