extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Fastpitch Jaguars take close loss, then walk off Mustangs
An 8-5 loss was the outcome of the fastpitch playoff opener today in Forest Lake. Their opponent was No. 4-seeded Mayer Lutheran (11-7). The Jaguars move into the elimination bracket of Section 4A, and they play a second game today.
**Update: the Jaguars are playing BL-H-S in the elimination game right now.
I am at the subsection track and field meet in Litchfield. I'll post updates as much as possible.
**The fastpitch team is advancing in the playoffs! They walked off Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 3-2 in 8 innings in the elimination bracket tonight. They are driving home from Forest Lake with a win. Brielle Worms got the pitching win in the circle.
Next: at Braham (16-6) on Thursday this week at 4 p.m. against the No. 2 seeded Bombers. The Jaguars are 12-9 overall.
In track and field news...
At least three members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams have qualified for the Section 5A meet, after they had terrific performances at the Sub-Section 5A-West meet in Litchfield. Moving on from subsections are Taylor Pieper (400), Laken Anderson (high jump) and Brooklyn Breitbach (1600). That's all I've got that is official.
The Section 5A track and field meet is next Wednesday, May 26 at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.
This is a super, super busy day with four of B-B-E's six spring varsity teams in action - and basically - all at once. I'm at the Dave Sieben Invitational with the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams in Melrose. It's cool and sunny, but the sun has enough power to make for a pleasant evening at the Melrose football stadium.
Update: the fastpitch varsity team swept Royalton tonight at River's Edge in Waite Park. I need to run to the van to get my jacket...it is cooling off here in Melrose as the sun is setting. The boys' 4x400 is yet to come as B-B-E's final event.
Spring sports are underway...track competes indoors
At the St. John's University fieldhouse in Collegeville on Thursday, the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teamscompeted in the indoor Central Minnesota Conference meet. This is traditionally held in the latter part of March for CMC schools. The lone result I have is from the girls' high jump, where Laken Anderson took second place.
The sports section of this week's newspaper includes one picture from the boys' basketball team banquet that was held last Monday. The picture includes the All-Central Minnesota Conference players on the team. They are Taylor Pieper, Lance Radermacher, Owen Radermacher and Hudson Reed. Additional coverage from the banquet will appear in the March 26 issue.
Here's the playing of the National Anthem and the starter introductions before the playoff game a little past two weeks ago in Underwood:
More to come.
The B-B-E speech team competed at the Melrose Invitational on Saturday. That consumed about 3 hours of my afternoon/evening. The team is preparing for the Sub-Section 5A-West meet, which is on April 10 at New London-Spicer high school.
The Brooten city council meeting agenda for their upcoming Monday meeting has been posted: BrootenCouncilAgenda.
This is a big day for the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team, as they have key games to play in Stevens County at the Chizek Field complex in Morris. The first task at hand is No. 3-seeded Border West in the Sub-Section 6A-South semifinals, which starts at 11 a.m. today (May 29). I am not aware of radio coverage, but I will check with 95.7 KKOK of Morris. Border West enters the game 12-5 overall.
Win or lose that game, the Jaguars play again at approximately 12:30 p.m. at the same baseball park in Morris. If the Jaguars win, they play in the second game at Chizek Field (the main diamond at Eagles Park in Morris).
You can listen to the game on 95.7 FM out of Morris. They stream online too! You can listen online by clicking here: https://radiostationusa.fm/online/kkok-957-fm. Game commentary is being provided by Mark Torgerson, retired coach from Morris Area high school.
A short update on track and field...I looked up the day when Taylor Nelson will run in the state track and field meet. He will compete at state on Tuesday, June 10 at St. Michael-Albertville high school. The 3200 run will be the second-to-last event that evening. This day of track is designated as the Class 1A preliminaries. Most Class 1A running event finals will take place on Wednesday, June 11 at STMA H.S.
In the other game today at Eagles Park in Morris, Upsala/Swanville Area and Ortonville were tied 1-1, but the Patriots took a 2-1 lead right as the 4th inning was underway for B-B-E vs. Border West. While B-B-E's game was in the bottom of the 5th, U/SA expanded their lead over the fifth-seeded Trojans to 4-1.
Here's a video from the 5th inning in Elrosa on Tuesday in the playoff opener:
Game one updates in Morris:
At Rambow Field, the Jaguars are taking on the Buccaneers in the 11 a.m. game. Sophomore Aiden Mueller is B-B-E's starter. In the bottom of the first, Ethan Mueller just drew his team's second walk of the inning. After one inning: B-B-E 1, Border West 0, with the Jaguars scoring on Hayden Sobiech's sacrifice fly-RBI after they earned a pair of walks and a hit batsman.
The second inning is starting at 11:20. In the second...the Buccaneers had a threat going in their half of the inning, but Mueller fired a strikeout to leave one Border West runner stranded. For B-B-E, they are sending batters 6-7-8 to start the bottom of the second inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd, the Jaguars scored one unearned run and left three runners stranded. After two innings: B-B-E 2, Border West 0.
Border West's starting pitcher issued 6 walks through the first 3 innings of the game. In the first three innings, the Jaguars got their leadoff batter on all three times.
In the top of the 4th inning, Border West scored on an unearned run during a failed pickoff play at first base. They got another runner on with a second error. These were the first errors of the game for B-B-E. Ethan Mueller then fired his 5th strikeout of the game. Border West's next batter struck out as well, with the Buccaneers scoring off of one hit and 2 errors to go into the bottom of the fourth trailing 2-1 to the Jaguars. The bottom of the 4th inning will start at about 12:08 p.m.
To start the bottom of the 4th, the Jaguars are sending batters 9-1-2 to the plate. Noah DeRoo has B-B-E's only hit so far.
To start the bottom of the 5th, Ethan Mueller earned a leadoff hit. He was picked off from a 1-3-6-4 sequence in a run down. Hayden Sobiech then got a base hit, and Aiden Mueller earned an infield hit. After a fielder's choice got the lead runner, Aiden Mueller scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead. Cameron Loe then earned a walk. The Jaguars pulled off a successful double steal as the walk was issued, with Loe making an attempt for second base. Now it's a 4-1 lead! The Jaguars have 3 hits and one walk in this 5th inning so far. Jack Lundberg had a sacrifice bunt, so the Jaguars left one stranded.
After five innings: B-B-E 4, Border West 1.
In the top of the 6th, Border West started with back-to-back infield hits. Ethan Mueller then earned his 8th strikeout of the game. B-B-E cleaned up the based with a 4-6-3 double play! Bang, bang! One stranded. Heading to the bottom of the 6th, the Jaguars will send their 9-1-2 batters. From the bottom of the 6th: the Jaguars are threatening to score on two outs with runners on second and third. Border West's starter has improved since his first 3 innings, and he has issued just 1 walk across the 4th, 5th and into the 6th. Hayden Sobiech is batting on 2 outs with 2 in scoring position. Border West got a runner boxed in during a pickoff play, but the Jaguars were able to get their runner in from 3rd base before the tag was applied. After 6 innings: B-B-E 5, Border West 1.
FINAL SCORE: B-B-E 5, Border West 1. In the top of the 7th inning, Ethan Mueller retired the side 1-2-3, and the third batter was struck out swinging.
Game two will begin at about 1:30 p.m. today in Morris at Chizek Field. That game will not be aired on 95.7 FM KKOK. Stay tuned for more updates. B-B-E's next opponent is Upsala/Swanville Area. The Patriots won their playoff opener this afternoon against Ortonville by a 9-1 score. As the top seed in Sub-Section 6A-South, U/SA got a first-round bye for Tuesday's games.
GAME TWO updates from Chizek Field in Morris! Let's go!!!!
Let's do this Jaguars! Now 14-6 overall, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team is facing top-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area in a winner's bracket contest. The Jaguars and Patriots are long-time playoff baseball rivals. It is a RARE spring where these teams do not meet in the postseason. This game should start by about 1:50 p.m.
The U/SA Patriots are 15-5 overall after the Ortonville win. In the Prairie Conference, they finished 6-2 while earning second place alone behind Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. Osakis, a Class 2A school, took third with a 4-4 record. During the regular season, U/SA had a 6-game winning streak and then a 4-game winning streak.
More updates after 3 p.m. here!!!
**After 3 innings, B-B-E holds a 1-0 lead over the Patriots.
**After 4 innings, this game is tied at 1-1.
**After 5 innings, U/SA holds a 3-1 lead. The Jaguars have their backs to the wall now with just 6 outs to work with.
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team is well on their way south as I type this, while the Section 3A tournament gets underway at the Marshall Schwan's softball complex near their high school. Games begin at 11 a.m. in Marshall, but the Jaguars don't play until 1 p.m. B-B-E's opponent will be the BOLD Warriors, who have a 13-9 overall record.
BOLD is the No. 4 seed in what I call a "stacked" Sub-Section 3A-South, which has 5 teams with winning records at the start of playoffs. Their No. 5 seed, Adrian Area, entered the playoffs with a 13-7 record. Wabasso (16-6), who competes in the Tomahawk Valley Conference, is the top seed. BOLD entered the playoffs with the No. 20 ranking on the QRF. They have a slightly better defensive average (3.9 runs per game given up) than the Jaguars. Offensively, both teams score around 6 runs per game.
Track and field update...
Following the results of the Sub-Section 5A-West and the Sub-Section 5A-East meets on Thursday, the official scores have determined who advances for the Section 5A state-qualifying meet. For the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams, they are sending 4 student-athletes to St. John's University next Wednesday, May 28. They include Taylor Nelson (3200 run), Bree Thieschafer (pole vault), Dominic Ramos (triple jump) and Kameron Hiltner (100 open).
Here's a triple jump video from the Sub-Section 5A-West meet in Litchfield:
Kameron Hiltner advances to sections as the champion of the 100 open at the Sub-Section 5A-West meet. He is a junior, while the other three B-B-E section qualifiers are all seniors.
Here's a video from the top of the 6th inning in the last regular season action for fastpitch (game one):
Luckily, we won't be playing fastpitch playoff softball today in 40 mile an hour wind! Yikes! That was an interesting night back on May 15 against Maple Lake.
Time to prepare for the road trip to Marshall. Game updates to follow here. Once I get to Marshall, I will check to see what we have for radio coverage of this afternoon's games.
GAME UPDATES for game one in Marshall for B-B-E: After 4 innings, the Warriors have an 8-1 lead.
Final: BOLD 10, B-B-E 2. Season over. The Warriors (14-9) racked up 12 hits. They play Edgerton/SW Christian today in another elimination game.
In Elrosa today, the Saints amateur baseball team defeated Farming 6-3. Next is a game tomorrow (Sunday) at Richmond at 1:30 p.m.
A NEW blog post will be added on Sunday. Today was exhausting. The rest of my Saturday has been taken up by time at Sibley State Park with family and then about 1 hour of evening gardening before I ran out of light.
Fastpitch team stays alive in playoffs, baseball takes it on the chin (VIDEOS*)
Well! Tonight brought us a mixed bag of results. There is a lot coming to this blog post!
First, the good news!
According to the results I've seen, the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams are sending at least 2 members to the Section 5A state-qualifying meet. The track and field student-athlete Jaguars competed tonight at the Sub-Section 5A-West meet at the Litchfield high school athletic complex. In the 100 open, junior Kameron Hiltner placed first with a time of 11:34 seconds to punch his ticket to sections, which will be next Wednesday, May 28 at St. John's University's Clemens Stadium (10:30 a.m.). Also, senior Taylor Nelson has qualified for the Section 5A meet by taking the silver medal in the 3200 run. He had a career-best time in that event of 10:02.15, which beat his seed time of 10:07.31.
Here's action from the subsection meet today in Litchfield:
Here's another video from Litchfield; this features both triple jump and long jump action:
And now for baseball and fastpitch results from today...as I said at the beginning of this blog post: mixed results!
In the Sub-Section 3A-North fastpitch playoffs today...
The Sub-Section 3A-North playoffs took place today in Hanto Township, Lac qui Parle County, rural Madison, as No. 1-seeded LQPV hosted one half of the teams with 3 games played. The other half of the subsection teams played along the shores of the Minnesota River in Granite Falls, where No. 2-seeded Yellow Medicine East hosted 3 games. At YME, the No. 3-seeded B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team tussled with No. 6-seeded Benson while carving out a 7-2 win. This advanced the Jaguars into the double-elimination portion of Section 3A, and they moved on to the second game at YME to face the host team. The Sting defeated No. 7-seeded MACCRAY 6-0 in their playoff opener. The YME vs. B-B-E game was a fan's delight. Unfortunately, the Jaguars suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss with YME scoring the game-winning runs on a two-RBI double punched deep into left field. The Sting advance into the winner's bracket, while the Jaguars move on to the elimination bracket.
In their playoff opener, YME defeated Ortonville 12-0. Winners of 5 straight, the Sting take a 13-6 overall record into Saturday's action.
Next for the fastpitch Jaguars: they play on Saturday in Marshall with a 1 p.m. game against BOLD.
Here's a video featuring action in the bottom of the 3rd inning against YME tonight:
At LQPV, the Eagles defeated neighboring Dawson-Boyd in their playoff opener by an 8-2 score. Also at LQPV in their playoff opener, MACCRAY won a border battle by defeating Renville County West 5-1.
In a unique Morrison/Todd County swing with baseball action...
A road trip through Morrison and Todd counties tonight was not kind to the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team. In the first game, which started at 4 p.m. in Holdingford, the Jaguars were looking to move one game closer to clinching a share of the Central Minnesota Conference title. Both teams were in the hunt, and the Jaguars could have knocked the Huskers into second place with a win. It was not meant to be, however, by a mile, as the Jaguars lost 16-2 in 5 innings.
Against Holdingford, Brett DeRoo, Jace Mueller and Lance Radermacher split pitching duties. The Huskers out-hit the Jaguars by a 13 to 5 margin. Five Jaguars had one hit each: Brett DeRoo, Luke Illies, Hayden Sobiech, Lance Radermacher and Jack Lundberg. Sobiech and Illies each doubled.
Hurting the Jaguars were 4 errors, while Holdingford had none.
In their second game of the night, the baseball team traveled to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle for a non-conference game. The Thunder and Jaguars locked horns, and LP-GE came out with a 6-5 walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th inning. Crazy! And brutal.
How the LP-GE game played out...
After two scoreless innings, the Jaguars took a 2-0 lead in the third inning and then made it 4-0 in the fourth. They scored an additional run in the top of the 5th, but LP-GE got 2 runs back in the sixth. Trailing 5-2 going into the 7th, the Thunder tied it with three runs to extend the game to extra innings. Neither team scored in the 8th, and LP-GE then scratched the game-winner across home plate for the walk-off in the bottom of the 9th.
Earning 2 hits each against LP-GE were Ethan Mueller, Jack Lundberg and Noah DeRoo. Brett DeRoo hit a two-RBI home run.
A win over LP-GE (17-1) could have solidified B-B-E's position at the top of the Sub-Section 6A-South standings. Instead, they have to push their way to tomorrow looking for redemption from today's tough losses. The Thunder went 11-0 in the regular season against Section 6A teams. They won the Prairie Conference title alone with an 8-0 record.
Next for the baseball Jaguars...they host Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City for a doubleheader on Friday (tomorrow) at noon at Saints Field. Game one is actually a continuation of a game that started on Monday this week. It continues with action in the bottom of the 3rd inning and the score of B-B-E 3, A-C-GC 2.
In fastpitch softball news related to the Central Minnesota Conference...tomorrow in St. Cloud at River's Edge Park, Holdingford and Paynesville face off in a Section 6AA elimination game.
In B-B-E related news...
As readers of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper know, the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2025 will be Friday, May 23 at 7 p.m. If you can't watch it in person, you can watch it online by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/CJr2R.
Sub-Section 3A-South playoff scores on May 22:
Wabasso 11, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 1 (5 innings)
BOLD 4, Adrian Area 1
Edgerton/Southwest MN Christian 15, Lakeview 5
Edgerton/SMC 8, Murray County Central 7
Kimball Area 3, Pequot Lakes 0
Area fastpitch playoff scores on May 22:
Kimball Area 15, Eden Valley-Watkins 0
Pierz 2, Paynesville Area 1
St. Cloud Cathedral 12, Pierz 2 (6 innings)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 14, Heritage Christian 6
Braham 9, A-C-GC 3 (the Bombers are the No. 1 seed in Section 4A)
A-C-GC 15, Ogilvie 3 (A-C-GC stays alive in the 4A elimination bracket; they play at Lester Prairie tomorrow to keep their season alive and improve on their 6-15 record)
St. Cloud Cathedral 10, Holdingford 2
Lester Prairie 5, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 4
Dassel-Cokato 11, Montevideo 1
West Lutheran 8, Lester Prairie 2
New London-Spicer 1, Litchfield 0
Minnewaska Area 6, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 2
Pequot Lakes 1, Melrose Area 0
Swanville 12, Brandon-Evansville 2
Browerville 7, Upsala 6
Hancock 1, Rothsay 0
New York Mills 13, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 9, Pelican Rapids 4
West Central Area 5, Ashby 0
Dassel-Cokato 3, New London-Spicer 0
Windom Area 6, Minneota/Canby 1
Redwood Valley 10, Luverne 9
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 5, Minnewaska Area 2
Pipestone Area 14, Redwood Valley 3
Jackson County Central 6, Windom Area 1
Area baseball scores on May 22: Red Lake County 5, Upsala/Swanville Area 3
U/SA 3, Red Lake County 2
Parkers Prairie 7, Browerville 4
Kimball Area 6, Foley 4
Montevideo 19, West Central Area 3 Ortonville 6, Hancock 1
Melrose Area 5, Benson 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 6, Minnewaska Area 5
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 6, Canby 0
Paynesville Area 5, Redwood Valley 1
Parkers Prairie 2, Brandon-Evansville 0
MA/CA 13, Minnewaska Area 4
Melrose Area 4, Benson 3
Sauk Centre 8, Kimball Area 6
SUCH a fun track and field meet! It was great! (VIDEOS*)
Multiple members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams broke personal records today at the Dave Sieben Invitational at Melrose high school. It was a thoroughly enjoyable track meet to be a part of. I arrived at 4:30 p.m., and the sun was setting when I left town. My last video was recorded at 8:35 p.m. There was not a trace of clouds in the sky throughout the evening.
By just a fraction of a second, Taylor Nelson broke his personal record in the 1600 run. The time is still 4:43, but the hundredths-of-a-second changed. He also ran the third leg of the boys' 4x400 relay team that broke their season record (3:48 and now it's 3:47 and change).
Here's a video featuring one of Bree Thieschafer's shot put attempts in Melrose:
In the 1600 run, Kylie Zins shaved nearly 30 seconds off of her personal record. Her new time is approximately 7:03, which beats her previous best run of 7:31. It is an incredible feat to burn down that much time off of a personal record in the 1600 this far into a season.
Here's a video featuring part of the boys 4x400 relay tonight:
B-B-E's boys 4x400 relay team included Dominic Ramos, Miguel Santamaria, Taylor Nelson and Mason Douvier.
More to come tomorrow. I don't have official results yet.
The fastpitch and baseball teams are both in action tonight. Meanwhile, I've got the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department scaled back for the evening while I complete a 16-page issue for the May 8 edition. I have over 700 photos to comb through across the news and sports events of the past 6 days. It is insane!
I just got into the BOLD track and field results. It was exciting to see junior Kameron Hiltner take gold in the 100 open. He's racked up numerous first-place finishes in the 100 this spring. His time yesterday in Olivia was 11.43 seconds.
Today we have the baseball and fastpitch teams in action.
At home, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch teamconcludes the regular season with a game in Brooten against non-conference Upsala. The game will also feature Senior Night when they honor the four seniors on the team.
In Paynesville, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team completes the season series with neighboring rival Paynesville Area today. The Bulldogs have already clinched a share of the Central Minnesota Conference title. All the Jaguars can do is force a tie for the title between Paynesville and Eden Valley-Watkins if they can defeat the Bulldogs. The Jaguars host Maple Lake tomorrow to conclude the regular season.
Shifting over to track and field...
Here's a video featuring Josh Walstrom and Kameron Hiltner in the long jump on Tuesday in Grove City:
The track and field teams competed at the CMC championships at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school.
Jaguars and DeRoo's no-hitter performance blanks Hancock
Behind a tremendous no-hitter performance on the mound by senior Kaden DeRoo, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team extended their winning streak to five games as they won 11-0 in five games tonight to conclude the Max Bats wood bat invitational. They now hold an 11-4 overall record. The 11 regular season wins marks the most since the 2016 season, when they were 15-5 before the playoffs and 9-5 in the Central Minnesota Conference. They finished in third place in Section 6A with a 19-7 final season record.
DeRoo, who is a dual sport spring athlete and also a member of the golf team, fired 10 strikeouts and issued just one walk.
The next game for the Jaguars is on Tuesday in Elrosa when they host Eden Valley-Watkins in a big Central Minnesota Conference game. In the May 13 QRF rankings, the Jaguars were ranked No. 9 overall in Class 1A, a huge jump from No. 29 in the May 6 rankings.
More to post much later. I realized that I haven't updated my newspaper website with fresh articles! Yikes.
A handful of members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams broke personal records at last Thursday's Dave Sieben invitational in Melrose. The event featured 12 teams with weather conditions that were absolutely picture-perfect for an outdoor athletic event. I'm still combing through results.
Here's a video with Presley Detloff and Bree Thieschafer in the shot put that night:
Bree Thieschafer, a junior, broke her personal record in the shot put with her throw featured in that video.
Here's a boys' triple jump video from Melrose:
The track and field teams are gearing up for the Central Minnesota Conference championships, which will be held on Tuesday, May 14 at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school. The field events start at 3:30 p.m.
It's Sunday afternoon now, and the outside is calling! I have to get back out for the afternoon and enjoy that sunshine.
Track and field season gets underway; fastpitch earns second win (VIDEO)
I've posted a light update at the bottom of this blog post on Wednesday night...
We had a successful night in Jaguar Country!! The evening included a rare double rainbow stretching high over the Bonanza Valley to top things off.
In their home opener, theB-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team improved to 2-1 by defeating non-conference MACCRAY 12-2 in five innings. They hit the ball well and are moving in the right direction as they prepare for the Central Minnesota Conference opener. The Jaguars host Paynesville Area on Thursday this week at 4:30 p.m. This marks the first time in 14 years that the Jaguars have started 2-1. In 2010, they lost their opener before earning back-to-back wins.
On Friday, the fastpitch team travels to Browerville. The Tigers are 1-0 after defeating defending Prairie Conference champion Upsala 2-1 on Tuesday on the road. That game was a rematch of last year's Section 6A championship, which Upsala won on their way to a fourth-place finish at the state tournament.
The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams got their competition schedule underway with a home meet tonight that included six other schools. Temperatures flirted with 60 degrees at times as the sun shined around a handful of clouds.
Here's a video with one of the 100 open race heats tonight:
The track and field teams have over a week off from competition now to hone their skills and continue working on conditioning. Their next meet is on Thursday, April 18 at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.
More to come...
Wednesday night update:please click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website to see important information for residents of Brooten: https://t.ly/oduQB. I've got a light Goat Ridge Brewing Co. story posted at the Business article section, which you can find by clicking here: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/business.
Also...the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team opens the season on Thursday at Parkers Prairie. Their home opener follows the next day, when they host a border battle with Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at the Regal diamond. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m. from Buddy Beier Stadium.
Looking like all systems go for tomorrow's track and field meet! (VIDEO)
This is exciting!
For the first time in "a few years" ...we'll get a home track and field meet during the "single digits" of the month of April! Tomorrow, at the high school athletic complex, the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams are set to host a seven-team meet. Field events are set to begin at 3:45 p.m. Teams included are Upsala/Swanville Area, Sauk Centre, Holdingford, Browerville, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle and St. John's Prep.
I have to look back in my records and see when the last time was that we held a home track and field meet before April 10.
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team (1-1) is set to host MACCRAY at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at their home diamond at the elementary school.
Here's a video featuring the post-game huddle after the Jaguars defeated LP-GE on Friday in Swanville:
I've been sidetracked over the weekend studying the U.S. economy. I gathered a few facts and figures for a light web article, and additional commentary will be published in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice on this topic. You can find what I posted online here: https://t.ly/4XDZv. Needless to say, this economy has been a terrifying challenge for families across the Bonanza Valley area. Tonight, I learned that B-B-E schools is facing a dilemma in the health care insurance field. If they had stayed the course with existing coverage, their increases for 2025 and beyond would be in the range of 45 to 50 percent! What we are experiencing is unsustainable. I see no end in sight to the economic pain and misery that we're suffering through.
On a brighter note...I just put together some advertising for Goat Ridge Brewing Co. of New London...this is exciting! They are hosting a 9th anniversary celebration this Saturday, April 13. You can see more details at https://goatridgebrewing.com and also in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Four members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams have earned spots in the Section 5A championships that will be held on Wednesday, May 31 at St. John's University's Clemens Stadium. Once the dust settled on the Sub-Section 5A-West championships at Maple Lake, these four Jaguars advance to the state-qualifying meet: Branton Jones (discus throw), Tiyana Schwinghammer (triple jump), Bree Thieschafer and Grace Jackson (both in the pole vault).
Here's Bree Thieschafer nailing 7 feet, 8 inches in the pole vault at Maple Lake:
The Section 5A meet gets underway with field events at 10:30 a.m. at Clemens Stadium.
Track and field competes at subsections, fastpitch season ends (VIDEO)
It has been a day...with the temperature climbing to around 86 degrees this afternoon, multiple teams competed tonight in their respective spring sports. I have not had a handle on the boys' golf team, but the schedule showed them competing in Willmar. I am not sure about that, as they are also in Willmar tomorrow for the first round of the Section 5A playoffs.
At the Maple Lake football stadium, the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teamsgave it their all while competing in the Sub-Section 5A-West championships. I don't have official results at my fingertips, but I have one thoroughly exciting bit of news to report. In the triple jump, senior Tiyana Schwinghammer completely destroyed her personal record (31'9") and earned a Section 5A berth with an impressive best effort of 32 feet, 11 inches. By my math, that's an additional 14 inches above her personal best! The 32-11 was achieved in the triple jump finals just as the sun started to set on the horizon. I don't have official results on other events, but other Jaguars are on the bubble in terms of advancing to next week's section meet at St. John's University.
Here's senior Branton Jones in the shot put under the full sunshine at Maple Lake high school:
At Lac qui Parle Valley high school to open the Sub-Section 3A-North tournament, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team suffered a 7-0 loss to finish the season 2-19 overall. YME's Bayli Sneller held the Jaguars to just four hits, all singles, coming from Kenna Lieser, Faith Radermacher, Brooklyn Fischer and Taylor Shelton. They played the game tonight with a senior-less roster, and just 3 of the 10 players are juniors. The other 7 players are in eighth, ninth or 10th grade, which bodes well for the future of the program.
More to come. As I spent the evening in Maple Lake and had a one-hour return trip, I will be watering the garden by flashlight tonight before getting the newspaper ready for press. We will publish a 16-page issue in the morning. Good night!
The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams open the postseason with the Sub-Section 5A-West championships at Maple Lake high school. The meet will begin at 3 p.m. sharp. The boys' and girls' squads have numerous athletes who are in position to earn Section 5A berths if they earn top-six finishes in their respective individual events.
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team travels to Hantho Township in Lac qui Parle County at LQPV high school for the opening round of the Sub-Section 3A-North tournament. The Jaguars, seeded No. 6, face No. 3-seeded Yellow Medicine East. Last year the Jaguars fell 2-1 in a heartbreaker to YME in the first round.
Fun fact: back in 1871, my great-great-great grandmother Ane Romo Boraas put her stake down on a 160-acre homestead just a few miles southwest of the present-day LQPV high school. She earned the homestead deed and later passed away in 1901 at age 79.
Here's Faith Radermacher pitching in game 2 last week against Holdingford:
More to come much later. I will be spending the late afternoon and evening at the Maple Lake track and field complex with our Jaguars.
**Update: the fastpitch team lost 7-0 in their playoff opener to see their season come to an end.
At Long Prairie, the baseball team was also shut out and lost by a score of 4-0.
A busy day ahead, and boys' golf opens season (VIDEOS)
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team opened their 2023 season with a meet at Greystone Golf Course in Sauk Centre yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. Brady Schwinghammer shot a 77 to take second place overall. Today the boys' golf team competes at Kimball.
Today the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams compete at Sauk Centre starting at 3:30 p.m. Other teams included are Melrose Area, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Minnewaska Area, Paynesville Area, New London-Spicer and Montevideo.
Here's Tiyana Schwinghammer clearing the bar with ease in the high jump on Tuesday this week:
She cleared 4'4" in that jump, and she topped out at 4'8" to take sixth place in a very competitive field.
The baseball and fastpitch teams both play conference doubleheaders today starting at 4 p.m. The baseball team is at Holdingford, while the fastpitch team hosts Holdingford in Brooten.
Here's Coach Funk with his fastpitch team between innings at Swanville in the season opener on April 14:
We are very thankful that today appears to be a day that all of our sporting events can take place. It does not look like that's the case tomorrow, however.
Branton Jones won the shot put at Minnewaska Area tonight with a best throw of 41 feet and 6 inches. He also took second place in the discus throw with a best throw of 119 feet and 3 inches. Tiyana Schwinghammer won the high jump with a best jump of 4 feet, 8 inches. The track and field teams host an eight-team meet tomorrow (Tuesday) with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, BOLD, Benson, Browerville, Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball, Paynesville Area and St. John's Prep. Action begins at 3:30 p.m.
I recently heard the exciting news that Schwinghammer singed with Northland College of Thief River Falls last week to continue her basketball career. She will join one of the top junior college women's basketball programs in Minnesota.
I just noticed that they took most of the rain out of the forecast for the rest of this week!!! This is exciting news. This Thursday, the forecast calls for 60 degrees and low wind, which bodes well for having a track meet at Sauk Centre. Fingers crossed. I'm hoping to make it to that meet and return in time to catch the tail end of a home fastpitch doubleheader with Holdingford.
We have more waiting to do before spring sports can get rolling. This week will move us a lot closer to the point where we can see our Jaguars in action at track and field stadiums, the golf courses and the baseball and fastpitch softball diamonds.
Just for the heck of it I went back in my video archives and located this video that is almost nine years old. It features members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teamsat the Section 5A meet at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville. From what I could tell, I saw Taylor Gregory in a high jump attempt, Kinlee Swanson in a long jump attempt, Colby Schramel in the pole vault and Sidney Shacter in the discus throw.
VIDEO from 2014:
*Here's an archive video from April of 2012:
Daniel Rooney was a senior that spring.
I am not optimistic that we will see a track and field meet this Thursday at Benson. Although we have high temperatures this week, I doubt it will be enough to firm up the football stadium at Benson high school.
The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams will host another meet today, with field events to start at 3:45 p.m. Teams included are Paynesville Area, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, BOLD, Benson, Browerville, Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball Area and St. John's Prep. It should be a good one! Let's hope the sun comes out.
The fastpitch team is in Murdock today to face K-M-S. The baseball team heads east to Paynesville for a conference border battle.
*Here's a couple videos featuring boys' shot put attempts last Monday at the B-B-E high school sports complex:
And the other:
It will be a few more days until we get spring sports resumed...winter hasn't let up yet.
Tonight we have the Belgrade city council meeting plus the B-B-E school board meeting, with the latter taking place at the high school. Busy, busy, busy!
