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 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 help 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:


B-B-E and EV-W are currently both tied for third place in the CMC with 7-6 records. The winner tomorrow locks up third place alone.

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.

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.

Baseball team wins third straight; fastpitch Jaguars make it five in a row (VIDEOS)

In a non-conference road game tonight in Grove City, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team defeated Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 7-4. This moves their overall record to 9-6 going into tomorrow's doubleheader at Maple Lake.

In Section 4A, the fastpitch team is ranked No. 5 out of 12 teams.

In baseball news...
In the final of three games played tonight in Elrosa for the Max Bats Invitational, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team knocked off Brandon-Evansville by a 3-0 shutout.

Here's action from the top of the first inning:


The big Section 6A win improves B-B-E's overall record to 9-7 overall.

Out of the 21 outs recorded by B-B-E's defense, 17 of them came via strikeout by starter Aiden Mueller, who went the distance on the mound. Both teams had 3 hits, and the Jaguars picked up singles by Tyler Myers and Noah Jensen plus a double by Aiden Mueller.

Here's a short video featuring the final out recorded in the top of the 6th inning tonight:


For Saturday's schedule: the Jaguars play Hancock at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, and they face Browerville in the final game of the day (approx. 7 p.m.).

Coming into today, the baseball team was ranked No. 5 in Section 6A, while Brandon-Evansville was ranked No. 2.

I have a fair amount of video from tonight's game with the Chargers. Eventually I'll get some of the footage posted.

Max Bats Invitational is underway

The Max Bats Invitational is underway this evening in Elrosa, where the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team is hosting three other teams for a round-robin style tournament. It is also Hope at Bat Night, an American Cancer Society fundraiser. The Jaguars are set to play at about 8 p.m. tonight.

Additional updates will be posted in a new blog post later this evening.

Jaguars rack up four wins (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team added another Central Minnesota Conference series sweep to their season tally by going 2-0 today against Royalton. They won game one by a 7-4 score before picking up a 6-1 win in the nightcap.

In game one, Mya Worms started and pitched six innings. Brielle Worms was closer in the seventh inning, and she gave up no hits, no walks and had two strikeouts. Ava Lieser had 3 singles with one RBI to lead the Jaguars. Earning one double apiece were Kenna Lieser, Mya Worms and Lydia Primus.

Brielle Worms pitched a complete game in the nightcap, and she had 8 strikeouts to go with 3 walks and 5 hits. At the plate, Kenna Lieser led the Jaguars with 3 singles, one RBI and 2 runs scored. Mya Worms singled, doubled and had 3 RBI. Lydia Primus had two singles, drew two walks and scored two runs.

Next is a non-conference game against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart. The teams will face each other in Grove City at the A-C-GC high school campus at 6 p.m. for what will be B-B-E's only Section 4A game of the regular season.

The Jaguars hold an 8-6 record, and they're 6-5 in the CMC, where they sit in third place.

And in baseball news...
At Joe Faber Field tonight in St. Cloud, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team defeated Royalton 4-3 in the first game of a CMC doubleheader. The Jaguars scored 3 runs to win in walk-off fashion after the Royals led 3-1 through four innings. Jace Mueller started and pitched 6 2/3 innings. His pitching line was terrific: 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Noah Jensen got the win with 1/3 innings pitched. Cameron Loe, Jace Mueller and Baron Breitbach had two hits each as part of B-B-E's nine-hit effort. Jace Mueller had B-B-E's lone extra base hit in that opening game.

In game two, the Jaguars used a four-run third inning to claim a 5-3 win for the series sweep. Walker Winter (4 innings) and Noah Jensen (2 innings) split pitching duties. Aiden Mueller led the team at the plate with a single, double, one run scored and a walk. In game two, the Jaguars took a 2-1 lead in the third inning before two scoreless innings took place. The Jaguars pushed four runs across home plate in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Next: the baseball team hosts the Max Bats Invitational in Elrosa on Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow, the Jaguars face Brandon-Evansville in a Section 6A game at approximately 8:30 p.m. It's the third of three games: Browerville takes on Hancock at 3:30; this game is followed by Browerville vs. Brandon-Evansville.

Saturday features the following schedule: Brandon-Evansville vs. Hancock at 2 p.m.; Hancock vs. B-B-E at 4:30 p.m.; and Browerville vs. B-B-E at 7 p.m.

In golf news...
At the Kimball golf course today, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team was led by a fifth-place finish by Olive Olson. Their next action is at a CMC meet next Tuesday at Koronis Golf Course in Paynesville.

In track and field action tonight...
The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams competed in a robust 11-team Dave Sieben Invitational in Melrose. Numerous boys' and girls' Jaguars turned in terrific performances with a handful of personal records broken.

Here's Taylor Pieper in the long jump:


The girls' 4x800 relay team broke the school record in Melrose tonight. This group of Jaguars ran the 4x800 for the first time in their careers: Andrea Douvier, Brooklyn Breitbach, Ziva Miller and Claire Dailey. Their time was 11:04.95, which was good for sixth place.

Here's Andrea Douvier in the long jump in Melrose:


Brooklyn Breitbach took fourth place in the 400 and 800 open races.

Taylor Pieper took fourth in the 400 (54.57 seconds) and the long jump (18'9").

The track and field teams travel to Maple Lake next Tuesday, May 12 for the Central Minnesota Conference championships.

Sunshine all around for track and field and more

This is a super, super busy day with four of B-B-E's six spring varsity teams in action - and basically - all at once. I'm at the Dave Sieben Invitational with the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams in Melrose. It's cool and sunny, but the sun has enough power to make for a pleasant evening at the Melrose football stadium.

Update: the fastpitch varsity team swept Royalton tonight at River's Edge in Waite Park. I need to run to the van to get my jacket...it is cooling off here in Melrose as the sun is setting. The boys' 4x400 is yet to come as B-B-E's final event.

A win and a loss

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team defeated Paynesville Area 9-2 tonight in home Central Minnesota Conference action. Brielle Worms, a freshman, pitched the complete game win. They face Royalton on Thursday at Waite Park in a CMC doubleheader. The site will be the River's Edge softball complex, and the first game starts at 4 p.m.

At home in Elrosa in a CMC game, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team took an 8-2 loss to Paynesville Area. The Jaguars racked up 10 hits to 12 by the Bulldogs, but 4 errors hurt the cause. Aiden Mueller led the Jaguars at the plate with a 3-for-3 mark, including one triple plus one walk. The Jaguars left 10 runners stranded, and Paynesville left 11 runners on base. The Jaguars face Royalton at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud on Thursday this week in a CMC doubleheader. The first game is at 4:30 p.m.

It's time to get back to the newspaper.

Fastpitch Jaguars complete sweep of A-C-GC

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team defeated Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City tonight by a 6-0 score in the first game of a very busy week. Junior Mya Worms started and pitched the complete game shutout of the Falcons. This improves their Central Minnesota Conference record to 3-5, putting them right around the fifth-place position in the standings. They are 5-6 overall.

Next: the Jaguars host Paynesville Area tomorrow with first pitch set for 3:45 p.m. in Brooten.

A-C-GC falls to 3-8 in the CMC and 4-9 overall. In the teams' first meeting on April 28 in Grove City, the Jaguars won 9-2.

The track and field teams were in Olivia today at BOLD high school for an invitational. What a truly rotten day for that sport. It will improve 100-fold by Thursday when they travel to Melrose Area high school.

ALSO tomorrow:
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team travels to Paynesville Area for a conference meet. Also tomorrow, the varsity baseball team hosts Paynesville with a 5 p.m. start in Elrosa.

Central Minnesota Conference fastpitch scores on April 30 last week:
Paynesville Area 16, Royalton 11
Royalton 9, Paynesville Area 8
Holdingford 5, A-C-GC 4
Holdingford 4, A-C-GC 1