GAME DAY! Back at State

The Elrosa Saints take on Dumont tonight in New Prague. First pitch from Memorial Stadium is at about 6:30 p.m. Game updates to follow.

***Updates: first pitch will he at about 7:10 p.m. Ashton Dingmann, B-B-E Class of 2022, will be Elrosa's starting pitcher. 

Just shy of 8 p.m., the game is entering the bottom of the 4th inning. As of now, Elrosa has a 1-0 lead.

**After 7 innings, Richmond has a 6-3 lead over Cologne at Jordan. 

**After 6 innings, Elrosa continues to hold a 1-0 lead over Dumont.

***After 7 1/2 innings, Elrosa has a 3-0 lead. Peyton Winter hit a 2 RBI-double to expand on the early 1-0 lead.

FINAL: Elrosa 3, Dumont 0. The Saints (25-8) advance to the state quarterfinals, and their next game is on Friday, September 4 in Shakopee. It will be an evening game.

Tennis travels to Melrose today

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team competes today at the Melrose Area triangular. Action begins with a dual against Parkers Prairie at 2 p.m. It's part of a four-match week for the team. They lost on Monday in their home opener by a 6-1 score to non-conference Pierz.

To see a short video from Feathered Acres Learning Farm and Inn, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: FeatheredAcresFieldDay2026. Trisha and Nolan Zachman, the business owners, were gracious hosts that day to over a hundred guests who took in farm tours and soil and animal health presentations.

How SWEET it is! Elrosa Saints advance in state tournament (VIDEOS)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team is advancing to the Class C state tournament's second round. They earned this feat by defeating the Pierz Brewers 10-5 today in the opening round. With a massive 19-hit attack at the plate and a one-hit, six-inning starting performance by Payton VanBeck on the mound, the Saints led 8-0 after 6 innings.

When the dust settled on the game, every Saints player who saw action at New Prague's Memorial Baseball Stadium earned at least one hit against a total of four different Pierz Brewers pitchers.

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


The Saints take a 24-8 record into the Class C Sweet 16. They play at approximately 6:30 p.m. next Saturday, August 29 in New Prague. Their opponent will be the Dumont Saints.

The Saints scored 2 runs in both the first and second innings for an early 4-0 lead. This put VanBeck in the driver's seat, and he proceeded to fire 8 strikeouts while issuing just one walk. Pitching in relief tonight were Aiden Mueller (B-B-E Class of 2027) and Wyatt Steffensen (B-B-E Class of 2020).

Here's a video from the top of the second inning today:


Ahead 2-0, Jackson Peter hit a two-run home run in the second inning with a distance of about 358 feet.

Elrosa Saints vs. Pierz Brewers at STATE (VIDEO)

The Elrosa Saints face Pierz at approximately 4 p.m. in New Prague, Minnesota later this afternoon in the Class C amateur state tournament. That game follows Atwater's state opener.

Here's a video from the state-qualifying game last weekend, when the Saints defeated Farming:


Game updates to follow.

**Update: after 2 innings, Elrosa has a 4-0 lead over Pierz. 

With 6 innings complete, Elrosa has an 8-0 lead.

The final score and more will be posted in a NEW blog post. Hit refresh!

Season opener, 2026-27 sports are in play! (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team is opening the new season at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle this morning. The tennis team has 14 players on the roster. They face LP-GE/Upsala-Swanville Area and Staples-Motley at the triangular.

Additional coverage is forthcoming.

The day began with the drive to Long Prairie for tennis, and it ended at Feathered Acres Learning Farm and Inn, which is located in Crow River Township east of Bayer Built Woodworks on County Road 32.

Here's Chase Grant performing at Feathered Acres Farm:


More to come. Time to get back to the garden to water vegetables!

Update:
The tennis team lost the opener 6-1 to LPGE/USA, and then Staples Motley won 7-0 in the second match of the triangular. It's now Sunday afternoon and time to pack up the minivan to head to New Prague.

B-B-E Community Calendar is updated (online) + Elrosa Saints clothing store is open!

In case you were wondering about what's coming up, a few events are always available to look at by clicking on the following link at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/page/bonanza-valley-area-community-calendar-updated-frequently/102.html.

In the print edition of The Voice, one version of the community calendar is found each week on page two. This is thanks in large part to the sponsorship of the Bonanza Valley State Bank.

In Elrosa Saints news...
The Rambow, Inc. online clothing store for Elrosa state tournament merch will be open soon. An announcement will be posted hopefully today. Stay tuned! It will be a short turnaround to get the orders fulfilled by this weekend.

Here it is...click on the following link: https://programs.rambowinc.com/login.php?UserID=elrosa&ReturnURL=https://www.rambow.com. This online store closes tonight at midnight.

The Elrosa Saints take a 23-8 record into the Class C state tournament.

The passing of a centenarian...
Leona Schwinghammer, who has countless descendants who include past, current and future B-B-E students, passed away on Monday this week. You can read about her funeral announcement by clicking here: LeonaSchwinghammerFuneral.

Elrosa Saints earn No. 3 seed from regions for state tournament

The Elrosa Saints will open the Class C amateur state tournament next weekend. The Saints had a 3-2 record in the Region 8C tournament in Regal. After going 1-1 last weekend to fall into the elimination bracket, the Saints won back-to-back games in the tournament this weekend. This put them in the final seeding game of regions, which was played this afternoon. The Atwater Chuckers took an early 6-1 lead and came away with a 9-8 win.

The statistic of the game: Elrosa had 8 earned runs, while Atwater had 4 earned runs.

Region 8C state qualifiers plus state draftees:
1. Richmond (No. 1 seed; Ty Reller of New Munich and Cam Miller of Farming)
2. Atwater (Josiah Utsch of Roscoe and Ben Welle of Spring Hill)
3. Elrosa (Jared Cortez of Norway Lake-Sunburg and Caden Sand of New Munich)
4. Starbuck (Sam Etterman of New London-Spicer and Trent Wendlandt of Lake Henry)

On Saturday night, Richmond defeated Atwater 3-2 in the region championship game.

SPREAD THE WORD! Here's the state information you're looking for: the Elrosa Saints open the state tournament on Sunday, August 23 in New Prague. They play the Pierz Brewers at 4 p.m. Pierz is a state entrant from the Victory League.

Their game follows the 1:30 p.m. game in New Prague, which features Atwater taking on the Nimrod Gnats. Nimrod was the No. 2 seed from Region 4C.

Here's a video from the Saturday morning events at August Fest:


More to come.

Here's a video from the Pope County Fair...which was awhile ago now!


The Belgrade city council held their regular August meeting tonight. The agenda was posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: http://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com.

Game day once again in Regal (UPDATES)

Thanks to a thrilling, nerve-wracking 4-3 win over Farming on Saturday, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team has extended their season to not only the final day of the Region 8C tournament but also the Class C state tournament.

Today, at 10:30 a.m., the Saints take on Starbuck in a state seeding game. The loser heads to state with the No. 4 seed from Region 8C, and the winner gets to play today at 1 p.m. in the final seeding game of regions.

In the Farming game on Saturday, each team had 8 hits. The winning pitcher was Elrosa's second relief pitcher, Wyatt Steffensen, who pitched the third, fourth and fifth innings. Payton VanBeck earned the save in the last 1 1/3 innings.

Today involves 2 church services, baseball in Regal and the celebration of history at the Norway Lake Lutheran Historical Association's log church in Arctander Township.

**Update: with 7 innings in the book, Elrosa holds a 3-1 lead over Starbuck.

Final score: Elrosa 3, Starbuck 1. The Stars enter the state tournament as the No. 4 seed. Elrosa now faces Atwater today in the final seeding contest of Region 8C. The Atwater Chuckers lost last night to Richmond in the Region 8C championship game.

At Belgrade today, the BG/CR/G Lutheran parish and the River of Life church hosted an outdoor ecumenical worship at the city park. Attendance reached around 75, and a pulled pork meal was served afterwards.

**Atwater vs. Elrosa: the Chuckers are ahead 4-0 in the third inning. In the top of the 4th, Atwater used 2 doubles to extend the lead to 6-0. 

In the top of the 5th, Atwater leads 6-1.

 
In the seventh inning, Elrosa scored 5 runs that knotted the score at 7-7. Atwater scored once in the eighth and another time in the top of the ninth to gain a 9-7 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, the Saints got just one run back in a 9-8 loss. This hands Elrosa the No. 3 seed for the upcoming state tournament.

Saints vs. Flames: game updates

After 4 innings, Elrosa and Farming are tied 2-2 in Regal. The Saints scored both runs in the 1st inning. 

Final: Elrosa 4, Farming 3. Elrosa advances to the state tournament. 

The Saints play again on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in a seeding game. I'll get more updates posted late tonight after the Belgrade August Fest street dance. I have said it before, and it's worth repeating: it's important to take in the community events in the Bonanza Valley!

Here's a video featuring the scene early today in Belgrade:


At that point, the light mist and rain that was falling in the morning was winding down. The August Fest activities had a strong draw, and Belgrade has had a terrific day that they can be proud of.