Our MACA baseball team turned back the Braves of Benson on Thursday. The action at Chizek Field had the orange and black up 5-2 over the Braves. Baseball has the benefit of grandstand seating at Chizek, whereas the new softball facility does not have that. Many fans are opting to sit out by the outfield fence, in chairs they have to bring themselves, at the softball place. Not sure if this is progress.
But the baseball Tigers entertained their fans with winning form on Thursday. It was a day for MACA to wrap up the conference title. Congrats to the boys.
Drew Storck was quite in command as pitcher. His four innings on the hill saw him strike out nine batters. He walked three and allowed one hit and one run. Drew Huebner pitched for two innings and did fine in the strikeout department himself: five. Huebner walked two batters and allowed two hits and one run.
Dylan Rose had his turn on the hill as well. He fanned a batter, walked one and allowed no hits or runs. How about that: three MACA pitchers whose first names all begin with "D".
The Tigers scored two runs in the third inning and three in the fifth. The line scores: 5-6-0 for MACA and 2-3-2 for the Braves.
Six different Tigers each had one hit. Ross Marty had a run scored and RBI to go with his hit. Kaleb Breuer was one-for-two with two RBIs and a walk. Dylan Rose had a one-for-two line. Brett Hansen had a hit and run scored. Hunter Gibson had a hit in his only at-bat and scored a run. Trevor Buss was likewise one-for-one with a run.
The Benson pitcher was Garrett Lenz who struck out three batters, walked three and allowed six hits and five runs (three earned) in his six innings. Isaac Minchow had two hits and two runs for Benson. Reece Larson had the other Benson hit and he picked up an RBI.
Softball: Tigers 9, Minnewaska 0
A rare Wednesday game had the softball Tigers winning with ease at the 'Waska diamond. So it was a 9-0 score with the orange and black excelling.
Brienna Dybdahl pitched the whole way in this 16th straight win for the MACA juggernaut. She allowed but three hits and struck out five batters.
Brianna Marty's bat gave a push for the Tigers: three RBIs. Yasmine Westerman connected for a double and drove in two runs. Eight different Tigers had hits in the boxscore.
Ally Mogard supplied a 'Waska highlight with a two-bagger. Brenna Larson had the pitching loss. 'Waska is having a sub-.500 campaign.
Our Tigers are 17-1 on the season and have earned the top seed for Section 3AA-North play. Remember, getting the top seed last year was not a ticket. Focus will be needed all the way. As the top seed we'll be host of course. So the fans will gather at Holmberg Field, there to watch as best they can from the limited places, Tuesday at 3 p.m. Our opponent is ACGC.
Take a look to see if fans gravitate to the area around the outfield fence. Your own chairs are required there. Is that really a step up? And I'm sure the person taking the admission money - Lenora Waddell maybe? - will have to keep a close eye on fans arriving from a variety of directions. Ideally the fans should be "funneled in" somewhere. They are most certainly not, at Holmberg Field.
It's "bring your own chair" for watching from the third base side. Ground could be muddy there too. Is all this "progress?" Behind home plate the space is limited, and if you're away from center, then you won't see the entire field.
Am I misunderstanding things about parking? Am I misinterpreting the signs? Do they mean something other than what I think they do? "No parking this side" on multiple signs. But cars continue to be parked on both sides of Prairie Lane. Defying the signs? Maybe someone could explain to me. Maybe I'm intelligence-challenged.
Morris sure prioritizes ball fields, no doubt about that. Softball has become king of this community, whereas I'm not even aware of a summer music program for school-age youth. The Killoran stage at East Side Park might just as well be a mausoleum. And I'm sure the city needs to spend money to maintain it. Beware grandiose ideas sometimes. And keep an eye on your property taxes.
The winner of the game between MACA and ACGC will advance to face the winner of WCA vs. 'Waska. The latter game will be at our softball complex too. I expect fans are going to be inclined to complain about the non-fan-friendly quality of Holmberg Field. Is it impolite to complain? I don't think so.
Cokato is also hosting sub-section games. There, Dassel-Cokato will play Montevideo, and Litchfield will face-off versus New London-Spicer. The top seed in the south is Luverne (17-3). For some reason, teams from the south have always been in a commanding position in this sport. They have been a nemesis for our Tigers, whose own stock has always been high. If the south casts some sort of spell, let's end it now.
High school graduation near
I don't know the date yet, but surely high school graduation time is nearly upon us. I lasted at the Morris newspaper just long enough to cover the first ceremony to be held at the new gym. It's really not "new" anymore. I remember when the 1968 gym was "new" and special. That's where all the basketball and wrestling was before the current place.
So I covered the 2006 graduation when walls were rapidly closing in around me. Things were happening that puzzled me in terms of their intensity. But working people can find themselves victims of changing times. Maybe we are just too weary or battle-worn to keep up with it all sometimes. I was in that category to a degree, although I kept up with the new tech stuff for quite a long time.
Forum Communications seemed never to be comfortable in Morris. Did they buy the Morris paper just for some tax purpose? Well, I was collateral damage for that. These things happen.
I entered the community press at a far more relaxed time, you might say too relaxed. It was at the end of the Jimmy Carter "malaise" period in American life. I myself became a "Reagan Democrat" and then things started changing. Unfettered free enterprise lifted us up a lot. But the Republican Party could not stay content with that, so that today we see a grotesque version of the GOP. It has morphed into something insidious, and I'm not sure how we will all get out of it, if we will get out of it at all.
Just watch the Federal Reserve try to keep raising interest rates. This is no magic trick. And inflation ought to be seen as scary now. I'm just saying: we might be headed for true crisis times. We may have no idea yet.
I covered so many high school graduations at Morris Area. And at Hancock and Chokio-Alberta. Jim Morrison did not even have to consult with me on whether I'd cover the Morris graduation. It was assumed I'd do it, and I'm proud of how I did it. In later years I'd load the Ad-Viser into the Sun Tribune van at Quinco Press, Lowry, all day Friday, then race to get over to the school for graduation, possibly with some perspiration odor! But by golly, I did it.
Today I can only grasp these images in my memory. It's as if my life has gone into suspended animation. And that's sad, really.
In my newspaper days I'd occasionally get invited to a grad's reception. That was really nice and I miss that. I was invited to a couple in the years immediately following my departure from the paper. And since then, just one, for a DeToy's waitress. Bless her.
Today I'm 67 years old and basically looking at my life in the rear view mirror. I really wish my heyday had gone on longer. I was willing. I missed by one week being able to cover the MACA baseball team in the state tournament. We might not have been "MACA" yet. I'm pleased to still be a friend of then-coach Lyle Rambow. And of then-football coach Jerry Witt.
"Roundabout" friendship!
Jerry says I'm welcome to visit his "Harvest" church in Alexandria anytime. It would be a good idea to do that, if I can handle the "roundabout" in between Glenwood and Alexandria! Rimshot.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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