Baseball falls in conference opener

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team was cuffed at the plate on Monday at Paynesville Area in the Central Minnesota Conference opener. Held to three hits in a complete game effort by Paynesville senior Reed Johnson, the Jaguars lost 11-1 in 6 innings to fall to 1-1 overall. Johnson fired 4 strikeouts with no walks.

B-B-E sent Aiden Mueller and Lance Radermacher to the mound, and they gave up a combined 11 hits against 9 strikeouts.

They travel to Holdingford on Thursday this week for a CMC doubleheader that starts at 4 p.m.

In other news...
A video featuring the first 40 minutes of the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Donatus Catholic Church has been posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: StDonatusEasterVigilMass.

Also, the track and field teams will host their only home meet of the season next Tuesday, April 21. It will feature 9 teams, including Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Browerville, Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball, Holdingford, Melrose Area, Paynesville Area, St. John`s Prep and West Central Area.

Here's a video recorded just before the second qualification match at the Granite City Regional last Friday in St. Cloud:


Coverage on the B-B-E Resistance Robotics team will follow in this week's newspaper.

TONIGHT! The grades 6-12 band and choir spring concert starts at 7 p.m. at the Phil and Lucille Olson Auditorium.

Fastpitch suffers two losses (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team dropped to 1-2 on the season after a 12-2 loss to Upsala on Friday. The score was 1-1 in the third inning before the Cardinals began to pull away. They led 3-1 after the fourth inning, but the Jaguars cut it to a 3-2 score in the bottom of the fifth. A disastrous sixth inning followed, with the Cardinals scoring 7 runs in the top of the frame.

Overall, Upsala out-hit the Jaguars 12 to 4. B-B-E had 3 errors to none by the Cardinals.

Here's a video featuring Kenna Lieser scoring after her two-run home run against MACCRAY last Tuesday:


The Jaguars are now idle until next Thursday, April 16, when they host Holdingford in a doubleheader.

Robotics team competing at Granite City Regional (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Resistance Robotics team is having a terrific day so far at the Granite City Regional. In spite of having a 1-2 record in qualification matches, the team's robot is working in excellent fashion. The 7 members on the team have been working diligently at regions, and their next match is at 2:20 p.m. at River's Edge Convention Center.

Here's a video featuring the conclusion of the first qualification match this morning in St. Cloud:


In the third qualification match, which started at 12:57 today, B-B-E's Red Alliance lost 190-166. They held a late lead that could not hold up in the last 30 seconds. They sit in 32nd place out of 51 teams.

UPDATE: in the fourth qualification match of the Granite City Regional, B-B-E's Blue Alliance lost 241 to 86; they fell to 40th place. Their fifth match is set for 3:40 p.m. today in a Red Alliance that includes the New London-Spicer Toolcats plus the Sartell-St. Stephen Light SaBres. NL-S is currently in 4th place out of 51 teams; they are coached by Aric Harrier, brother of Mrs. Mimi Knutson (B-B-E elementary teacher).

Saturday update: the robotics team finished 3-6 and in 42nd place. They won the final match of the Saturday qualification rounds and ended regions on a high note.

Winter returns

Hopefully it's short-lived!

I am in Morris right now, and the ground is pure white with about a half an inch of fresh snow that just fell. I am at the college, where Willow has West Central Wildcats AAU basketball practice. 

I haven't heard an outcome from Paynesville. 

I noticed my short writings about track and field in the newspaper were incorrect. On Tuesday, I was unaware that they have an outdoor meet scheduled for Friday (this week)...this leads me to the decision that it makes no sense to write about upcoming games when I print sports stories in the newspaper. Folks will simply have to go to this sports blog to read about the varsity sports schedule. It's a waste of resources to put that in ink in the newspaper. At least in the front part of April, the weather is too unpredictable!

Update: I heard the tough news that the varsity fastpitch team lost at Paynesville tonight. That's all I have there. On a brighter note, the JV Jaguars defeated the Bulldogs. I'll get a new blog post added on Friday morning featuring a complete report from the game. For the record, senior Kenna Lieser had 112 career hits at the end of last season. Through 2 games this season, she's got 5 hits to add to that number. She's been a varsity player since 7th grade in the 2021 season.

In other news...
The B-B-E Resistance Robotics team traveled to St. Cloud today for the first day of the Granite City Regional. The region tournament is being held at River's Edge Convention Center. This day is reserved for practice sessions. The first day of competition, which includes 51 total teams, is Friday. Action should begin at 8:55 a.m.

B-B-E's first qualification match is set for 9:40 a.m. They are in a Blue alliance with teams from Rocori and Minneota.

The official F.I.R.S.T. Granite City Regional website is found here: https://frc-events.firstinspires.org/2026/MNMI2/qualifications.

1-and-oh! ...times TWO! (VIDEOS)

On a cold evening with a mix of clouds and then a burst of sunshine, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team earned an 11-1 win in 6 innings over MACCRAY tonight. Next: a trip to Paynesville on Thursday this week for the Central Minnesota Conference opener. The Jaguars are set to host non-conference Upsala on Friday in a second straight home game.

The game started off with a bang as senior Kenna Lieser hit a two-RBI home run over dead center in the first inning. The homer drove in her freshman sister, Abby, for a 2-0 lead.

No word yet on how baseball fared against Border West.

Here's a video featuring the start of the game today:


Since I forgot to post it...here's a video recorded a few weeks ago.

From the indoor practice held on March 17:


The golf teams won't get their seasons going until next week. The official girls' golf opener is at Little Crow Golf Course in rural New London on Thursday, April 16.

More to come.

UPDATE:
The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team persevered in a tight ball game by defeating Border West 2-1 tonight in their season opener. The Jaguars overcame 16 stranded runners. They got a huge boost by a solo home run by junior Tyler Myers. B-B-E scored once in the third and once in the fifth innings. The Buccaneers scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth.

Next: a non-conference section game at Parkers Prairie on Thursday this week.

Looks like all systems GO for two season openers

As I type this, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team is traveling west to Clinton, Minnesota, for their season opener against Section 6A rival Border West. First pitch at the Clinton ball field is at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, on the home diamond, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team is preparing to host MACCRAY in a non-conference season opener in Brooten. That game is set to begin at 5 p.m. That's all I've got right now.

**Update: the fastpitch Jaguars are ahead 4-0 through 3 innings over MACCRAY. 

Fascinating math

Today, after purchasing around 23 gallons of E-85 fuel for our Chevy Suburban at Coop's Corner, I put my math skills to work. Here's what I came up with. At the current price of fuel, using E-85 in our Chevy Suburban is saving 5 cents a mile. The check I wrote at Coop's Corner would have been about $60 on the fuel needed for 300 miles of driving with E-10 (87 octane) fuel. Using the $2/gallon E-85, the tank cost $45. We see a loss in gas mileage with E-85, but the large difference in price for E-85 compared to E-10 is significant!

You can do the math yourself...5 cents per mile adds up fast.

This is Holy Week

Numerous area churches are celebrating and observing Holy Week with a variety of worship services. I learned tonight that St. Donatus Catholic Church in Brooten will host an Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night, April 4 at 8 p.m.

You can watch Pastor Kathy Terpstra's sermon from West Lake Johanna Lutheran church on Sunday, March 29 by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: WestLakeJohannaPastorKathy. Pastor Kathy's sermon begins a little before the 7:00 mark. It was an excellent sermon! You'll want to check it out.

Also at the newspaper's website, you can watch video from Maundy Thursday worship at Big Grove Lutheran church, as well as a press release from Senator Torrey Westrom regarding how the state of Minnesota condones allowing male athletes to compete in girls' sports: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.