Fastpitch team cooled off by Bulldogs, golf competes at home and Osakis (VIDEOS)

In a well-played non-conference game today, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team saw their 6-game winning streak end at the hands of Swanville. The visiting Bulldogs, who are receiving votes in the latest Class 1A coaches' state rankings, won 4-1 to improve to 10-0 overall.

The Bulldogs led 3-0 after 2 innings before the Jaguars scored in the bottom of the third. Swanville scored one additional run in the fifth inning.

Here's video from the bottom of the third inning today:


In the video, Kacey Fischer hit a sacrifice fly-RBI to put her team on the scoreboard.

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


The Jaguars got back in the dugout with a 5-3 put out fielded by Taylor Shelton.

Next: the Jaguars (6-2 overall) host Paynesville Area in a border battle on Monday at 4:45 p.m. Paynesville Area is 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference, which puts them in a virtual tie for first place with undefeated Kimball Area (9-0, 6-0).

Here's a golf update:
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team and two members of the B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team competed in two Central Minnesota Conference meets today. Full results are still being compiled. In the morning, the boys' golfers hosted a meet at Prairie View Golf Course in Brooten. At that same time, the girls' golfers competed at Osakis. For the afternoon meets, the boys and girls switched sites. In girls' golf results, Kragen Wiener shot a 62 at Osakis and a 59 at Prairie View. Olive Olson fired a 58 at Osakis and then a 56 on the home course. They will join fellow golf team members Reese Kampsen and Teagan Dingmann for a JV golf meet at Osakis on Monday, April 28.

And a fix for what I posted on Thursday...the baseball team does not travel to Atwater on Monday. Their next action is in St. Cloud at Dick Putz Field on Thursday, May 1 against Holdingford. They play two CMC games, and the first game starts at noon. B-B-E's next home baseball action is on Monday, May 5 with a CMC game against Paynesville Area.

In other news...
In another installment of Easter weekend church coverage, the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website features a video from Crow River Lutheran church on Good Friday (April 18)...you can find that by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/4ZDJq.

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website's community calendar has been updated. You can find that by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/R8o9R.

In high school FFA news, approximately 26 members of B-B-E's FFA chapter travels to the state FFA convention on Sunday through Tuesday. They leave the high school at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, and the convention runs on Monday and Tuesday. I'll catch up with Mr. Rodgers next week and get FFA news published in the May 1 and May 8 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Here's my first amateur baseball news of 2025:
To start their season, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team will host an exhibition game with Starbuck on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Gumby Bauer Stadium. They will have a terrific day for a baseball game in Elrosa! Sunny, not much wind and great temps in the 60s. Elrosa's Stearns County League opener is set for Sunday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. at Lake Henry. After that game, Greenwald visits for an SCL border battle in Elrosa on Sunday, May 4 at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday night update: the Elrosa Saints defeated Starbuck 7-0 for a successful start to the 2025 campaign.

Area fastpitch scores on April 25:
BOLD 4, Lac qui Parle Valley 3
New London-Spicer 13, Litchfield 9
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 8, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 5
Kimball Area 19, Watertown-Mayer 2
Minnewaska Area 4, Yellow Medicine East 1
Melrose Area 10, Paynesville Area 2
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 10, Montevideo 0 (6 innings)
MA/CA 14, Montevideo 2 (5 innings)
NL-S 9, Litchfield 3
Milaca 3, Albany 1

Area baseball scores on April 25:
Brandon-Evansville 19, Rothsay 2 (5 innings)
Parkers Prairie 10, Pillager 0
New York Mill 12, Sebeka 0
Brandon-Evansville 10, Rothsay 0 (5 innings)
Litchfield 18, New London-Spicer 9
NL-S 8, Litchfield 7
Montevideo 11, Minnewaska 1
Montevideo 9, Minnewaska 7
Minneota 4, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3
Yellow Medicine East 9, Lac qui Parle Valley 2
Benson 3, Ortonville 2

Baseball resumes!

 Baseball is back!

Tonight in Elrosa, the Elrosa Saints will host doubleheader baseball with games at 5 and 7 p.m. at Saints Field. The opponent is Kimball, and Elrosa's team will consist of senior high baseball players from B-B-E high school.

I just got the Bonanza Valley Voice SmugMug gallery mostly updated for our Summer 2020 sports gallery. You can see that group of albums here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/Summer-Sports-2020.

Game updates from Section 6A

Game updates will be posted here from this afternoon's elimination game of the Section 6A baseball tournament. The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team faces Parkers Prairie at 2:30 p.m., and the game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

*Update: the Jaguars built a 6-0 lead going into the sixth inning. The Panthers scored twice and now trail 6-3 with bases loaded on one out.

*Update: the Jaguars now trail 8-6 heading into the top of the seventh inning. They are three outs away from either extending the game to the bottom of the seventh or seeing their season end.

*Update!! the Jaguars scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to keep their season alive! They left two stranded and now are set to play the best defense of the year and push the game to extra innings.

From the bottom of the seventh...absolutely amazing...the coaching staff of Parkers Prairie talked the umpires into calling a balk call. The game-winning run is at second base, another runner is on first and the Jaguars have earned just one out. The next batter hit a line shot straight to left-fielder Thaniel Cebulla for a pop fly and the second out.

*Final score: Parkers Prairie 9, B-B-E 8 in regulation innings. Parkers Prairie (16-9) advances to the Section 6A championship series for the third straight year. They face New York Mills (19-3) and will have to beat the Eagles tonight to get another shot at them tomorrow, as tonight's game will be another elimination game.

B-B-E finishes the year 12-12 overall.

Below is video from the Border West game in Morris:


Now all that's left for spring sports are the three state golfers and also Kyle Felling heading to the state track and field meet.

Also, congratulations to the Paynesville Area Bulldogs baseball team (19-4) as they advance to the Class 2A state tournament. They went 1-1 in the Section 3AA championship series against Luverne, handing them the section title.

Sub-section baseball playoffs

The field is set for the Sub-Section 6A-South baseball playoffs, which begin on Tuesday, May 29.

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team caught enough breaks with what happened with other top-tier teams in the sub-section while getting the necessary wins of their own to climb to the No. 2 spot just in time for the QRF seeding on Saturday. With a 9-10 overall record, the Jaguars have their sights set on a deep playoff run just as they've done in 2016 and 2017. This year they have every bit of confidence that they can go even deeper. The best playoff finish they've had in school history came in 2016, when they took third place in Section 6A.

This year the Jaguars host St. John's Prep in the sub-section quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 29 with a 5 p.m. start at Saints Field in Elrosa.

If they beat the Johnnies in the first round, they advance to the semifinals that will be played at the Chizek Field park in Morris on Thursday, May 31 with a 2:30 p.m. start. Win or lose, they have a second game to follow at 5 p.m. with an opponent to-be-determined. The remaining playoff dates in Section 6A are June 5, June 7 and June 8.

2018 Sub-Section 6A-South baseball seedings:1. Border West (12-3)
2. B-B-E (9-10)
3. West Central Area (11-5)
4. Ortonville (8-6)
5. Hancock (8-11)
6. Upsala/Swanville Area (5-13)
7. St. John's Prep (3-10)

New York Mills (15-3) is the No. 1 seed in Sub-Section 6A-North. The QRF scale has them sitting at No. 5 in Class 1A of Minnesota, which has 120 teams. B-B-E is ranked No. 27 in the last QRF calculations. Border West, the regular season Pheasant Conference champion (10-2) is ranked No. 19. That is a first-year baseball coop made up of players from Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley, Wheaton Area and Herman-Norcross high schools.

Thursday night results

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team recovered nicely after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning during their first meeting with Kimball Area in a Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader tonight at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. The Jaguars won 7-3 in that game in spite of four errors to none by the Cubs.

In game two, the Jaguars lost 8-5 after the Cubs scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to break a 5-5 tie.

In a CMC girls' golf meet, the B-B-E Jaguars won by a healthy 12-stroke margin over front-runner Osakis (172 to 184). Now the Jaguars trail the Silverstreaks by seven strokes with three meets in the book.

At Kimball, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team lost two CMC games to the Cubs.

More to follow later.

Extra-inning loss

In the last game of the B-B-E Invitational, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team duked it out with the top team in Sub-Section 5A-West, Browerville/Eagle Valley, but came up short in a 3-2 loss in eight innings.

After falling behind 2-0 in the second inning, the Jaguars went into the seventh inning down 2-1. Ryan Olmscheid scored a game-tying run in the top of the seventh and held the Tiger-Rebels in the bottom of the frame to force an eighth inning. B/EV then ended the game with run scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the eighth to improve to 9-3 on the season.

In the earlier game held on Saturday in Elrosa, Minnewaska Area beat Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 6-5 after they trailed 5-0 in the third inning.

B-B-E, Elrosa find wins in Sauk Centre

Ben Waller shown playing for B-B-E against Osakis tonight.

Coach Van Beck talks to his Elrosa defense during the top of the 5th inning against K-M-S tonight.

At the Sinclair Lewis Days Little League tournament in Sauk Centre, teams from B-B-E and Elrosa earned wins today on an absolutely fabulous day for youth baseball. The B-B-E Jaguars defeated Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 7-1 in their opener before losing to a loaded Osakis team in the semifinals. The Elrosa Saints beat Sauk Centre Maroon 6-3, then faced Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg tonight and won 8-1.

Once it's done processing on YouTube, click here to see a video of the last two outs recorded between Elrosa and K-M-S tonight, with the Saints turning a double play (second baseman unassisted to first base):


Speaking of baseball, tomorrow is a big day for area teams!

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team hosts New Munich in a region-qualifying postseason game, also the Stearns County League North division playoff opener. That starts at 1:30pm.

At 2:15pm at Jaycee Park in Sauk Centre, the Elrosa Saints Pee Wee team faces Osakis in the Sinclair Lewis Days Little League championship. Earlier, the B-B-E Jaguars play K-M-S at 10:45am.

Later that night, at 6:30pm in Elrosa, the Saints Little League team hosts Spring Hill in the Stearns County League playoff quarterfinals.

Here's a few Elrosa photos from their K-M-S game tonight in Sauk Centre:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Sports/2014-BBE-Jaguar-summer-sports/Elrosa-Saints-at-SLD-youth-bas

And photos from the B-B-E vs. Osakis game:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Sports/2014-BBE-Jaguar-summer-sports/BBE-vs-Osakis-at-SLD-youth-bas

Baseball splits with EV-W

In game one of today's Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader in Elrosa, the Jaguars baseball team beat Eden Valley-Watkins 5-4 for their second win in a row. In the nightcap they fell 7-4 to the Eagles to slip to 4-10 on the season. Up next is a home doubleheader on Thursday against Kimball Area. Both today's games and Thursday's games are Section 5A contests, so getting two wins over the Cubs would help greatly in the sub-section seeding that takes place next week.

Peyton Miller's 46 and Jaden Gossen's 51 led the Jaguars girls' golf team to a third-place finish at today's Central Minnesota Conference meet at Albion Ridges in rural Annandale. The meet, won by Osakis's score of 168, was hosted by Maple Lake. One CMC meet remains on the schedule, and it will take place next Thursday at Kimball.

No word yet on the track and field teams competing in the CMC championships at Maple Lake.

Jaguar baseball knocks off Sauk Centre

Final in Elrosa tonight: B-B-E 5, Sauk Centre 3.

The Jaguars improve to 3-6 overall, while Sauk Centre is now 3-4.

The Max Bats baseball invitational starts at 10:00am tomorrow at Saints Field! Now if only the weather would deliver some sunshine tomorrow.

Saints Field hosts Jaguar baseball double-header!

The Jaguars baseball team (2-2) looks to move up in the Central Minnesota Conference standings when they host Holdingford in Elrosa today at 4:00pm in a double-header.

B-B-E Babe Ruth pounds Renville County West 20-4 to wrap up regular season

Adrian Belden pitching vs. RCW on Thursday night.

This B-B-E summer recreation update is brought to you by the proud support of:

Jaguar baseball team blanked in playoff opener

St. John's Prep defeated the B-B-E Jaguar baseball team 3-0 in the Sub-Section 5A-West quarterfinal round tonight in St. Cloud. The game was broadcast on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood in D-Mac's final play-by-play coverage of any B-B-E action during the 2011-12 school year. (Thanks, D-Mac, for all your work this year on behalf of the B-B-E Jaguars and the fine businesses who support your coverage!)

The Jaguars finish with a season record of 9-12, while the Johnnies improve to 13-6 heading into the semifinal round next Tuesday in Cold Spring. In another quarterfinal game, top-seeded Browerville eliminated Osakis 3-1 at the Elrosa Saints diamond this afternoon.

Other information will be posted on Saturday. Time for a break!

Area baseball playoff scores on May 25:
St. Cloud Cathedral 8, Holdingford 1
Osakis 5, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Albany 8, Pierz 1
Kimball Area 2, Upsala/Swanville Area 0
Paynesville Area 4, Foley 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 2, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0 (a mild upset; the Eagles were seeded #7; K-M-S was the #2 seed)

Area fastpitch playoff scores on May 25:
Albany 6, Little Falls 1
Eden Valley-Watkins 7, Kimball Area 2 (both advance to the Section 5A Final Four; the Eagles, now 14-7 overall, are the Sub-Section 5A-West champions; Kimball Area is now 8-14)

It was a traumatic day for me to see the scene of that bus accident. While I didn't have any children on the bus, my heart sank and I was quite shaken up as I walked through the grassy ditch by Highway 55 and saw "B-B-E School District #2364" painted on the side of the bus. Thank God, none of the kids were seriously injured. Before gathering myself and getting to the work at hand, all I could think about was the terrible experience the students went through while being guided off of the bus and transported to the Glacial Ridge Health System in Glenwood approximately two miles south of the scene.

Parents, can you hug your children too often? I don't think you can.

Eden Valley-Watkins completes series sweep of the Jaguars baseball team

The Jaguars lost at Eden Valley-Watkins by a 6-0 score to fall to 9-8 overall and 7-5 in the Central Minnesota Conference. They play in Winsted on Thursday against HL-W-W in a doubleheader starting at 4:00pm.

That's all I've got for updates from today's B-B-E action.

Area fastpitch results on May 15:
Albany 5, Melrose Area 0 
Minnewaska Area 9, Sauk Centre 0 (Albany & Minnewaska share the 2012 WCC-North title)
NL-S 4, Paynesville Area 3
Maple Lake 8, Holdingford 0


Check back tomorrow for more.

Jaguar baseball sweeps Rockford in doubleheader

 In game one of the Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team defeated visiting Rockford 4-3. They went on to beat the Rockets by a wider margin in game two to improve to 9-7 overall on the season and 7-4 in the CMC. Up next for the squad is a trip to Eden Valley-Watkins next Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the Jaguars' chances in the CMC race, Maple Lake has kept on winning this week; they picked up an 8-5 win on Wednesday at Howard Lake and then beating Eden Valley-Watkins in game one of tonight's doubleheader 16-1 in five innings. If they beat EV-W in the nightcap, they will have clinched at least a share of the CMC crown. They are currently 9-1 in the CMC.

**Update...Maple Lake won the second game against EV-W 9-3 and clinched a share of the 2012 CMC baseball title. They are 10-1 in the CMC, while the Jaguars are in second place at 7-4.

**Another update...the Pierz Pioneers baseball team swept a doubleheader from HL-W-W last night and sits in second-place tie with B-B-E in the Central Minnesota Conference.

At Rockford in a doubleheader, the Jaguars fastpitch team lost 3-0 and 2-1 to fall to 3-13 overall. They host Eden Valley-Watkins (10-6, 7-6 CMC) next Monday at 4:00pm.

**Here's that link again to the KSAX Athlete of the Year voting: http://ksax.com/article/12519

Tyler Tensen heading into his final lap of the 1600 run today in Melrose.

The Jaguars track and field teams competed at the Dave Sieben Invitational in Melrose today. I have a limited amount of notes from the meet, but I do know the following: the B-B-E girls' 4x800 team took fourth, Kinlee Swanson placed third in the 100, the B-B-E girls' 4x200 took fourth, the B-B-E boys' 4x200 placed fourth, Dillon Knutson set a new personal record in the discus throw (115-9 3/4), Kim Kollman set a personal record in the shot put (29-10) and the B-B-E boys' 4x100 earned second place with a time of 46.96 seconds.


Central Minnesota Conference baseball scores on May 10:
Kimball Area 9, Holdingford 5
Kimball Area 5, Holdingford 2
Pierz 11, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 10
Pierz 7, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 1
Maple Lake 16, EV-W 1 (5 inn.)
Maple Lake 9, EV-W 3

Area fastpitch scores on May 10:
Minnewaska 13, Melrose Area 3
Paynesville Area 4, Sauk Centre 0
Albany 15, New London-Spicer 7
Albany 11, New London-Spicer 0

Area baseball scores on May 10:
Paynesville Area 5, Sauk Centre 0
USA 11, LP-GE 1 (6 inn.)
Osakis 4, St. John's Prep 2
Melrose Area 6, Minnewaska Area 0

More from last night's Pierz baseball game

Here's the link to my photo gallery from the Pierz game last night:

http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1466833&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

Jaguar baseball trails Pierz

Matt Schmitz attempts a 6-6-3 double play against Pierz after recording an uassisted put out at second base.

Through five complete innings, the Jaguars trail Pierz 6-3 after falling behind 3-0 through the first two innings of play.

Update: the Jaguars fell 7-3 to the Pioneers in their third straight loss. They host Rockford on Thursday in a conference doubleheader beginning at 4:00pm.

**Update on Wednesday: Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted sits alone in second place in the Central Minnesota Conference at 5-3. Maple Lake is 7-1, while the Jaguars are in a tie for third place with Pierz at 5-4.

By the way, here's the link to vote for "Athlete of the Year" at KSAX.COM =
http://ksax.com/article/12519 

More updates will follow later.

Area baseball scores on May 8:
New London-Spicer 5, Sauk Centre 3 (NL-S broke a 3-3 tie in the 6th inning)
Albany 18, Minnewaska Area 5 (6 innings!)
Paynesville Area 12, Melrose Area 1 (5 innings!)
Browerville 5, Royalton 4
Kimball Area 9, Osakis 4

Monday night baseball results - Jaguars fall to Sauk Centre

In a makeup game from last Tuesday, the Jaguars baseball team lost 4-0 to the visiting Sauk Centre Mainstreeters tonight in Elrosa. The Mainstreeters are in the process of erasing memories of a disappointing 3-13 record from 2011, as they hold a 6-4 record at the midway point of this season while sitting in a three-way tie for first place in the West Central North Conference with Paynesville Area and Minnewaska Area.

Now 7-6 overall, the Jaguars host Pierz in a crucial Central Minnesota Conference game at 4:30pm tomorrow in Elrosa.

Just noticed this...Maple Lake is ranked #25 in the May 3 state baseball rankings in Class AA. Browerville (12-1) is ranked #3 in Class A. Eden Valley-Watkins is ranked #9 but will undoubtedly drop even further when this week's rankings are released on Thursday.

Central Minnesota Conference baseball scores on May 7:
Maple Lake 18, Kimball Area 3
Holdingford 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 0

Central Minnesota Conference fastpitch scores on May 7:
Holdingford 3, Eden Valley-Watkins2
Maple Lake 8, Kimball Area 2
Rockford 4, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 2

Area baseball scores on May 7:
Browerville 4, St. John's Prep 0
Osakis 9, West Central Area 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 4, Paynesville Area 2
St. Cloud Cathedral 1, Albany 0
Foley 6, Melrose Area 4

Area fastpitch scores on May 7:
Albany 3, Osakis 2 (Huskies are 9-0 overall; they trailed 2-1 heading into the 7th inning)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 13, Paynesville Area 2

Jaguars baseball team splits at Maple Lake

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team holds a 5-3 record in the Central Minnesota Conference after splitting a double-header at Maple Lake tonight. They won the first game 6-5 before dropping the nightcap 7-6 in eight innings. Their next action is on Monday at 6:30pm in Elrosa for a border battle against Sauk Centre. The Mainstreeters moved above .500 (5-4) with a 5-0 shut out win at Albany (in Avon) tonight in a WCC-North match up. The Irish remain in first place in the CMC with a 6-1 league mark.

More will follow later.

Jaguar baseball travels to Maple Lake today for a key double header

First place in the Central Minnesota Conference is on the line today as the Jaguars baseball team travels to Maple Lake for a double-header against the league-leading Irish. Maple Lake is 5-0, while B-B-E holds second place alone at 4-2 in the CMC. Game one begins at 4:00pm.

 I've also learned about a makeup game between Sauk Centre and the B-B-E baseball team. That will be next Monday at 6:30pm in Elrosa. No JV game will be played.

Jaguar baseball sweeps Kimball Area in doubleheader, holds 2nd place alone in the CMC

In a Central Minnesota Conference double-header today in Elrosa, the Jaguars baseball team beat Kimball Area 12-3 and 8-6 to improve to 6-2 on the season. The games have impact not only for the conference race but also the sub-section standings, as the Cubs are in Sub-Section 5A-West with the Jaguars. They now gear up for a tough game against 8-0 Browerville in Elrosa. First pitch for the JV game is at 4:30pm. The Tigers are ranked #6 in the latest Class A state rankings and beat Eagle Valley in a Prairie Conference game in Clarissa by a score of 7-5.

**Eden Valley-Watkins got tagged with another baseball loss in the CMC...see the scores posted below. Maple Lake is now 4-0 in the CMC and 5-1 overall with sole possession of first place. B-B-E, meanwhile, stands in second place alone at 4-1.

Action from the first of today's two games in Elrosa...  

At Kimball, the Jaguars fastpitch team lost both games in a CMC double header. Scores were 7-3 and 7-6. They host undefeated Browerville (7-0, 4-0 Prairie Conference North) on Friday at 4:30pm.

Area baseball scores on April 26:
Sauk Centre 8, Melrose Area 3
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 10, Eden Valley-Watkins 7 !!!!
Maple Lake 7, Pierz 4
Eden Valley-Watkins 6, HL-W-W 3
Maple Lake 10, Pierz 5
Minnewaska Area 9, New London-Spicer 8
Albany 4, Paynesville Area 3

Area fastpitch softball scores on April 26:
Maple Lake 10, Pierz 0 (6 innings)
Maple Lake 3, Pierz 1 (8 innings)
Eden Valley-Watkins 6, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 4j
Melrose Area beat Sauk Centre
Maple Lake 10, Pierz 0 (6 innings)
Maple Lake 3, Pierz 1 (8 innings)
Eden Valley-Watkins 6, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 4
Albany 3, Paynesville Area 1
Minnewaska Area 12, New London-Spicer 2
Browerville 13, Eagle Valley 3

This Jaguars sports update is brought to you by the proud support of: