"You'll never get ahead if you don't take care of what you have." - Doris Waddell, RIP

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn
Click on the image to read Williams family reflections w/ emphasis on UMM.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Lots of high school baseball

Seems sad that while BBE was playing two very important post-season games in Morris Tuesday, Morris' own high school baseball team was playing in Marshall. Too bad we can't appreciate the Tigers right here in Morris for post-season action. 
It has been an incredible spring season for the Morris nine. School is essentially over for the year. But prep sports does not recognize that timeline. I live across the field from the Morris baseball facilities. I heard plenty of commotion from over there. Undoubtedly the BBE fans were making noise. 
I was not aware who was playing. I became aware this morning (Wednesday) from media reports. I should have paid a visit, as I would probably have seen my old Bonanza Valley newspaper friend Randy Olson. A very dynamic media guy, Randy is. We have maintained a friendship entirely through email the last few years. 
Randy visited me in my office at times when I was still with the Morris paper. He has a background that includes Morris. He follows how UMM is doing. In the distant past I spoke to him like I was some sort of "mentor." I remember telling him that when seeking your first newspaper job, don't just drop off a resume, volunteer to immediately generate some product, show your stuff! Well, it doesn't take a genius too come up with that advice. 
Today Randy is quite the advocate for the idea of a community newspaper augmenting its regular work with online-based work. He says it builds good will and I agree. If you the reader agrees with that, maybe give a hint or a nudge to the Stevens County Times. 
Randy can now write about his BBE Jaguars taking two in Tuesday action. The Jaguars defeated USA 4-0 and Border West 14-4. These were "elimination games," both played at our Chizek Field. BBE is in Section 6A. 
Wow! The Jags scored 13 runs in the top of the seventh against Border West. 
Maybe you don't know that "USA" stands for Upsala/Swanville Area. Neat little abbreviation. USA had the top seed in 6A-South. 
BBE is now in the championship bracket of 6A. The Jags must now defeat Parkers Prairie twice to get into state. Parkers is the top North seed and has a record of 21-3. BBE sits at 18-7. 
Yours truly is often a little tentative in trying to follow the baseball and softball tournaments because of the double-elimination format. I'm always scared of being confused. 
Let's take a look at how our MACA Tigers have done. Fantastic for the season as a whole. I'll get into the more recent developments as this post continues. 
We were stunned to see the Tigers lose over the weekend to Luverne. It was our very first loss of the whole season! On Tuesday we got a re-match against New London-Spicer who we had beaten in our tournament debut. When I write this stuff, I always have to confirm it to make sure my memory is OK. The double-elimination makes this more challenging. 
Thank goodness for the "Minnesota Scores" website, a good home base for basic info. There was a time when we didn't have this. Online-based resources needed time to develop.
 
Tigers 7, 
New London-Spicer 3
Well, so fans could enjoy a resumption of winning baseball by our talented Tigers. But they had to travel a fur piece to Marshall to do it. What makes Marshall so special? This happens in other seasons too. I think it holds back fan enthusiasm on behalf of the Tigers. 
On Tuesday the Tigers turned back the Wildcats 7-3 at Marshall's Legion Field. It was an elimination game. The Tigers were top-seeded in the North (3AA) and NL-Spicer was No. 4. 
Well, wouldn't you know: In the same post where I write about the potential to be confused about high school sports, I get confused. I wrote a good portion of this post without knowing that MACA actually played two games on Tuesday! 
I knew from checking the West Central Tribune site this morning we beat NL-Spicer. I figured the West Central Trib would be on top of that game because it involved NL-Spicer. Let's give some credit to the WC Trib, something I do not often do. 
I checked that score, confirmed there was some coverage and then went and grabbed breakfast at DeToy's Restaurant. Wednesday is their "biscuits and gravy" day. I got home and began poring through the basic info. I need my thinking cap on because it's all double-elimination. 
After all my experience, I was not prepared for what I discovered just now! Thanks to "Minnesota Scores," I see where the Tigers played not one but two games yesterday. I guess this should not have surprised me because BBE played twice. This never happens in basketball of course. 
 
Say it isn't so!
I have very bad news to report. The Tigers lost their second game yesterday. That was to Windom in a 4-3 final. Say it isn't so! 
The Tigers had the look all season of a team that was state tournament-bound. But that's the way it goes in sports. Yes we were undefeated in the regular season. Came on like a steam roller. But then we get the door slammed on us in 3AA play. As Chris Berman of ESPN is known to say, "that's why they play the game." 
The game against Windom had a 7 p.m. start time. In the days before "Minnesota Scores," I might be flailing away here trying to get information. The people who run the spring sports programs should be more PR-conscious. But I've been sharing a message like this for years. The sky's the limit with the Internet. There was no Internet for much of my newspaper career. It was nascent for a long time in the beginning. 
I guess I have to report the "final" MACA won-lost record. I sure wasn't expecting to have to do that. The Tigers went 22-2. We never lost at our home field. 
In the game we won against NL-Spicer, we had a line score of seven runs, seven hits and four errors. The NL-Spicer numbers were 3-4-4. 
Jack Kehoe had two hits in three at-bats. He scored a run and drove in a run. Riley Asmus had a two-for-four line including a double. He drove in two runs and scored one. Andrew Marty had a hit, was hit-by-pitch and stole a base. Ozzy Jerome also got hit-by-pitch. He walked and stole a base. Alex Asmus scored two runs. 
Jonah Huebner went one-for-two and drove in a run. Plus, he took advantage of being hit-by-pitch. Oh, so did Drew Huebner! Some errant pitches by NL-Spicer on this day. Well, hopefully not deliberate. We don't need to see any fights out by the mound! 
Drew Huebner doubled and scored two runs. Alex Asmus got the pitching win. He pitched the whole seven innings and struck out five batters. He gave up four hits and three runs, two earned. He walked no one. 
The four NL-Spicer hits were off the bats of Blake Schultz, Nolan Johnson (with two) and Andres Rojas.
I wish I had better news to report today. 
I will say the biscuits and gravy were good.
 
- Brian Willliams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

No comments:

Post a Comment