Pope County Fair 4-H Tug-of-War (VIDEO)

Before we get buried by county fair, Belgrade August Fest and Region 8C baseball, here's a blog post that will include some coverage of recent local events.

Here's a video from Saturday night last weekend with 4-H kids in a Tug-of-War competition:


The tug-of-war was held by the animal barns at the Pope County Fairgrounds.

In other news...the turnout for tonight's Brooten Farmers Market was strong. My family had our best night of the summer. It was great to see the support from out of town and from Belgrade!

A great activities meeting

I'm far too busy tonight with the newspaper to write much here, but I'm pleased to report that a really great activities meeting was held tonight at Olson Auditorium. Activities Director Chris Anderson guided parents and student-athletes through a half-hour presentation on what I'll just call the "rules of the road" for those who participate in extra-curricular activities at B-B-E. Tomorrow, I hope to share some video from tonight.

I have been amazed...
With a front-row seat to the workings of the tennis team, I have been amazed at the work that the captains of an athletic team put in to manage what's known as "Captains Practice Week." I had a section of my newspaper column written up about this, but lack of space led me to cut it out before publishing. I'll try to re-write it here. I've never actually gotten a good look at captains practice for any athletic team in the 22+ years I've been a sports reporter. It's just never crossed my radar. The closest I've gotten was tennis captains practice in 2024 for my oldest daughter. Even that amounted to no more than dropping her off and picking her up.

This year, I was asked to help with recruiting. Oh, boy! That's a job I take very, very seriously! That's a job we all should take seriously! I jumped right into it. You learn quite a bit about the inner workings of a team as they try to build numbers and run practices/drills without the guidance of coaches. I cannot be more impressed by what I'm seeing from the tennis captains. The role is not easy, but any role that has great value is going to come with hard work!

The "no contact" week for coaches doesn't really have the same pop here as it would in a bigger school. The no-contact rule was put in place years ago by the MSHSL in order to prevent burnout in student athletes. To me, it's more than that: it presents the opportunity for the captains of a high school team to step up and show leadership. Huge, HUGE skills they need in life!

I'm not aware of volleyball numbers, but they're not hurting. The varsity team is "loaded for bear" for the 2025 season with big goals to achieve. As for cross country, the graduation of Taylor Nelson leaves a huge void. I'll catch up to our A.D. this week and find out if there's any cross country prospects for the paired B-B-E/Paynesville team. This is available for boys and girls athletes at B-B-E.

Did you know? While we can always do better, Minnesota has really outstanding participation rates for students in high school-level activities. The Minnesota State High School League ranks in the Top 10 in the United States for participation with over 240,000 students being active in athletic teams. After adding in the Fine Arts of speech, debate, one-act play, music, cheerleading and visual arts - and that figure jumps past 320,000 students.

In other news...

The Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre and the Kandiyohi County Fair in Willmar both open up today. Time to promote, promote, promote! I've gotten a small start on that. Here's a link to read about the Stearns County Fair: https://shorturl.at/v5l7v. The full schedule for what's happening in Sauk Centre this week was published in the July 31 and August 7 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Some additional Region 8C amateur baseball coverage is posted at the newspaper website. You can find that by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/U57LS.

Finally, here's a link to read up on the Kandiyohi County Fair in Willmar: https://shorturl.at/5ZgEZ.

Sounding the alarm

Greetings, Jaguar Country! I've got troubling news to report. I'm sick about it, and it's going to consume me this entire week. I'm stricken with a mix of anger and disgust at numerous players who quit the sport of girls' tennis at B-B-E. After speaking with the captains of this year's B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team this morning, it appears there's at least 3 so far, hopefully no more, who were on the team last year but are not going out for tennis this year.

I can ask what on earth is wrong with the players, but the bigger question in my mind is: what is wrong with their parents? What the heck? I am so disgusted right now! There is a scenario where too many girls quit, and the result is that they are unable to field a varsity team. The tennis program has been in existence at B-B-E since 1992. They have had lower numbers in some seasons since 1992, but they've always fielded a varsity team with a few athletes to spare for JV action.

For the players who are not quitters this fall, the captains practices for the girls' tennis team are being held this week at the high school courts from 8 to 10 a.m. They held practice this morning, and one glimmer of hope is that they have at least one new recruit to the team: seventh grader Harper Herickhoff. (GOOD JOB, Herickhoffs!)

That's all I've got to say right now.

...later, on Monday night: the outlook has improved! It's too early to tell if the outlook has "greatly" improved, but as of tonight, the odds that the tennis team can field a varsity squad is "high."

All of this is happening while the B-B-E Jaguars football team will not field a JV squad this fall. That's another entire issue that greatly stresses me. In case you were wondering: the varsity team's season opener is on Thursday, August 28 at home in Belgrade. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. that night against New York Mills.

...and now on Tuesday: it is looking like the tennis team will have a very nice group of seniors leading the way this fall. The captains and others on the team are working on getting other prospects to join. This is good! 

Remember: any time a student devotes to sports is time that they're not on their cell phones or on social media. THINK ABOUT THAT. 

What has been fascinating to me is that, amongst this personal angst I've had looking at the tennis numbers dip and rebound with in the span of 2 days, it's uncovered a bigger issue I see that has become well-known across the country. This stems from kids becoming detached from peers who are positive influences on their lives and instead devoting time and energy to negative influences in the form of peers who make bad decisions. I see it 100% in my own household. 

It is a never-ending battle parents in the technology age have to deal with.

Elrosa Saints stay alive at Region 8C (VIDEOS)

After trailing 1-0 going into the second inning today against New Munich, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team put up a 5-spot in the top of the second inning and stayed alive in the Region 8C tournament with a 10-4 win.

Will VanBeck started for Elrosa and earned the pitching win, and Wyatt Steffensen pitched in relief. Riley Meyer was closer.

Next: the Saints travel back to Spring Hill next Saturday (August 9) for another elimination contest. They play at 1:30 p.m. against Starbuck. It is also a state-qualifying game, so the stakes are huge!

Here's a video from the top of the 4th inning yesterday against Regal:


And here's another video from the Regal game...

Action in the top of the 5th inning...


Today's games in Spring Hill included a light drizzle/mist combination that delivered light precipitation throughout the day. The rainfall made conditions very tough during the first game today, an elimination game that featured Roscoe taking on the host Chargers. Roscoe won 12-6 to advance to next weekend's action.

In today's lone state-qualifying game played in Spring Hill, the Farming Flames edged Regal 3-2 to punch their ticket to the big show. The Regal Eagles play next Saturday, August 9 at 11 a.m. against Roscoe in an elimination game. Farming will make back-to-back appearances at state after also advancing last year.

A cool, wet day for Region 8C baseball (UPDATES)

The opening game of baseball at the Region 8C tournament for Sunday, August 3 features Spring Hill facing Roscoe in a win-or-go-home contest at Spring Hill. In the top of the 5th inning, the Rangers hold a 5-0 lead. All of their runs were scored in the first two innings.

In the bottom of the 5th, Spring Hill has scored twice. Austin Schoenberg then scored on a wild pitch to make it a 5-3 score.

In the top of the 6th inning, the Rangers extended their lead to 6-3.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Rangers hold an 8-5 lead. Spring Hill has the bases loaded with 1 out, but Roscoe is currently doing a pitching change from starter Braden VanderBeek. Roscoe reliever Josh Mackedanz then fired back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.

Final: Roscoe 12, Spring Hill 6. The Chargers are eliminated, while Roscoe advances to an elimination game next Saturday (August 9) in Spring Hill with an 11 a.m. first pitch.

What's coming today in Spring Hill:
The second game of the day features Elrosa against New Munich at about 1:30 p.m.

Elrosa vs. New Munich updates...first pitch was just after 2:30 p.m.
Will VanBeck is Elrosa's starting pitcher, while Caden Sand is New Munich's starter.

New Munich scored with their leadoff hitter in the bottom of the first inning.

In the second inning, Will VanBeck and Kevin Kuefler earned back-to-back walks to load the bases. Ethan Mueller batted next, and he launched a three-RBI double! Peyton Winter, Will VanBeck and Kevin Kuefler all scored on Mueller's hit to the right-center gap. Elrosa 3, New Munich 1. Next! Jackson Peter launched a two-RBI home run to extend the lead to 5-1. Ashton Dingmann walked, and this proceeded to bring New Munich manager to the mound and pull Caden Sand from the mound. Will Funk took over pitching duties. Elrosa scored 5 runs on 4 hits with no errors and two left on base. After 1 1/2 innings: Elrosa 5, New Munich 1.

After three complete innings: Elrosa 5, New Munich 1.

In the 6th, Elrosa holds an 8-1 lead. They played 5 innings without an error. Will VanBeck is still on the mound.  

The Silverstreaks loaded the bases on walks and one error in the 6th inning, but they got snubbed on the threat with a ground ball play on Ian Funk's fielder's choice.

****The final score will be posted at 8 o'clock in a new blog post. If Elrosa beats New Munich, they play next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Starbuck in another Region 8C elimination game. 

The final game of today:
The final game of today is a state qualifier, with Regal facing Farming for a state tournament berth.

Region 8C amateur baseball opening weekend scores:
On Friday night in Elrosa, the Starbuck Stars came back from a 2-0 deficit and defeated Roscoe by a 5-3 score. In the other Friday night game, the Paynesville Pirates defeated Spring Hill 3-0.

On Saturday, Paynesville defeated Starbuck to earn the region's first ticket to the state tournament.

Region 8C amateur baseball opening weekend is underway

The opening games of the Region 8C town team baseball tournament took place on Friday in Elrosa. Today, Elrosa faces Regal in Spring Hill at 11 a.m.

More to come.

*Update: after 3 innings, Regal has a 5-1 lead.
*Update: after 4 1/2 innings, the Eagles have an 8-3 lead.

*Update: after 5 1/2 innings, Regal has a 10-5 lead.

Final: Regal 10, Elrosa 6. The Saints fall to the elimination bracket, and their next game is tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. back in Spring Hill.

For Regal, they play at 4 p.m. tomorrow in Spring Hill against Farming. This will be a state-qualifying game.

Update: on Friday in Elrosa, Starbuck defeated Roscoe 5-3. Roscoe will face Spring Hill in Spring Hill on Sunday in an elimination game at 11 a.m. That's all I have for scores at this point.

Farming defeated New Munich on Saturday.

The rest of today will be used up by the Pope County Fair in Glenwood. Here's additional coverage from the fair: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/news. Their fair has been outstanding! It has far and away exceeded all expectations.