Elrosa Saints extend their season to next week (VIDEOS)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team extended their season to next week with a 16-6 win in 8 innings today over Spring Hill. It was a wild game that had the Chargers jump all over Elrosa with a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Overall, Elrosa totaled 18 hits and had 11 earned runs against three Spring Hill Charger pitchers plus Meire Grove draftee and closer Jordan Klaphake.

Luke Illies and Peyton Winter had monster games with 4 hits each. Illies scored 5 runs, and Winter had 3 RBI.

Elrosa's next game is another elimination game next Saturday, August 15 at about 3:30 p.m. in Regal. Their opponent will be Farming.

Here's a video from the top of the 7th inning:


Here's a video from the top of the 8th inning:


Earlier today, New Munich won 8-4 over New London-Spicer to advance to next weekend's action.

In the first state qualifier game of the Region 8C tournament, Atwater won 12-3 over New London-Spicer on Saturday night.

In tonight's state qualifier at Regal...
Richmond and Starbuck are facing eachother in the winner's bracket of the region tournament. The winner of the game earns a state tournament berth and a spot in the Region 8C championship game, which is set for 6 p.m. on August 15.

The Royals grabbed the lead back at 7-6 with a Cole Schmitz two-run bomb on a breaking ball from Brayden Skindelien. The game is in the sixth inning. They ultimately scored 3 runs on 3 hits with no errors and none stranded. After 6 innings: Richmond 6, Starbuck 7.

Video is uploading.

Battle For the Keg III

The Elrosa Saints face Spring Hill today in a Region 8C elimination game at Regal.

In the first game today in Regal, New Munich has a 3-1 lead over New London-Spicer after 5 innings.

Updates to follow.

**New Munich beat NL-S 8-4 to stay alive at regions. The Elrosa vs. Spring Hill game won't start until after 2 p.m.

Battle For the Keg III updates:
The Elrosa vs. Spring Hill game got started at about 2:15 p.m. For Spring Hill, they are starting Anthony Revermann on the mound. The Saints are going with Aiden Mueller as starter.

The game had a tough start for Elrosa. Spring Hill earned 6 hits in the top of the first inning and used that onslaught plus one Elrosa error to take a 4-0 lead. They left 3 stranded on relief pitcher Riley Meyer. In the bottom of the first inning, Elrosa scored 4 runs to make it a tie game.

After two innings complete, Spring Hill has a 5-4 lead.

After 3 innings complete, Elrosa has an 8-5 lead. Peyton Winter hit an RBI-single to put the Saints ahead 6-5.

Spring Hill and Elrosa face region opponents today in their openers

The Region 8C baseball field is set. Now all that’s needed are large crowds to make the drive to Buddy Beier Stadium in Regal for what should shape up to be two exciting weekends of amateur baseball. Elrosa, the top seed out of the Stearns County League North, begins their quest for state at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 8 against Starbuck. The Stars lost 8-7 to New London-Spicer in the County Line League championship last Friday. On Saturday, Atwater won 5-1 over Lake Henry in the region play-in game.

Region 8C openers in Regal:
On Friday, August 7: New London-Spicer faces Atwater at 6 p.m. in the first region game. New Munich then takes on Farming at 8:30 p.m.
On Saturday, August 8: Spring Hill faces Richmond at 1 p.m. in their region opener before the Saints take on the Stars at 3:30 p.m.

Scores will be posted as I find them out. There's also the Kandiyohi County Fair's final day, which is today. Lots of ground to cover. I've got 2 updates at the newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

In the Elrosa vs. Starbuck game: the Saints have a 2-0 lead early in the top of the third inning.

In the 7th, Starbuck scored once to make it 2-1.

Earlier today, Richmond beat Spring Hill 3-2.

Final: Starbuck 6, Elrosa 4. The Stars scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th inning to break a 4-4 tie. For the game, Elrosa left 15 runners stranded.

Elrosa plays at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow in Regal. The opponent is Spring Hill. 

Tractor Pull at the Pope County Fair + Sunburg event on Tuesday!

The traditional event on Saturday of the Pope County Fair in Glenwood is the tractor and truck pull.

Here's Jack Anderson, B-B-E high school student, in the tractor pull on Saturday:


Jack Anderson was driving a John Deere 4440.

The Pope County Fair enjoyed its best turnout in at least 10 years. They have much to be proud of for the lineup of activities and the large crowds they had last week. You can see more coverage of the fair in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

In town team baseball news...
In the County Line League championship game last Friday in Paynesville, New London-Spicer defeated Starbuck 8-7 to advance as a No. 1 seed to Region 8C. Their opponent was to-be-determined, while Starbuck's opponent in their region opener will be Elrosa.

In Sunburg on Tuesday this week...August 4:
Read all about an event in Sunburg on Tuesday night by clicking here: SunburgFireAppreciationNight. This event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4.

It's August: County Fair season! (VIDEO)

We're almost all the way through the first day of August 2026. Much to get caught up on! Two county fairs were in progress today, and they conclude on Sunday: the Pope and Stearns county fairs. Both of those county fairs have had a tremendous level of turnout this week. In fact, both may be the busiest fairs they've had since prior to the pandemic. This is great!

Here's a video featuring a view from the carnival rides at the Pope County Fair:


The video was taken on Saturday night. That's all I've got. I need a good night's rest to be up and at it for 9 a.m. church at West Lake Johanna Church in Gilchrist Township.

**In sports news, Elrosa will face Starbuck in the region opener on Saturday, August 8 at 3:30 p.m. in Regal. 

Community celebration coming to Sunburg next week

Sunburg will be hosting its version of National Night Out on Tuesday, August 4. The Sunburg Fire Department and Rescue squad invites the public to come to town and help them celebrate National Night Out along with the great fundraising support they've received for their need to purchase a new fire truck.

This community appreciation gathering will be held Tuesday, August 4th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sunburg Fire Hall for donors and community members to check out the truck and visit with First Responders - both Fire fighters and EMS.

Switching to sports...

Here's action from the 10th inning on Sunday against New Munich:


The game was played at Greenwald, where the Saints won 6-5 in 10 innings.

I heard that Lake Henry has qualified for the play-in round of the Region 8C tournament. They will face the No. 3 team out of the County Line League.

In other news...
TWO local county fairs kicked off today: the Pope County Fair in Glenwood and the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre.

Elrosa Saints win playoff title (VIDEOS)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team won the Stearns County League North playoff title with a 6-5, 10-inning win over New Munich this afternoon in Greenwald. A base hit by Derek Wiener in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Luke Dingmann from second base for the walk-off win.

A three-run home run by Blaine Fischer in the bottom of the 8th inning tied the game at 5-5. In the first inning, New Munich took a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jackson Peter hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Here's a video featuring action in the bottom of the 8th inning:


The game continued past the 9th inning thanks to some great plays made by Elrosa's defense in the top of the 9th inning.

Here's a video from the top of the 9th inning:


Next: the Saints open the Region 8C tournament on Saturday, August 8 at 3:30 p.m. in Regal, host of the 2026 region tournament. They will face the No. 2 seed from the County Line League.

In the second SCL-North game played today in Greenwald, Spring Hill defeated Greenwald 8-2 to keep their season alive. They earned a spot in the region tournament.

More to come. I haven't gotten a full grasp on who's still alive in the County Line League playoffs. The last I checked, teams still alive in the CLL playoffs are Atwater, Regal and Paynesville.

Plenty of baseball to catch up on

I'll start in the Stearns County League South with amateur baseball news...in the division playoffs on Saturday, Farming defeated Lake Henry 11-5 to earn a spot at the Region 8C tournament.

In the SCL-North, New Munich won a high-scoring contest 18-12 against Spring Hill in their division opener. New Munich earns the right to face Elrosa in a region seeding game for the SCL-North playoff banner. New Munich and Elrosa have a first pitch set for 12 p.m. in Greenwald today.

Later today in Greenwald, Spring Hill will face the Cubs in an elimination game.

In youth baseball news...
At the state tournament in Barnesville on Saturday, the B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team took a very, very tough loss by a 7-6 score in regulation innings against neighboring Paynesville. The Jaguars scored 2 runs in the top of the seventh, but they ran out of outs before at least extending it to the bottom of the frame. They had a spectacular finish to their season with a fourth-place finish at state. How incredible is that!

In Greenwald...New Munich has a 5-2 lead through 7 innings over Elrosa.

*Update: the Saints tied the game 5-5 in the 8th inning.

Final: Elrosa 6, New Munich 5 in 10 innings.

Playing for 3rd place

The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team is playing in the third-place game today at the state tournament. In the semifinals yesterday, they lost 6-0 to Prairie Rivers. Today's opponent will be Paynesville. 

At Elrosa today, the Saints beat Greenwald 17-1 to earn a spot at the region tournament. Next: Elrosa plays at Greenwald tomorrow (Sunday) at noon. I don't know who they play yet.