Game day once again in Regal

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.

 

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.

Belgrade August Fest continues with Kentucky Thunder (VIDEO)

The Belgrade August Fest continued for its second day of activities with the Fire Department's chicken BBQ supper tonight at the VFW.

Here's Kentucky Thunder playing at the VFW:


Turnout for their chicken feed surpassed 650. I don't have exact numbers, but I am thinking they will have served about 675 tonight. That is terrific!

Don't forget the B-B-E Troop 667 Scouting America's waffle feed tomorrow (Saturday) from 8 a.m. to noon on main street. For ages 13 and older, tickets are $12. For ages 6 to 12, the price is $8. Children ages 5 and under eat free.

Belgrade's August Fest is underway (VIDEO)

The food and music was terrific tonight at the opening night of the Belgrade August Fest. The band Southern Crossroads played music at the Belgrade city park while a petting zoo was held and a meal and drinks were served out of the park shelter. Members of the Belgrade Fire Department and the Belgrade-Brooten Police Department hosted a Touch-a-Truck event at the same time.

The next big Belgrade August Fest event is on Friday with the Fire Department chicken BBQ supper plus the Kensington Bank ice cream social. These events take place from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Belgrade VFW. The band Kentucky Thunder will perform starting at 7 p.m. at the same location.

More coverage of the Belgrade August Fest and other events can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

It is crazy, but I am still uploading Bonanza Valley Days videos. I found a few on a chip that have not been uploaded over one month after that weekend.

Here's a video from Bonanza Valley Days on Saturday morning that weekend:


The Belgrade August Fest classic car, truck and tractor show is from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday morning on main street.

First responders save life of B-B-E senior on Thursday (Go Fund Me added)

After a crash with a semi tractor/trailer, the first responders of the New London area helped save the life of Colton Schueler, 17, on Thursday, August 6 in Burbank Township. Schueler is part of the B-B-E Class of 2027. He was also a member of this past Jaguar baseball team this spring.

According to a Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office news release, Schueler suffered serious injuries when his 2000 Oldsmobile Alero collided with a semi trailer as it was turning right into a driveway on 240th Avenue Northeast in rural Belgrade. The time was 12:30 p.m., and the semitractor and trailer was a 2020 Kenworth driven by 41-year old Cole Ashburn of Willmar.

Schueler was transported to CentraCare Hospital in Paynesville and then airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, according to the news release from Cpl. Karla Koplin. Assisting at the scene of the crash were CentraCare Ambulance, New London Ambulance, New London Fire Department, Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad and the Minnesota State Patrol.

It was reported to the Bonanza Valley Voice that Schueler is in stable condition with numerous injuries that do not appear to threaten his life at this time.

Here's how you can support his family right away:
A friend of Colton's family has set up a GoFundMe. You can find that here: https://gofund.me/665b2964c.

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 7, Starbuck 6.

Final score: Richmond 8, Starbuck 6. The Royals earn the region's second ticket to the Class C state tournament.

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.