Two hard-fought games unfolded for fans to enjoy at Big Cat. The facility was converted to softball with what appears to be 100 percent precision. I never could have imagined. Big Cat is a solution not only for early-season softball, when the normal location is likely to be wet/muddy, but the whole darn season. You might say it makes too much sense.
So not only was it a revelatory day for seeing the arrangements, it was a day of not one but two wins for the softball Cougars! The day was Saturday. The opponent: Northland.
The Game 1 story was a 10-9 triumph. Northland is known as the "Lumber Jills." Is there a gender sensitivity issue there, like if you were to say "Lady Tigers?" Some people consider the latter to be benign while others might pounce on you for it. I have observed this. Anyway, "Lumber Jills" is the official nickname so we'll run with it. Those players were very much in command for a time, as they assumed an 8-0 lead. So they certainly looked "at home" at Big Cat which does not have wholly typical surroundings for softball.
The Cougars worked to crush that Northland advantage. Errors hurt the Cougar cause early-on.
In the bottom of the third, the wheels began turning for the home team. Two baserunners were on with two outs. Marissa Allen socked a triple that scored Olivia Diver and Tori Nichols-Kraft. The score was 8-2 after three frames.
The Cougars summoned a two-out rally in the fourth. Sierra Stevens singled, followed by a Diver triple. Nichols-Kraft wielded her bat to single in Diver. Three bases on balls followed. The walk to Grace Penke with the bases full pushed a run in. Nichols-Kraft crossed home plate so it's an 8-5 ballgame.
Let's turn to the fifth, and here we see Northland with an error that opened the door. A single off Nichols-Kraft's bat allowed Stevens to score to get the deficit down to two, 8-6. Northland answered with a sacrifice fly in the sixth: would prove to be their last run.
Could the Cougars escape their three-run hole? Again the magic started with two outs. Stevens hit a ground-rule double with two runners in position to score. A Diver single to right brought Stevens in to score, so the score is now tied! Northland threatened in the top of the seventh but was denied, so UMM had the opportunity to win in the bottom half.
We got the bases full with no outs. But Jasmine Jensen hit a liner that resulted in a double play. So there were two outs when Allison Pohlmann hit an infield single toward third. There was an errant throw to first, and Autumn Theis triumphantly crossed home plate. It's called a "walk off" win, although I never heard that term when I was a young baseball fan.
Theis was the winning pitcher. The boxscore showed Nichols-Kraft going 4-for-5 with two RBIs. Diver wielded a 3-for-4 bat. Pohlmann had multiple hits as well.
The second game saw Mollie Dummer pitch a complete game in the 5-4 Cougar success. She evened her record at 5-5. She set down eight Lumber Jills on strikes. She and Nichols-Kraft each had two hits. Our fifth and deciding run came home in the sixth. Anna Athey led off with a single. She stole second and was thus in position to score on Nichols-Kraft's base hit.
Dummer bore down to extinguish a potential Northland rally in the top of the seventh. Congratulations to the Cougars! They own a 4-2 record in UMAC league play.
Eyes opened at Big Cat
The following is an email I shared with one of my UMM-attuned friends this morning (Tuesday). Oh, we're also quite attuned to Morris sports in general, Tigers as much as Cougars. We're one big happy family at Big Cat, right? Cougars and Tigers?
Hello (name withheld) - Again yesterday I took a walk, this time observed UMM softball team practicing at Big Cat Stadium. Again it struck me as a wonderful arrangement. I could never have guessed at the outset with Big Cat that this was going to be practical. Not only is it practical, it's ideal.
You can nitpick anything, so you might consider that visiting teams would be at a slight disadvantage because the setting is atypical. I'm reminded of when Dale Henrich told me our MAHS gym could present a disadvantage for visitors because of the "open" end. There's a depth perception adjustment. But I've seen this situation in fieldhouse settings for basketball too, like at NDSCS-Wahpeton. I remember Hancock coach Dave Schoeck talking about that.
Anyway, on softball at Big Cat, I'm still amazed at how this obvious option was right in front of us all along. But now I wonder: are there provisions in the joint pact for the high school to also have its teams play there in spring? We have been told all along that Big Cat is 50-50 between the U and the high school. But I think the emphasis at the start was wholly on football. Is that a correct assumption? I mean, it's a football field. All these details need to be in writing, I assume. So are softball/baseball covered? Have the Tigers already had some practices out there? I don't see everything. In the old days with the paper I would know everything! But I don't any more.
I noticed yesterday that the aluminum bleachers were not even set out at the "softball complex" yet. It was still too muddy for me to cross the grounds. Too bad a whole lot of trees have been removed at the place. Now we see all those stumps. When will they be removed?
Amazing if we all now realize that Big Cat was the solution all along. If I were a visiting team fan, I might overlook any adjustment disadvantage my team might have, because it's such a beautiful setting for the players and especially the fans. The fans' interests were completely overlooked at the new place. Would anyone dispute me on that? If so, anyone may contact me and break bread. Will we see the horrors of parking out there again? At Big Cat, you have parking next to the stadium as well as very close by at the public school.
We are at mid-April and the weather has not yet facilitated outdoor spring sports. Snowstorm appears to be moving in now. It's crazy, as kids should be allowed to play some indoor sports until about May 1. Otherwise you're pushing your luck.
Big day in South Dakota
On this day when we're bracing for winter-like weather in the Upper Midwest, there are big doings in South Dakota with the embattled attorney general there. His name is Jason Ravnsborg. If you know how to pronounce his name, it's because he has been in the news for dubious tragic reasons. So today he's up for impeachment in the South Dakota legislature - should not have come so long after the fact. "The fact" was when he struck and killed a pedestrian. I'm assuming you all know the primary facts.
The name is pronounced "Roundsborg" by the way. Doesn't the guy look kind of dopey? He is dragging South Dakota through an embarrassing spectacle now, as the governor could not get him to resign or to even take a leave of absence. The AG released another defiant statement on the eve of the proceedings.
I sent an email to one of my journalism compatriots, a well-known guy in South Dakota, this morning. I was trying to distill the problem by commenting on the media. My typical angle. I wrote to Tom Lawrence. This is what I shared:
Hello Mr. Lawrence - So I just noticed Ravnsborg has come out with a fiery statement of defiance, has taken the gloves off as it were. I have continued following your writing on the matter.
With so much to take in, I have tried to synthesize my thoughts now, rather than plunging into the weeds where you can get lost. Which is part of the problem. Why has the Ravnsborg traffic matter lingered so long, getting ever more troubling? It is sad that this individual has a problem with attentiveness and simple safety consciousness when driving an automobile, but I guess us human beings can have all sorts of problems.
To distill:
I personally think the problem here was with the media, which for a long period of time reported as FACT that the attorney general "thought he hit a deer." It bothered me at the start and still gets to me as I think about it. I have not heard this word selection in more recent media updates, so sharper heads have maybe prevailed? But the problem was at the outset. I wrote a blog post at the start with the joking "oh deer" expression in the headline. But I was actually troubled from very early-on by the reporting.
Ravnsborg never volunteered that he thought he hit a deer. Didn't he just say "I hit something" and then it was the dispatcher who asked if he thought it was a deer? And even then, he did not immediately say "yes," did he? Didn't he say "I have no idea - I mean, it could be." Now I look back, and consider it media malpractice that so many, like at the national level, routinely started saying that the AG "thought he hit a deer." So now it appears the media has backed off from that. In the meantime, I think the media gave the AG cover. It was such an easy deduction to make: "He thought he hit a deer," because we all know that happens in the rural Upper Midwest.
Holy s--t, look at his damaged vehicle. And only now we're coming to terms with it? Impeachment proceeding will be huge embarrassment for South Dakota. It has been a huge distraction. Look for the national media to come on out to SD.
Mr. Lawrence responds
The SD scribe has a different interpretation from mine. I appreciate him reading my communication and responding on this Tuesday morning, a time of harried developments. Tom wrote:
Thanks, Brian.
Ravnsborg issued a letter and a statement last night, odd timing with the House acting today. His reticence and evasion of discussing this was a poor choice. The fact that he never appeared in court and tried to carry on with business as usual while quietly campaigning for a second term also left a bad taste.
This whole sorry episode has been very tragic. I strongly disagree that the media has been the bad guy here. We have pursued this story aggressively but fairly, I believe.
Thanks,
Tom
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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