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!

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!

Saints blank Cubs

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated Greenwald 5-0 today in a Stearns County League North division game. A hitting advantage by a 12 to 5 margin, including a home run by Ashton Dingmann, was key to the win. Ethan Mueller started and pitched 8 innings for the win on the mound. Luke Illies closed in the 9th inning.

The win pulls the Saints into a tie for second place in the SCL-North standings with New Munich. A huge game is on deck next Sunday, when Elrosa hosts New Munich at 1:30 p.m. The winner gets a jump on earning the No. 2 seed for the division playoffs, which start on Saturday, July 19.

Smilin' D Arena held a Ranch Rodeo on Friday night; here's a video from that night:


From Thursday morning through Saturday evening, we received a full 5 inches of rain around the Brooten area.

Regulation-inning game, but another tough loss to the Chargers

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team hosted Spring Hill and suffered a 3-2 loss in regulation innings. The Chargers pushed the game-winning run across in the top of the 8th inning. For the game, a whopping 30 baserunners were left stranded: 13 by Spring Hill and 17 by Elrosa.

Elrosa scored once in both the first and second innings and rode the early 2-0 lead into the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth, the Chargers tied the game at 2-2. In the top of the 8th, Luke Dehmer hit a one-out single for Spring Hill. He made it a 3-2 lead for the visitors on Ethan Meyer's grounder to shortstop.

Next: the Saints travel to Greenwald for a Stearns County League North division border battle on Sunday with first pitch at 1:30 p.m.

Bonanza Valley Days men's 3-on-3 tournament

Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten is coming in just two weeks!

Related to BVD in Brooten...
The BVD Men's 3-on-3 tournament at the elementary school in Brooten is coming on Friday, July 11. Organizer Chris Anderson highly recommends that teams get their registration mailed in ahead of that week so the games can begin at 6 p.m. sharp that night. If registering on site, he asked that teams arrive by 5 p.m. Registration is $40 for teams pre-registered by July 3 and $50 after that. He can be contacted by email: canderson@bbejaguars.org.

The Brooten Farmers Market will run until 7 p.m. tonight! See more here: https://shorturl.at/1tXaR.