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!
Saturday, May 23, 2026
They graduated: Class of 2026 officially begins "adulting"! (VIDEO)
Welcome, B-B-E Class of 2026, to the adult world! The Class of 2026 in Jaguar Country held its commencement ceremony last night in the high school gymnasium. Altogether, graduation lasted 1 hour and 6 minutes.
Here's video from the end of graduation and after it was completed:
Remember! Grove Lake will hold a Memorial Weekend event tomorrow, Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. at the Grove Lake Chapel. This is located about 3/4 of a mile south of the center of Grove Lake on Pope County Road 39.
During the day Sunday, when I'm not at church or at Grove Lake, I've got 56 garden vegetable plants to get in the ground. Uff Da. We have finally gotten proper spring gardening weather.
This is graduation day for the 37th straight year in Jaguar Country
To watch the graduation ceremony for the 37th class of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa high school, click on the link to move to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: BBEschoolGraduation2026.
And! I have to acknowledge a mistake in the graduation section of this week's newspaper. The father of Kadynce Haider is not Todd Haider...it's Brad Haider. Todd is Brad's younger brother. It made for quite the text message thread between Todd, Brad and their mom, Kathy Haider! Brad is Kadynce's dad, and he is a 1998 graduate of B-B-E high school. He was a standout wrestler for Chuck Marks and his wrestlers. Todd Haider was a terrific wrestler and also a marvelous football and baseball player. In Todd's senior year, he was one of three seniors for the Jaguar baseball team in 2000 along with Travis Schoumaker and the late Adam Hanson.
The Brooten city council meeting agenda has been posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: BrootenCouncilAgendaMay26.
Three games deep, Jaguar fastpitch season ends; Baseball Jaguars edge LPGE (VIDEOS*)
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team had chances all game to push runs across home plate, but the defense of the Braham Bombers made big plays in many innings to erase the basepaths while earning a 7-0 win in the Section 4A elimination bracket.
Both teams had 3 defensive errors, and Braham had 14 hits to 9 by the Jaguars. B-B-E had one hit batsman, but the Bombers had 4 stolen bases plus 2 extra base hits. Both teams had 9 stranded runners. For B-B-E, Brielle Worms and Mya Worms split pitching duties.
Here's a video from the bottom of the 2nd inning:
The Bombers scored the game's first runs in the bottom of the third, when they took a 3-0 lead. The third and fourth innings saw Braham expand the lead to 5-0 and then 7-0. The final 2 1/2 innings of the game brought no scoring.
Here's a video from the bottom of the 6th inning:
Senior Kenna Lieser finished a prolific fastpitch career with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate today. Unofficially, I believe she finished her six varsity seasons at B-B-E with 145 hits. No. 2 hitter and sophomore Lillian Thompson was 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Paighton Oeltjenbruns and had 2 singles, and Kamie Fischer and Ava Lieser had one single each.
B-B-E's season closes out with a 12-10 record, which marks the first time since 2009 that the fastpitch team finished with a winning record. Between starters and substitutes today, only 2 players for the Jaguars were seniors: Ava Lieser and Kenna Lieser. The starting line up had just one senior (Kenna Lieser) and only two juniors (Mya Worms and Kamie Fischer). This was a very young team that made big accomplishments this spring.
Today's game was played at Braham in Isanti County. The facilities of their softball park on the south end of their school campus are terrific. Kudos to their community! The Bombers move on with a 17-6 record. They play next Tuesday in the next round of the elimination bracket.
TWO big events coming in the next two days: B-B-E's 37th annual graduation ceremony will take place tomorrow, Friday, at 7 p.m. at the high school gymnasium. Also, on Saturday, please come to the Brooten Pavilion for the 1st annual BratFest! Hosted by the Jenniges family and Jenniges Meats of Brooten.
I'm working remotely and almost out of battery! I'll get some video attached to this blog post after 10 p.m. tonight.
In baseball news...big news!
The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team defeated Prairie Conference champion Long Prairie-Grey Eagle with a walk-off 2-1 win in 8 innings tonight. Aiden Mueller started, and Cameron Loe got the win in relief. This should give B-B-E the No. 3 seed in next week's Section 6A playoffs. We'll see.
For one of the longest-ever trips for a section postseason game that the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department has made, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team is traveling to Isanti County this afternoon for a Section 4A elimination game at Braham. This is a No. 5 vs. No. 2 game in the section, which now has 6 teams remaining in contention for the state tournament.
Both B-B-E and Braham are 1-1 in the playoffs. The loser sees their season end today. The winner advances to the elimination bracket semifinal, which would take place next Tuesday, May 26 at a site-to-be-determined. Braham is 16-6 overall. The Jaguars owe them after the Bombers ended our girls' basketball team's season back in March in the Sub-Section 5A-East championship game.
Here's a video going back to May 5, when the Jaguars defeated Paynesville Area:
Worth noting: the top 3 teams in the Central Minnesota Conference all earned Top 7 seeds in a very tough Section 6AA this spring. These teams are Kimball Area (CMC champion), Holdingford and Eden Valley-Watkins.
Back at home, in Elrosa, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team is hosting Long Prairie-Grey Eagle in a big non-conference section game. The JV plays at 4:30 p.m. in Elrosa, and the varsity game will follow at about 7 p.m.
**Update: through 3 1/2 innings, the Bombers have a 5-0 lead. A couple key early mistakes have hurt the Jaguars considerably.
Final: Braham 7, B-B-E 0 in 7 innings. A new blog post later tonight will feature additional game details plus updates from the baseball games in Elrosa.
Let's get caught up...track, golf, fastpitch (VIDEOS**)
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team has pushed through to the second day of the Section 4A tournament. After an initial 8-5 loss in the first round on Tuesday to Mayer Lutheran, the Jaguars responded with a 2-1 walk-off eight-inning win against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart. The 1-1 record at Fenway Park in Forest Lake sets up a trip to No. 2-seeded Braham on Thursday this week. The elimination playoff game against the Bombers is at 4 p.m.
Against BL-H-S, Brielle Worms pitched a complete game in the circle with 10 strikeouts, 5 walks and 5 hits.
By the way: Fenway Park fields in Forest Lake to the Wisconsin border is a distance of less than 15 miles. That's absolutely wild to have a high school fastpitch team from our part of central Minnesota open the playoffs that close to Wisconsin. I will never understand.
In Day One games played in the Section 4A fastpitch playoffs:
Gentry Academy 17, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 1
Braham 17, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 2
West Lutheran 10, Ogilvie 5
West Lutheran 9, Braham 3 (this knocked the Bombers into our bracket for tomorrow's game, while West Lutheran moves into the 4A semis)
Gentry Academy 6, Mayer Lutheran 1 (Gentry advances to the 4A semis)
Elimination games of 4A
B-B-E 2, BL-H-S 1 (8 innings)
Ogilvie 9, G-F-W 5
In track and field news...
Six members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams have earned tickets to the Section 5A state qualifying meet. They competed in the Sub-Section 5A-West meet in Litchfield on Tuesday.
The section qualifiers includes two boys' athletes and four girls' athletes as follows: Taylor Pieper: 400 dash and long jump Mason Douvier: 800 run Brooklyn Breitbach: 1600 run Ziva Miller: 400 dash Laken Anderson: high jump Whitney Anderson: pole vault
Here's a video from subsections on Tuesday in Litchfield:
Here's Anton Zins during the long jump in Litchfield:
Any time a student-athlete can push past track and field subsections, it's an exciting achievement. They now get another week of practice plus a memorable trip to Collegeville next Wednesday, May 27 to compete at Clemens Stadium.
In golf news...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' and girls' golf teams competed today in the opening round of the Section 5A meet at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar. Updates are forthcoming tonight.
UPDATE: Cash Lehner, Walker Winte and Owen Roering have all advanced through to the Section 5A finals. For the girls' team, both Olive Olson and Kragen Wiener saw their 9th grade seasons conclude today. Olson shot a 110, and Wiener had a 121. Both had terrific freshmen seasons this spring, with Olson being B-B-E's lone All-Conference golfer from both squads. Wiener was in the running for All-Central Minnesota Conference honors and ultimately finished in 8th place. The top 6 individual girls' golfers in the CMC earn All-CMC hardware. For the boys, the top 8 are given All-CMC honors because that group has more overall athletes in the conference.
Later tonight, I will get some video posted here. It has been a wide-open, full-speed sprint for the past few days. Tonight, I'm back in Morris at the Regional Fitness Center, University of Minnesota-Morris, with AAU Wildcats basketball practice.
In baseball news...
The baseball team hosts LP-GE in the last regular season game on Thursday this week: JV at 5 p.m. and varsity to follow in Elrosa. The Jaguars (12-9) are currently ranked No. 22 by QRF in Class 1A out of 117 teams. The Thunder hold a 14-3 record and are ranked No. 19. The winner of this game has almost a lock on the No. 3 seed in Section 6A for next week's playoffs.
LP-GE finished 9-1 in the Prairie Conference to claim the title outright. Upsala/Swanville Area (13-7) took second with an 8-2 record.
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.
Section 4A fastpitch playoffs begin tomorrow, golf regular season concludes
The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team has earned the No. 4 seed via the QRF rankings in the Section 4A seeding. This was announced by the MSHSL on Sunday. It gives just a day basically for the team to prepare for the playoff opener. It's a shoddy way to operate a section, and it's a huge disservice to the teams and athletes in the section.
The Jaguars (11-8) open the playoffs at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19 at Fenway Park in Forest Lake (near Wisconsin)...the opponent will be No. 4-seeded Mayer Lutheran. The Crusaders are 10-7 overall. Teams with seeds of 7 or higher are guaranteed two playoff games. The Jaguars play at 4 p.m. in either the winners' or losers' bracket.
Section 4A fastpitch seedings:
1. Gentry Academy of St. Paul (10-4)
2. Braham (15-5)
3. West Lutheran (11-4)
4. Mayer Lutheran
5. B-B-E
6. Ogilvie
7. Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop
8. Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart
9. Lester Prairie
Gentry Academy is a first-year fastpitch program. Braham is the defending Section 4A champion. The Bombers went 4-0 in the section tournament a year ago and took home the fourth-place trophy at the Class 1A state tournament.
In golf news...
The Central Minnesota Conference season concluded today with the last 18 holes of the season, with all boys' and girls' teams competing at The Lynx National Golf Course in Sauk Centre. Freshman Olive Olson with the B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team earned All-CMC status by shooting a 98. She finished in 6th place individually to earn the final All-CMC spot. Fellow freshman Kragen Wiener also had a solid outing today, and she shot a 102 and finished in 8th place in the conference.
A natural gas leak occurred mid-afternoon on Thursday in Brooten. The area affected is the Park Street and Western Avenue intersection neighborhood. Please stay away from this area! You are not helping by driving by as a gawker. Additional information is posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper: BrootenNaturalGasLeak.
On a brighter note, it's raining! It was raining quite heavily at about 4 p.m. today. We need it.
Here's a video featuring the end of Elrosa's game against Spring Hill:
The Saints won 10-4 over their neighboring division rivals.
On Friday, the Elrosa Saints are set to host Starbuck in an exhibition game. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.
Have you paid your property taxes? For small businesses, this is especially a big deal to do. Don't forget! Friday, May 15 is the due date in Stearns County.
