Taylor Holleman and Austin Steege were called upon as pitchers in Hancock's 4-3 Thursday win.
Holleman
was the pitcher of record with his four-inning stint. He was also a
force at bat, getting a hit in each of his two at-bats. He crossed home
plate twice.
Bryan Shaw had RBIs for all four of Hancock's runs.
The
May 3 home affair had the Owls excelling offensively in the third
inning. They gained the decisive momentum in that frame, scoring three
times. Their other run was scored in the first.
Ashby picked away, scoring single runs in the third, fourth and
sixth frames, but the Arrows couldn't push through against Holleman and
Steege.
Austin gave them chances as he issued five walks. But
Austin was able to suppress any potential Arrow momentum. He was
credited with the save. In his three innings he fanned two batters and
gave up one hit and one run (unearned).
Winner Holleman struck out four batters and walked three in his
four innings. He scattered seven hits and gave up two runs (one earned).
The Hancock line score was four runs, five hits and two errors. The Ashby numbers were 3-8-1.
Holleman had a stolen base to go with his two-for-two hitting stats. Steege had a stolen base as part of going one-for-two.
Shaw,
in addition to being the decisive RBI producer, had a one-for-two line
with his hit a double. Collin Cunningham went one-for-two with a run
scored.
Three Arrows hit safely: Tyler Langlie (two hits in four at-bats
with one of his hits a double), Morgan Wing (two-for-four) and Allard
Larbe (one-for-two).
The losing pitcher was Riley Mickelson who was Ashby's sole hurler on the day.
What's going on with the Hancock Record?
I
don't pay real close attention to Hancock's newspaper, the Record, but I
glanced at Thursday's (5/3) while at the Morris Public Library. Usually
I'm just curious to see how big it is. These are hard times for all
newspapers.
I spent about 15 years doing the sports section for the Record,
very dutifully, and I hope people still remember some of the spreads I
put together. I worked very nicely with the editor who was a Hancock
native and "favorite daughter" as it were. I'm a Morrissite. Hey, it's
only eight miles between the two.
So, I'm looking at the May 3 sports page - it was "pages" plural
when I was there - and I am aghast. You know how, when you wake up in
the morning after dreaming, you marvel at the weirdness of your dreams?
The stuff I saw on that page is what I'd associate with a bizarre dream.
Jim Morrison says he used to have dreams about sending off the
Morris paper without headlines. And then he'd blame me for it, he joked.
What I saw in the May 3 Record sports was just as weird. I
hope you're sitting down for this: I saw raw game report forms. They
hadn't gone through any sort of professional processing.
The worst was at the bottom of the page: forms that had a coach's
handwriting on them. Next to "pitching" we saw the coach's handwritten
"Bryan" and "Austin." This is so amateurish on the part of the Record,
so shoddy and so insulting to the community, it's hard to find words to
do justice.
I never engage in nitpicking criticism of a newspaper. Newspapers
have enough problems as they are being displaced by the online
platforms. But when I look at this Hancock Record, it becomes necessary
to make pointed statements.
There are some junior high baseball results on the right side of
the page that aren't quite as bad. They are "raw" but they include no
handwriting. However, parts of the Owls' first names are cut off in the
box score at the bottom. How did this survive final proofreading?
Isn't someone over there conscientious enough to assemble a reasonably professional product?
We
all know the Hancock paper is a tiny part of the big regional chain of
newspapers. Does this explain the negligence? Was it really such a great
idea to have me leave? I would have loved continuing to do this work
over the last few years.
If my work was an issue in Morris, fine, but there's no doubt I was
accepted and embraced in Hancock. I know it isn't necessary to be
"embraced," but given the nature of my commitments, being available on
evenings, weekends and even holidays, it helps to get that little
benefit of the doubt. There's more work and time involved than the
average person would realize.
I used to finish my proofreading at about 2 a.m. on the night
before the pages were taken to Quinco Press in Lowry. The current
management would say I was nuts doing that. All I care about is the
quality of the product. I loved following the Owls, coming to games
often, getting familiar with the players (and yes, their parents), plus I
covered lots of non-sports stuff in Hancock.
I loved covering graduation, even though in some years I didn't get
outside quite in time to photograph "throwing the caps skyward." I
always had to be ready for band director Ken Grunig "scaring" me with
how he had his percussion section begin Pomp and Circumstance.
I loved watching the slide show introducing the grads.
I
loved coming to Hancock July 4 and buying a hamburger and soft drink at
the 4-H concession tent at the tractor pull. So many memories.
Now
I look at the Hancock Record sports and wonder "why do they bother?"
Here's the headline from the top of the page: "Track results from Minnewaska." That's not a professionally written headline. Neither is
"Junior high track in Ortonville." What about junior high track in
Ortonville?
And below that: "Benson Hancock takes on Monte, Waska and YME." A
headline must do more than simply say a team played some games. What was
significant about those games? The highlight, I learn, was B-H's 9-8
win over Monte. Use that as a springboard for the headline.
I can still write online, like I am today, but it's no substitute
for the kind of experiences I used to have, all tucked away in my
memory.
I see names I'm still familiar with. Where the coach
wrote "Bryan," I knew instantly what the last name was: "Shaw."
(Actually, those of us who spell the name "Brian" are very conscious of
those who don't.)
Oh, I can also instantly put a last name with "Austin." It's
"Steege." I wrote the articles introducing Austin's dad Adam to Stevens
County when he came here.
These games deserve the kind of
attention I would have given. What a travesty the May 3 Hancock Record
sports section is. Is there any other community newspaper in America
that would be so careless?
I think it would be fully appropriate for the Hancock town council
to pass a resolution encouraging the Fargo-based Forum Communications to
just leave town.
The first big step backward was when the
newspaper office was removed from Hancock. Newspaper offices like post
offices give great benefit, some of them intangible, for small rural
communities. That's why there's hesitance for cutting so many post
offices.
Hancock would be better served by a nice tidy little newspaper like the Chokio Review which is owned and operated locally.
Eventually
of course we may see all newspapers wither up and die. The timetable is
uncertain. But Hancock deserves better than what the May 3 edition
included.
And, on the stadium front. . .
Today (Monday) is
supposedly the most significant day our state has seen in a long time.
We're to decide if we'll all be a bunch of chumps and underwrite a new
Vikings stadium.
Wouldn't it be amazing if the death of Junior Seau tempered the new
stadium drive just enough to snuff it out? The sad death underscores
the hazardous nature of football, it seems. Do you wish to allow
yourself to continue to be entertained by this?
Parting is such sweet sorrow but the time has come.
I'm
profoundly disappointed by Governor Mark Dayton and his position as a
shill or stooge on behalf of the new stadium interests. I'm a Democrat.
But I might vote for a tea party Republican before I vote for Mr. Dayton
again.
Electronic pulltabs? They're the crack cocaine of gambling.
Mr.
Dayton, we need to hold off to see if the Vikings might be willing to
come up with more money. If they won't, then it's sayonara, and I won't
blame the legislature or governor. After today, let's free the
legislature from even having to deal with it.
Seau's brains are being provided to science. I can't help but be
reminded of the movie "Young Frankenstein." Remember "Abby Normal?"
Marty Feldman was a hoot.
The Frankenstein monster looks as though it could be played by Terry Bradshaw with little makeup.
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