Tigers show stellar pitching in 4-0 start

Monday was a super day for MACA softball and in two games not just one. The Thunder Hawks of Montevideo came to Motown. The host Tigers had little trouble putting both games in the win column. So the 2026 softball season is in full swing with the orange and black showing its characteristic high quality in regular season play. 

No matter how shimmering our regular season record, the big question is if we can get through the section where so often, the southern Minnesota teams await as the nemesis. Can 2026 be the exception to the rule? Fans would certainly like to see a waltz into state. 

"Waltz" is just what the Tigers did in their Monday home doubleheader. Game 1 was a 16-1 thumping of those T-Hawks. And the pitching credit here went to Nora Boyle. I published my summary of that game on my "Morris of Course" blog yesterday (Tuesday). I encourage you to check out that post with this link:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2026/04/maca-softball-overpowers-montevideo-in.html 

 

Still focused

I greatly enjoy trying to stay relevant with my journalistic activity on behalf of the Tigers. Thanks. And soon we'll be feeling the anticipation for graduation! 

Well, moving on to Game 2 of the doubleheader, let's acknowledge out of the starting gate that Haley Kill is the pitcher getting kudos. What a gem Kill pitched. She worked the whole way in the 19-0 success. She only needed to apply her arm for four innings. In that span she struck out ten Monte batters and walked none! A-plus. The losing pitcher was Emmary Birhanzl. 

MACA scored its 19 runs on 12 hits and executed flawless fielding. We failed to score in the first inning but then got totally untracked in the second for ten runs. We polished things off with one run in the third and eight in the fourth. 

 

The hit parade 

Let's roll up our sleeves for the hitting summary. Lots of potent sticks in the MACA lineup. Maybe save some of those hits for the section? Just kidding. 

Bailee Bellmore was a terror on the basepaths as she stole four bases! She doubled in her only at-bat. She scored two runs, drove in one and drew a walk. 

Kill was the noteworthy performer with her bat as well as with pitching. At the plate this Tiger had three hits including a double in her four at-bats. She too was quick on the basepaths with two steals. Plus she scored two runs and drove in three. Let me insert here that her pitching produced a no-hitter! 

Ruby Lhotka tripled in her only at-bat. She scored two runs, drove in two, drew a walk and stole two bases. Jade Marty walked, stole a base and crossed home plate once. Mia Lu Asche was a perfect one-for-one with her hit a triple. She scored three runs, walked twice, reached on hit-by-pitch and stole two bases. 

Aina Rose had a hit, a run scored and stole a base. Nora Boyle walked twice and scored a run. Harmony Coverdale was off to the races for three stolen bases. Plus she scored a run and walked twice. 

Madalyn Pope rapped a hit, stole a base, scored two runs and drove in two. Samantha Konz doubled, scored a run and drove in two. 

Addison Smith was among the speed demons on the basepaths: four stolen bases. She doubled, scored two runs and drew a walk. Then we see Brenna Jergenson coming through with a triple, walk received, a run and an RBI. Ryla Koehler added to the mix with a hit and an RBI. 

Alas, no hits by Montevideo.

 

Tigers 7, Melrose 0

Momentum continued for MACA going into Tuesday. Haley Kill was again in command with her pitching. Two no-hitters over two days! Wow. 

The Tuesday story was a 7-0 win by coach Holmberg's squad. So we're 4-0. It has been a good week for weather.

 

Whither the Catholic Church?

Is there any Morris area fallout from the Pope falling greatly out of favor with the U.S. presidential administration? What a rift this is. Oh, normally our political leaders would strive to avoid any direct confrontation with the Catholic Church or certainly the Pope personally. 

Pope Leo

But MAGA is now firing broadsides at Pope Leo and the Catholics. Chutzpah? A miscalculation? Donald Trump always seems to land on his feet. His followers really never desert him. Oftentimes people like me think "oh, this is the last straw. Trump is finished." It never happens! 

I'm sure our local zealots like the people who populate the pews at Good Shepherd Church are sympathizing with the Orange Man. Even when the Orange Man puts forward for the world to see an image of himself as Jesus Christ? This is freshly in the news. There will be a smattering of criticism on something like this. But it always fades, always. MAGA believers always coalesce again around their leader and their leader is not Jesus Christ, it is Donald Trump. 

When will we start to see  outright worship of Donald Trump at our "conservative" local churches? Actually "conservative" means fiscal responsibility but those people don't even care about that now. How about $200 billion for the "Iran war?" So we can blow up more schools? Oh, the Iranians are led by bad people? Well is it always our responsibility to clean that sort of thing up? 

Is Putin bad? Trump is buds with the Russian leader. 

We just got a bad inflation report. Look out you all: higher prices. Fuel costs are up because of the war.

 

I for one think the image below is blasphemous. I am a total outlier from the majority of our Christian churches in West Central Minnesota now. I did not seek this. I ended my church membership even though I was in a "liberal" ELCA church. And those churches are dying. Someday I am convinced that good will prevail over evil. And if it does not?

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Accommodating UMM's donors

Remembering American cultural history has been a priority of mine for writing. I happen to have a trait of wanting to remember the past, even the minutiae or hyper-local aspects. And I have found the trait to hardly be universally shared. "Why do you think about that stuff?" People prioritize the present and their present needs which is hard to argue against. 

I remember traveling to many out-of-town high school sports events in a party that included the late Rick Lucken. He was a Vietnam War veteran and rather a character, likeable. Not one to conceal what was on his mind either. So he told me about how some local people with interest in UMM sports had some frustration trying to give money. Heavens, how could that be? 

Well, I imagine those were times when UMM felt very secure with its financial underpinnings from the State of Minnesota. Which was nice of course. But as private money came to be more and more relied upon, the institution could not be so arrogant in laying down rules/restrictions. Leave it to an unaccountable bureaucracy to employ the latter. 

So Rick told me there were prospective donors who really wanted their $ to go toward the higher-profile sports of football and men's basketball. UMM football went through a genuine heyday for a long time. Instead of saying "thanks and we'll take your money," the institution told such individuals that their $ had to go to the overall sports program. People got discouraged about that. The teams that we might describe as "fringe" did not inspire the opening of pocketbooks, you might say. 

And in the category of American cultural history, we must remember that girls and women's sports had to climb the rather challenging mountain of gaining legitimacy. 

There was a time when the UMM women's basketball coach made a special gesture of "thank you" to me when in fact I really just did what was fair and reasonable. I remember some players at season's end jogging up the bleachers at the P.E. Center to give me a card and a verbal thanks. It made me happy yes. But it made me feel I had "gone the extra mile" for women's hoops as if this commitment was needed sort of for political reasons. And I was not the most enlightened person. Hey, I remember when the 3-point shooting rule was created and I doubted for a time if girls or women could even make these shots! 

Our high school administration was not without such shortcomings. Let me explain: it was years before the bleachers got pulled out on both sides of our 1968 gym for girls basketball. The boys got the "full meal deal" as it were. (Wasn't that an old Dairy Queen promotion?) 

Music departments had to stop being so accommodating with "pep band" because they were getting whip-sawed by demands from the formerly fringe teams that were starting to thump their chest. 

I remember my father directing a quite bona fide UMM pep band when the "basketball team" (men) played at the "P.E. Annex." No women's sports yet. Isn't that amazing? Just like in movie "Hoosiers," the feminine gender was restricted to cheerleaders. 

Chris Voelz

The women got involved and their leaders had to fight for parity. Remember Chris Voelz at the U of M? Women's athletic director? An absolute lightning rod for so long, as she led women's sports through what amounted to land mines. I was inclined toward some criticism myself. Many of us, perhaps led by Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune, felt the old big-time men's sports needed some slack, some benefit of the doubt. Sid would always say "leave football out of it" when it came to equity rules. 

When all was said and done, women's sports ended up with the best possible outcome. It did not need so much bureaucratic insulation to succeed, hey it succeeded on its own merits! Just take Iowa women's basketball as one example. I heard a little retrospective about that from Iowa media recently. The  U of Iowa women were once totally obscure and minor compared to the men. Today that program would rival the men although the men are doing awfully good. But what a joy! It's not even an outlier. 

But let's get back to Rick Lucken's little story from UMM's past. The hindering of prospective UMM sports donors could only come from a past feeling of entitlement when private $ was not coveted so much. Why not let certain boosters come forward to help certain teams? Hey it might even be the women's teams. Or maybe soccer which I presume started small too. If you look in back issues of the Morris newspaper from when UMM soccer began, you will see generous coverage with shall we say a little extra flair. Yes that might be associated with yours truly. 

My flair did not always satisfy everyone but I digress. The coverage was supplied by yours truly. And I did it with a definite sense of history. It's a Williams family trait as far as UMM is concerned. My father directed the pep band at the P.E. Annex where it played the original UMM fight song. The song was eventually retired. And no, I'm not sitting here feeling resentful about that. The P.E. Annex was a lot like the gymnasiums we saw in "Hoosiers" with Gene Hackman. 

I told my little story about the past would-be sports donors to my main contact person with UMM today. She said the sense of "obstacles" or frustration was certainly not imposed today. My mind sifted through this and it didn't take long to arrive at the logical conclusion/deduction. If certain big donors want to direct $ to the traditional high-profile teams, well then that's fine, because then there could be more "institutional money" spread to the other teams. Maybe this would defeat the purpose in the minds of said donors. But remember, people always feel good when pitching in to help UMM. 

But what of UMM's future now? Very much clouded, it would seem. It would seem we are at the mercy of the U president. Or maybe not: maybe she's just acting in response to those above her, maybe not even the regents but rather the legislature. My father always understood that the buck stopped there. He had extensive experience within the U before UMM was even created. 

The original UMM fight song would sound great as a straight instrumental presentation. There might have been a problem with the lyrics. I'm thinking of a specific line. But as an instrumental presentation it would have to sound good, it would have to. The original head of the campus "commissioned" my dad to write it along with the "UMM Hymn." 

Some people only associated my father with the men's chorus which was certainly "famous." But he directed everything at various times. He was the only UMM music faculty in the institution's first year, 1960-61. 

 

Egg on my face 

Oh, women certainly came around to making the 3-point shot! I am willing to admit how I underestimated them. Mea culpa. And this past winter I enjoyed watching the UMM women play just as much as the men! But my donated dollars go toward music!

 

Addendum: Re. those long-ago trips including Rick and me, around 1990, I remember when more than once we traveled for a game at BBE and ended up in the wrong town! Belgrade instead of Brooten or the other way around!

"Collective?" UMM ought to be aware that the term is connected to all kinds of "liberal" stuff like socialism, communism and woke-ism. Perhaps the term should be avoided. People hate socialism although I guess they like their Social Security and Medicare.

- Bran Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

How do you feel about April snowfalls?

"There's always something scenic about April snowfalls." So writes Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley in an email to me on Thursday evening. "Here's the view from the RFC (a.k.a. now "Cougar Sports Center") a little after 6 p.m. Bless Randy for his glass-half-full attitude. And bless Randy for his continued interest in our UMM campus. We're in Jazz Fest weekend 2026. The show of jazz may be quite fine but IMHO we're relying on too many musicians who are not current UMM students.  For example the whole trumpet section from NDSU. This is not how it used to be at UMM obviously. Will our new chancellor make a dramatic announcement of cuts shortly after graduation? Word is, Janet Ericksen did not wish to go ahead with such cuts. What are they going to be? Remember that about half the buildings on the St. Cloud State campus, seemingly, sit there locked up now, and SCSU is actually "fundraising" to try to get $ for demolition.

 

April snowfalls in the Upper Midwest ought to inspire a song. N'est-ce pas? Perhaps one or two have been written. The snowfalls come as of course we are all so eager for the milder conditions. Not only that, we are sick of the late spring non-descript weather, weather that seems good for absolutely nothing. 

So this is what Missouri winters are like, pretty much throughout. That is what I have read. We had a UMM choir director a few years ago who spent some of her early career in Missouri. She said it made her uncomfortable because "lynchings once happened there." It is the state of Josh Hawley. Maybe that's an even bigger indictment. 

An April snowfall thus gives the illusion that winter is visiting us again. But of course the snow of such occurrences is so, well, "transitory," if I might use the word popularized by the Federal Reserve. "Transitory." As in transitory inflation (which of course it turned out not to be). Don't you all realize that another burst of inflation is on the way? It is certain due to the increase in fuel costs resulting from this curious military adventure in Iran. 

You see, presidents prior to the current one, whose name I really don't like to type, resisted pressure from Israel's ruler to initiate this kind of kinetic action. Other presidents held back in the proper measured way, even while making the obligatory statements of support for Israel. 

Politicians need to heed the change in the climate of opinion. Each new generation of young adults is less receptive to the old mantras of support for Israel. Increasingly we are disturbed by the disruption caused by Israel in the world. And now our more naive president has dragged us into a mess that will almost surely have severe consequences for our well-being. 

Taking on Iran is much different than Iraq. The president's supporters through the years became skeptical of our adventure in Iraq. So it's strange they have now learned to wave a flag of support for what's happening in Iran. 

 

Are we callous? 

I for one have not forgotten the horrible tragedy of the U.S. Tomahawk missile that took out a girls school in the early stages. Are we just supposed to forget about that? Or, the incident were we sank an Iranian ship and did not rescue survivors? What kind of people have we become? 

But the Trump people continue to be stooges or morons and just keep singing the praises of Dear Leader. The phenomenon proceeds full-fledged out here in rural West Central Minnesota. It simply will not abate, probably because so many of these zombie-like people see MAGA as an extension of their Christian faith. 

I absolutely could not get into the spirit of Easter. Are all such folks now ready to deal with another wallop from inflation? I thought concerns were already high enough about the prices in our day-to-day lives. Fuel prices affect everything. And are you among those who hope for lower interest rates? Much as Trump would like to browbeat those who make these decisions - e.g. the criminal investigation of Jerome Powell - his strong-arming on this will not work, and that is because the Federal Reserve has to listen to the bond market. 

I thought Republicans were so great to proclaim "there is no free lunch." Well, now their president wants us all to roll over and accept something like $200 billion for the "war effort." And Trump says the Federal government's only responsibility is "national defense," i.e. feeding the war machine. He says social welfare should be turned over to the states. And hey you knaves, states are not allowed to run a deficit. 

Do you even care about the quality of your own lives? At what point can you be awakened? What will it take? But if your reverence toward Donald Trump is connected to your "Christian" faith, it will be such a heavy lift. 

So you're willing to make deep personal sacrifices just to make sure Trump can be kept on a pedestal? I mean do you think he really cares about you? In the end he may just flee to some foreign place. He'll leave his sycophantic assistants/enablers behind. For the time being those individuals suck up to him. Wait until the tempest really starts building up. 

But can MAGA really keep its grasp on power? We cannot predict such things. We like to assume good always prevails over evil. Well, knock on wood. We had a U.S. Senate candidate here in Minnesota who was on record saying "the bad guys won World War II." He got the endorsement of a major political party. So did Roy Moore in Alabama. 

Shall I pray over the whole situation? Who would I pray to? Does God even exist? Can we be sure Jesus Christ was even a real person?

  

Does this image offend you?

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

How much reverence on Easter?

Ward Voorhees is a pillar of First Lutheran Church if anyone is. Of course this church is navigating rough waters now. We might even describe it as a dead church or former church. And I stress that would not be a stretch. 

Many of us gravitate to church for Easter Sunday. What kind of holiday is this? Well it is fundamentally a religious holiday. "Good Friday" precedes it? How good can we really feel with such a focus on the literal torturing-to-death of Jesus Christ? 

We are in fact encouraged to feel "down" for Good Friday, then the idea is to do a complete reversal for Easter Sunday. The behavior is prompted by the belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and God would forgive everyone of their sins if they would accept Jesus as their Savior. Oh c'mon, isn't this whole story a little fantastical? Couldn't all this have been faked? People with political or philosophical motivations can go to great lengths. 

OK so how do I assess the whole fantastical story? Really truly I would like to think it's true. My mother would want me to be so disposed. So at times I close my eyes and really truly try to realize that it is true and I am "saved." But if I tell people I have chosen this commitment, it would not seem right because doubt seems inevitable. 

If I were on my death bed tomorrow I really truly would try to believe. But I really can't help but believe it's a put-on. A canard? 

Christmas? We don't even know the date on which Christ was born. However, I have always found the manger story so endearing. So I'd try to believe it anyway. I wrote a song about the Little Drummer Boy as the story was told in the 1960s TV stop-motion special. The Little Drummer Boy is not in the Bible. 

The Christmas story is charming. I'd find Easter and the lead-up to it horrifying. Do you want to see an increasing number of young people leave the Christian faith? Just keep hammering away on the godawful physical abuse of Jesus Christ leading up to his being nailed on the cross. I do not recall so much violent imagery from when I was growing up at First Lutheran. The point about Christ's death was made in a more general way. "Hew died for our sins" 

What of all the human beings that existed in the time before that? They were guaranteed to spend eternity in hell? Well, were they? 

 

Dark cloud 

Today the Christian faith in America is under a terrible cloud because of how Donald Trump hovers over us every day. Why do we live with this? Why do we accept a congressperson out here in western Minnesota who talks and acts like an extension of Donald Trump? And she's following the marching orders on the military conflict in Iran. 

Now Trump's unbalanced nature is having a terrible effect on the whole world. A destabilizing effect. It's done to help Israel? The Jews of Israel do not even accept Christ as their Savior. So then, why do all the Jerry Falwell disciples across America sing Israel's praises? I guess it's "fulfillment of Biblical prophecy." 

Interpreting this thick tome called the Bible can go in seemingly endless directions, n'est-ce pas? I remember a radio host who said he wouldn't even keep a caller on the line once this individual quoted the Bible. 

Maybe this matter would not be so important if American "evangelical" Christianity was not now such a menace on the world stage. It is part and parcel with this 80-year-old man named Trump. And why oh why have not the intelligent people of America risen up to try to end this? To end this abomination? 

Soon we'll feel another big blast of inflation. Are you really truly ready? Trump says the Federal government exists only for "national defense" which can be interpreted as war and aggression. Look at how he has spoken about Greenland, Canada and Cuba. It mirrors perfectly what Germany once projected before it had to be put down violently. 

We are sitting here like sheep as this happens. There are others like myself trying to ring a firebell in the night. But it is so futile. 

 

Not sensitive 

How do you think the non-Christians of Morris feel when they try to go to Willie's today (Sunday) and find that it is closed? Closed for Easter. Is this the last year we'll see this? Willie's used to be closed every Sunday. You might say those were Norman Rockwell times. Those times have faded into oblivion. And it's for the better. 

I'd have a chocolate bunny for Easter but I've had some issues with diabetes. Right now I believe I am "pre-diabetic." 

Ward Voorhees of First Lutheran Church has certainly lived a blessed life getting to age 90. His First Lutheran Church - my former church - now only meets in its own building every other week. I cannot in good conscience continue to belong. I have seen the gradual erosion of FLC over the last few years. I wasn't sure it would come to this. 

The vote on gay ordination absolutely supplied the dagger. Truman Carlson was mad when he left FLC. Carlson was an iconic resident of Morris if anyone was. 

I can find a very nice ELCA church service to take in every week from Cincinnati now. "Lutheran Church of the Resurrection." 

The sun is out as I complete the first draft of this blog post. I should proclaim that it looks like a joyous Easter. I cannot adopt any such sentiment. Donald Trump is a menace for the whole world right now. Jerry Falwell began laying the building blocks for this. Most of the Stevens County churches follow right along. The Pope resists Trump in the same spirit that I do. Can Catholicism in America survive?

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Easter has its secular side too

Gene Autry

More than a light dusting of snow on this early April morning. April! And to think we look forward to this time of year so much. It's a great selling point for the RFC in Morris: an escape from the dreariness of the snow season. 

As I walked into Willie's this morning, I could imagine the sound of Christmas music over the sound system! But it is Easter time and not Christmas. It would be fun to listen to "The Snoopy Christmas Song" but instead it's time for "Peter Cottontail." Novelty songs like that rather amuse me. Such simplicity or even nonsense and yet it's captivating. 

Did Gene Autry give us the most famous version of "Here Comes Peter Cottontail?" "Hopping down the bunny trail." Of course I'm thinking of the secular context for Easter. The Christian faith alas has gotten rather stigmatized in America. Very unfortunate but there is such a political tinge. This has persisted for a while and it appears not to be letting up, at least with a significant share of our population out here. 

My former church of First Lutheran has been doing a lot of soul-searching or introspection lately. And so the results of the recent survey have been revealed. This as the church sort of flails away as if a drowning person in the water. Indeed the church no longer offers weekly Sunday services at its own building. 

Because I no longer am a member, a friend emailed me the survey results which were extensive even if somewhat confusing. The point was made that the pastor - whoever that is - should not be "political." Well I can't imagine anyone coming forward to say the pastor should be "political." 

Frankly I think Pastor Matt tries as hard as possible to achieve this aim. However, the matter is not so cut and dried, hoo boy. In the eyes of so many of the Neanderthal conservative folks - you should know who you are - a pastor can project or presume ideas that are in line with "conservative" politics and many people will think that's quite fine. Pastor is not being "political," he's just asserting very Christian things, these people would say. 

But people like me would say that pastor is being quite political. 

 

Different strokes 

If a pastor would be inclined the opposite way and maybe simply share progressive or liberal ideas, well my, that guy would be at great risk of having the people of rural western Minnesota get up and walk right out during the service. That pastor would be "political." 

Jesus Christ Himself, in case you place credence in him, could be political in this manner with his Sermon on the Mount. Pastors who simply seek to preserve their careers have learned to avoid certain quotes from Jesus Christ. 

The terms "liberal, progressive and conservative" can in themselves be problematic. Oh, and so can the term "evangelical." Chris Jansing of MSNBC would look into the camera and ponder how a state's "evangelicals" were going to be inclined, going into a primary vote. I'd scratch my head. What or who are these "evangelicals?" Shall we just exclude all ELCA Lutherans? 

The time may be past to even try applying CPR to the ELCA. The tumble began in 2009. You probably know the background. The problem is not at the local level with all the LGBTQ stuff. (Oh, maybe it is to an extent in the big cities, but I'm too separated from that whole milieu.) 

I did sense that all ELCA pastors were more or less required to give a sermon on gay rights at the time the matter became contentious - to make clear we're a "big tent." We had an interim pastor at First Lutheran who used levity: he compared the acceptance of gays to the acceptance of Swedes by Norwegians or vice versa at an earlier time of our history. Charming way to put it. 

But the matter would prove not to be trivial or passing. We might use the current buzzword "existential" like the future of the denomination would be threatened. I chose "would" over "could." 

First Lutheran Church

And now First Lutheran in Morris with its rich history of spiritual leadership may already be gone. Oh I can live without it. 

Morris has one other ELCA church: Faith Lutheran. Faith is so proud of all its "young families." And rightfully so. 

The decline of the ELCA makes this arrangement of two ELCA churches here steadily more untenable. If you're new in town and choose one of the two, people will wonder what you have against the other one. They have to. 

And even worse, if you switch from one to the other, it is rather a spectacle as people naturally assume you had a grievance! "People talk," as I mentioned to Kelvin Tschetter. And Kelvin wryly responded, "well, they have to talk about something." Amusing yes and with insight to boot. 

Faith Lutheran Church

But whither the ELCA in Morris? Mainstream Protestantism is handicapped to begin with in Morris because so many people choose the Apostolic churches. I can't help but think of this element as a cult. Oh, I like these people personally. But if so many people are scratched off the list, as it were, makes it much tougher for the mainstream Protestants to properly support their churches. 

The Catholics? Never in my life have I found a reason to have anything against the Catholics. When I was with the Morris newspaper I only enjoyed my relationship with the local Catholic leaders, perhaps especially Fr. Wielinski. 

But I grew up ELCA Lutheran. I was confirmed before I even understood what confirmation meant. Typical boomer: we were handed so many things and privileges by our indulging parents. They had been through the Depression and WWII and by golly they were going to see to it that their children had their path eased. 

 

Reckoning

The Christian faith is going to have so much to answer for, once the alarm bells start ringing about the consequences of the Donald Trump presidency. I have friends or former friends who will scowl at me for bringing up Trump in this manner. They do not budge. Many of these people appear to have been hypnotized by conservative media like Fox News. They look upon me as pathology. 

Federal spending is higher now than when Biden was president. So how is Trump so "conservative?" Immigration? God is going to punish us because of the conduct of Trump's ICE. 

Here's a headline I'm looking at on my laptop screen right now: "Oil surges and stock futures fall after Trump offers no clear timeline to end war in Iran." 

You know what I pray about? I pray for all the souls of schoolgirls who were killed by the U.S. Tomahawk missile at the start of hostilities. I pray for the soul of our nation because of the ship that our military forces sank and then we did not even rescue the survivors. Looks like we might be no better than a certain German autocratic regime of the 20th Century. 

And God blesses all this? Not my God. Not my Savior. Contact your congressperson. She is joined at the hip with Donald Trump. 

And have a chocolate bunny for Easter. Listen to Gene Autry sing "Here Comes Peter Cottontail."

Chocolate bunny for Easter

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Cougars take the diamond on fine day

What tremendous luck for the UMN-Morris athletic program. You usually have to do a hail Mary in order to hope that a scheduled outdoor season opener can even be played. I was taking my standard walk east of Morris Sunday when lo and behold, I heard sounds of activity from the "softball complex." (Maybe I put it in quotes because I'm not a fan of the place.) 

I covered sports for many years with the Morris newspaper. And I was so accustomed to seeing the initials "PPD" with the date of early-season games. "Postponed." In fact I have written several times about the letdown of early spring sports after all the gym-based activity of the winter sports. Not only are basketball games guaranteed to be played, the fans sit comfy in the bleachers. 

However, I have learned at age 71 to be careful navigating the wooden bleachers at our P.E. Center. No handrails. Best advice is to show "situational awareness." I think that's an actual medical term. 

When basketball ends each year, I expect the "letdown" for spring sports. Questionable game dates with the weather, and when games are played the parents/fans often look kind of forlorn as they are huddled wearing warm outerwear. Ground can be muddy. 

There, have I painted a good enough picture for you? 

I'll bet Sunday was the first day when a game under reasonable outdoor conditions could have been played. And wouldn't you know, Cougars not only had a game set for here, it was a doubleheader! Hitting the jackpot. So I heard the sounds coming from the softball complex and eventually learned this was collegiate action. No "PPD" for this game(s). And the weather was not just "adequate." It was downright enjoyable. 

I enjoyed my long walk following my standard route east of Morris. I came back into town using the shoulder of the bypass. Nice wide shoulders. The average temperature for this time of spring is low 40s. Temperature will stay pleasant today (Monday),, then I guess we'll head back down. But for the meantime, softball players and fans enjoyed the Sunday outing even though UMM was on the losing end. And a good number of fans were there. 

I'll bet the ground is still muddy. I am waiting to set foot on my yard until things really dry out. Recently I found that mud just "cakes" onto the bottom of your footwear - a hassle to remove. We still see "snirt" here and there. 

Ginger Ann Lucas

On to the game action: The Cougars hosted Bethany Lutheran. The Cougars fell by scores of 11-6 and 5-0. This was UMAC action. 

Let's get familiar with some of the Cougar names. Oh, look at Ginger Ann Lucas at the top of the lineup: four-for-four! She scored three runs. Below her name is Oliva Losee and she rapped two hits in four at-bats. She scored one run and drove in two. 

Alyssa Thornton had a two-for-three showing and drove in a run. Mary Landherr picked up an RBI. Jillian Anderson went two-for-four with an RBI. Kendra Schmitz added a hit to the mix. Morgan Wilhelm crossed home plate once. So did Taylor Johnson. 

It was Wilhelm pitching the whole way. I remember the great MLB relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm from when I was a kid. Threw the knuckleball! 

Against Bethany, Morgan Wilhelm gave up nine hits, struck out three and walked two.

 

And in Game 2

In the 5-0 Game 2 loss, hits were pretty scarce. Just one Cougar had two hits and that was Jillian Anderson. These Cougars each had one: Mary Landherr, Kendra Schmitz, Ro Diver and Taylor Johnson. 

Cougars were up against the top-notch pitching of Emily Meyer. UMM had Alyssa Thornton in the pitching role and she went the whole way. Thornton gave up eight hits, struck out four and walked three. 

Olivia Losee

Great to see action under pleasant conditions at the "complex" even though I am not a fan of the place. And what will the near future bring? Hey we're still in March. 

I remember the year when I was out walking and heard commotion from Big Cat field. It was a Cougar softball game when the weather and conditions were not cooperative, not even close. Big Cat Field was set up perfectly for softball. This was really revelatory. I was greatly impressed. 

I subsequently wrote that it would be fantastic for UMM to get an inflatable cover for Big Cat Field. St. Cloud State has this asset and it is really an asset. Meanwhile, seems like about half of the buildings at St. Cloud State are set to be torn down. And they are even doing fundraising among donors for this! Imagine giving money so that half the campus can be torn down. St. Cloud State had a new football stadium built in 2004. Now they don't even have football.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Alexandria bows to Wayzata, finishes 21-9

2026 was not to be a repeat of 2025 for Alexandria boys basketball. The '25 story ended with the Cardinals as state champion. Well, the 2026 edition did mighty super too. They made state. But victory at the state level proved elusive for the Cardinals. 

The just-concluded season ought to be filed away as significant and historic in Alex sports annals, even with the 0-2 showing in state. The state is cream of the crop all the way around. 

You probably know that the Witts have their imprint all over Alex hoops. In fact, Morris connections are pretty noticeable all the way around. The Witts are quite high-profile led by two of the top players Mason and Talan. They are grandsons of our former long-time football coach in Morris, Jerry Witt. 

Jerry was an athletic asset all the way around. He got established in Motown sports when he was a Cougar with UMM. He's married to Holly. And what a legacy they are watching with their grandchildren. State champs in 2025. State qualifier in '26. What would Alex do without its Morris connections? Probably should not ask that, is purely speculation. 

The day will come when Alex will take the floor without the Witts. We can assume that Mason and Talan will have impact somewhere at the collegiate level. They are probably looking higher than UMM. UMM plays Division III. 

A top star with last year's Alex team, Chase Thompson, is established at the highest level of collegiate ball now, playing for none other than Clemson, the Tigers. 

 

The "Cardinals!"

Outdone at end

Alexandria concluded its season with a loss to Wayzata. It's the well-known and high-class suburb of the Twin Cities. At this point it occurs to me to remind you all that Alex entered the 4A classification for this past season. AAAA is the largest schools. We can presume that many of these schools are going to be powerful. But we cannot generalize that way. 

Wayzata came at the Cards with firepower, yes the "real deal." The score was 89-60, alas, as Alex got outdone by the boys from the rich suburb! Alex was seeded No. 6 for state, Wayzata No. 2. Game site was St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center. Wayzata has the "Trojans" nickname. 

The Cardinals can look back on a highlight-filled 21-9 season. Their state tournament appearance was their fifth in a six-year span. 

Let me remind you here that Mason and Talan Witt are not brothers, they are cousins. Jerry and Holly are parents of three sons who had great impact in our MAHS athletics: Zachary, Forrest and Taylor. 

Jerry had my father Ralph as a music teacher at UMM! Jerry recalled with a smile the class where he was required to prepare an elementary music lesson! He must have done fine. 

 

Chase Thompson

Thompson at Clemson 

Let's take a look at how Chase Thompson is doing in the big-time collegiate hoops wars. I had to look up where Clemson is located. Clemson University is in fact located in Clemson, South Carolina. Can we assume that Chase made the cultural adjustment to South Carolina of the full-fledged "South?" This was the first state to secede in the U.S. Civil War. Lindsey Graham is a U.S. senator from there. Shows up a lot on Sunday morning TV. 

The culture has contrasts from here but I would assume Mr. Thompson has made friends and gotten along fine. Still, I might have preferred that he stayed in Minnesota. I wonder if the Gophers pursued him. Oh, here's a neat headline I see in the "news" portion of the Clemson hoops website: "Chase Thompson's breakout performance provides spark in win." 

So in his first year, Mr. Thompson must be getting some accolades already. I sure got the impression last year that he was one of the "talented ones." So his name is already crossing the lips of the "Tigers" faithful. That's Clemson Tigers of course. The logo is an orange paw print. 

Clemson "Tigers"

Chase Thompson's "breakout performance" was in a 71-62 win over Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The freshman from the lakes country of Alex scored nine points and had three rebounds, "providing a spark with his energy and physical play during the matchup," the summary noted. 

Thompson in his post-game comments credited the team's depth for much of the positiveness. "It can be anybody at the right time." He played 19 minutes in the win over the "Demon Deacons." He shot 57.1 percent. 

 

Root for the Gophs

Looks like the U of M women's team will play UCLA today (Friday) in the "Sweet 16" of the NCAAs. It is a super accomplishment to reach the Sweet 16.  Today I'm afraid the Gophers under "coach Dawn" will have an uphill battle. I refer to her as "coach Dawn" because I have trouble with her last name! 

The Iowa women are done. I have followed Iowa closely because of Caitlin Clark and her transformative impact on the sport. Iowa remains a charming team. The Hawkeyes got stopped by Virginia in the NCAAs this year.

 

Addendum: I acknowledged some of the Morris connections with Alexandria in a previous post I wrote on "Morris of Course." That included Blake Scholl, son of Heather (nee) Lucken who played for MAHS Tigers. Jerry Witt and I have since communicated with emails. Nice cheery response from him and he expanded on the "Morris connections" to Alex. I'm pleased to quote from his March 15 communication:

 

Good morning, Brian!  We always enjoy reading your articles. Thanks for sharing them with us. I’ll pass them on to Zach, Forrest and Taylor so they can enjoy them as well. Just came in from blowing snow from yesterday‘s blizzard. Are you guys buried down there as well in snow?

On another note, Alexandria has one more Morris connection on our team. A boy named Miles Grey, who is a senior, is the son of Dan Grey and Tracy Lesmeister from Morris. Dan is the son of Wes Grey who worked at the UMM research station. Wes was my gardening expert who helped me out often. Dan played point guard for us during one of my first years at Morris as an assistant coach for Bob Mulder.

 

Below is another photo that features nicely Chase Thompson of the Clemson Tigers of South Carolina:

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com