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.

Natural gas leak...and rain

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.

The Mexico Querido restaurant website can be found by clicking here: MexicoQueridoBelgradeWeb. I have them featured on The Voice website: MexicoQueridoBelgrade.

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.

BBE Class of 2026 holds awards banquet (VIDEO)

A marvelous program took place tonight at B-B-E high school's Olson Auditorium for the Class of 2026 seniors. At the end of the program, the Athlete of the Year awards were announced by Activities Director Chris Anderson.

VIDEO:


I've got more video to review from tonight.

A win and a loss

Freshman Jace Mueller was outstanding on the mound in Elrosa for the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team, who won 12-2 in five innings tonight against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Jaguars belted 15 hits against two Falcons pitchers while Mueller limited the visitors to 5 total hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. All 12 of B-B-E's runs were earned.

Now winners of 6 straight ball games, B-B-E improves to 5-7 in the Central Minnesota Conference while remaining in fifth place.

Next: the Jaguars (12-7 overall) travel to Eden Valley-Watkins on Thursday this week while still holding a shot at gaining fourth place in the standings. EV-W came into the night tied for third (7-5) with Royalton. A-C-GC falls to 2-11 in the CMC and 5-11 overall.

In fastpitch news...
In a battle for third place in the final CMC standings tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team suffered a tough 8-6 loss at Eden Valley-Watkins. The Jaguars had rough go in the fifth and sixth innings, when the Eagles outscored the Jaguars by a combined 5-1 margin to take an 8-1 lead. In the top of the seventh, the Jaguars made a comeback bid that fell short. Four errors were a contributing factor along with 7 stranded runners.

For the second straight season, the Jaguars finished 7-7 in the CMC and in fourth place. Maple Lake, who took third last season, finished 6-8 in the CMC in fifth place. EV-W (14-8) went 8-6 for third place alone.

The fastpitch team waits for Section 4A seeding to take place tomorrow (Wednesday). Updates to come later in the day tomorrow. Now 11-8 overall, B-B-E completed the best regular season since 2008, when they were 12-5 heading into the Section 5A playoffs. In 2009, the Jaguars were 10-8 going into the postseason. Last year, they were 10-9 before heading into the Section 3A tournament.

In track and field news...
In the CMC championships at Maple Lake tonight, B-B-E 7th grader Brooklyn Breitbach won the 800-meter conference title with a career-best time of 2:24.63. Other results will be published in this week's newspaper.

On the winning track: fastpitch Jaguars win thriller over Benson (VIDEOS)

A clutch RBI-single by sophomore Lillian Thompson lifted the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team to a 3-2 come-from-behind walk-off win against Benson today. The game marked the final home game of the season. B-B-E is 11-7 overall heading into tomorrow's regular season finale, which is a Central Minnesota Conference game at 4:30 p.m. (May 12) at Eden Valley-Watkins.

The Jaguars trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. They scored once in the sixth and then twice in the bottom of the seventh for the win.

Here's video from the top of the 3rd inning today:


Kamie Fischer's sacrifice bunt helped set up Thompson's late game heroics. That bunt advanced Abby Lieser, who advanced on an error by Benson's second baseman while fielding a ground ball. McKinley Haider entered to pinch run for Lieser, and she scored the tying run on Lydia Primus's two-out RBI-single to centerfield. Thompson then slapped a base hit to the outfield to drive home Primus and end the game.

Here's a video featuring the end of the game:


Brielle Worms was fantastic in the circle with 10 strikeouts against 3 walks and 4 hits. The Jaguars had no errors in the field to 3 by the Braves. For her part, Benson's freshman Tess Nygaard was also strong in the circle with 5 strikeouts, 2 walks, 1 earned run and 6 total hits given up.

B-B-E and EV-W (13-8) are currently both tied for third place in the CMC with 7-6 records. The winner tomorrow locks up third place alone. Holdingford (10-3) has locked up second place, and Kimball Area won the title once again and remains undefeated (12-0) in the CMC.

The Jaguars currently sit in fifth place in the Section 4A standings. Within their reach is the No. 3 or No. 4 seeds, but that all hinges on beating EV-W tomorrow plus how Braham and Mayer Lutheran fare today and tomorrow.

It's time for the school board meeting.

On Tuesday this week:
The track and field teams travel to Maple Lake for the CMC championships starting at 3 p.m. The girls' golf team has a CMC meet at Paynesville, and the baseball team hosts A-C-GC in Elrosa for a 5 p.m. CMC game.

Two additional albums of sports photos have been added here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/B-B-E-Spring-Sports-2026.

Central MN Conference fastpitch scores on May 11:
Paynesville Area 2, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Kimball Area 15, Royalton 0 (4 innings)

Central MN Conference fastpitch scores on May 8:
Holdingford 6, Maple Lake 3

Saints win Battle for the Keg I (*UPDATED)

The Keg is coming back to Elrosa.

In a Stearns County League North division game today, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated Spring Hill 10-4 to square up their division record at 1-1 early in the season. The win was set up by a five-run 4th inning that broke a scoreless tie through three innings.

In the top of the 7th inning, Spring Hill cut into Elrosa's 7-1 lead with three runs. The Saints responded with Blaine Fischer's monster three-RBI double that bounced off of the centerfield fence, and reliever Wyatt Steffensen closer Luke Dingmann shut the door on the Chargers for the last 6 outs. Riley Meyer started for Elrosa and pitched well across 4 1/3 innings. (4 hits, one run, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts) before Steffensen entered in relief in the top of the fifth. Steffensen earned the win with 3 2/3 innings of work on the mound.

The Saints had 12 hits to 11 by the Chargers. Four of Spring Hill's 11 hits were doubles, but the Saints benefited from having no errors in the field to two by the Chargers. Earning 2 hits each for Elrosa were Ashton Dingmann, Luke Dingmann, Peyton Winter and Will VanBeck.

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


Elrosa's next town team game is an exhibition game in Elrosa on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. against Starbuck. Following that, the Saints travel the short trip east to Meire Grove to face the Grovers in an SCL-North game on Sunday, May 17 (1:30 p.m.).

In other news...
The Belgrade Commercial Club held its spring purse bingo event on Friday at the VFW with a nice turnout of 65. They also sponsored advertising for over a dozen garage sales in the Belgrade area. That advertising was published in the April 30 and May 7 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

The Brooten city council meets in regular session on Monday night. Once I get the agenda, it will be posted to the newspaper's editor's blog: lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com.

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team plays their final home game of the season on Monday at 2 p.m. against Benson.

Mother's Day baseball in Elrosa

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team is hosting neighboring division rival Spring Hill on Mother's Day. The game started at 1:30 p.m. I'm at the Belgrade Sportsmen's Club with the B-B-E Clay Trapshooting team, and I don't think I'll be able to catch any of the baseball game. It depends when my daughter finishes her two rounds of 25 shots.

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

Three more wins

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team settled for a series split with Maple Lake today in a Central Minnesota Conference doubleheader. The Jaguars (10-7) host Benson on Monday in a non-conference game.

Game one: B-B-E 13, Maple Lake 11.
Game two: Maple Lake 14, B-B-E 8.

In the game two loss, the Jaguars had a rough going in the third and fourth innings, when the Irish outscored them 5-0. After two innings, Maple Lake held a 3-2 lead.

In the latest Section 4A standings, the fastpitch team has climbed to No. 4 out of 12 teams.

In Elrosa tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team defeated Hancock 10-0 in 5 innings and then Browerville 10-0 in 5 innings. No kidding! It was an outstanding day for the Jaguars on the home diamond. Lance Radermacher pitched all 5 innings against Hancock, and Baron Breitbach pitched all 5 innings against Browerville. Both wins were against Section 6A opponents. Next: the Jaguars (11-7 overall) host Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Tuesday, May 12 in Elrosa. This will be their 12th CMC game of the season.

Sunday update:
In the latest Section 6A standings (as of Sunday, May 10), the Jaguars have climbed to No. 3 in the Section 6A rankings out of 15 total teams. This is remarkable. They have a way to go until playoffs, but the 11-7 record is an outstanding achievement this far with an incredibly young lineup made up mostly of 9th and 10th grade players.