Just four hits but it's enough for softball win

Tigers 7, Benson 2
The excitement of the post-season is on for MACA softball. Tuesday (5/22) saw the winning Tigers square off against Benson. Win is what the Tigers did yet again. They assumed a 3-0 lead in the third inning and went on to prevail 7-2.
Hits were infrequent in this game. Our seven runs came on just four hits and we committed one error. Benson meanwhile was throttled by the pitching of Liz Dietz along with the whole MACA defense. Dietz worked the whole way and allowed just two hits. The two Benson runs were unearned. She set down seven Brave batters on strikes and walked four.
The Benson pitching was divided among three with Emily Miller taking the loss. Miller pitched 4 1/3 innings and fanned three batters. Two of the four runs she allowed were unearned. Zoe Doscher and MacKenzie Kurkosky also pitched for Benson. Benson's line score was two runs, two hits and a costly four errors.
Dietz had a shutout going until the sixth when Benson pushed two runs home. The Tigers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame. The two Benson hits were by Liz Staton (also with a run scored) and Abby Lundebrek (a run scored as well).
All right, on to the MACA offensive story: Jenna Howden doubled in her only at-bat and drove in two runs. MacKenzie Hockel doubled, drove in two runs and scored three. Bailey Marty had a one-for-four line. Abby McNally added a hit to the mix. Dietz and Jen Solvie each crossed home plate twice.
Fans at the home diamond enjoyed this Section 3AA success which advances us to play a game at the Marshall diamond. We're the top seed and we had a bye prior to the Benson game. Our next opponent: Martin County West. Benson actually isn't done - they'll resume in the losers bracket vs. Windom, also in Marshall. It's "destination south" now.  
Click on the link below to read about the Tigers' doubleheader sweep of BOLD on 5/18, here. This post is on my companion blog site, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/05/maca-softball-sweet-sweep-of-bold-at.html

Baseball: Benson 11, Tigers 9
The Tigers of the baseball world got thrown on the ropes in the second inning vs. Benson. The score stood 6-0 after two innings, then each team scored two runs in the third. The Tigers were hardly down for the count as they scored six runs in the fourth. Benson scored three in the fourth. We added a run in the sixth but were blanked in the seventh, so the outcome was an 11-9 score with the Braves prevailing.
It was a disappointing loss because we out-hit the Braves most decisively: 16 hits off our bats compared to nine by Benson. The fielding category was pretty even: two errors by Benson and three by MACA. Three pitchers shared the workload for the Tigers: Jaret Johnson, Jordan Leuthardt and Trevor Voges. Johnson gave up eight runs but only five were earned, and he struck out four batters. Leuthardt struck out one batter and Voges fanned three.
The winning pitcher for Benson was Hunter Mondor who struck out four batters and walked none. Matthew Goossen also pitched for the Braves, three innings, and got roughed up some (nine hits allowed and seven runs, all earned).
Our Tigers had quite the hit parade. Brock Anderson went two-for-five including a triple and drove in three runs. Jaret Johnson had a three-for-four line with two of his hits doubles, plus he drove in two runs and scored one. Noah Sheldon rapped two hits and crossed home plate three times. Chandler Vogel doubled twice and drove in a run. Tyler Reimers had a two-for-three line and scored a run. Chandler Wilts contributed two hits and had a ribbie. Zach Bruns had an RBI and run scored to go with his hit. Trevor Voges added a hit to the mix.
Sam Lundebrek doubled twice for the Braves. He scored three runs and drove in one. Matthew Tolifson had two hits, one a double, and drove in four runs/scored one. Matthew Goossen had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Dan Lenarz rapped a hit and scored a run. Will Enderson went two-for-four including a double, drove in a run and scored two. Brandon Osterbauaer had a hit and a run scored.

Band concert impresses at concert hall
I had no trouble finding a seat for the May 21 grades 9-12 band concert at our concert hall. You might recall I told a story about having some trouble finding a seat at the choir concert. An acquaintance came to my aid and gestured to an open seat in one of the elevated sections. The choir concert made it obvious that the money spent on the concert hall was most justified. When I was in high school, our concerts were at the 1968 gym which actually seemed to work out nice.
I never liked the MAHS auditorium for band concerts because all you could see was the front row of clarinet players. Frankly I never liked the MAHS auditorium because it seemed stuffy and congested in there for any event. Our old superintendent Fred Switzer was known to tell people - at least he told a fellow '73 alum of mine - that he "almost got fired" over getting the auditorium built. My friend was rather amused because once Fred got on this topic, he seemed rather fixated on it. I think Fred could get a little defensive.

"Mr. K" with Sharon Martin

Another old classmate of mine, initials G.L., told me Fred didn't like hiring Morris natives. I can theorize he held this view because Morris natives might bring old biases with them, but the school leadership of today seems to have no problem hiring people with Morris roots. Tallack Dosdall got hired. Of course, he's now in a new profession, and seemingly everyone knows he's going door to door making "cold calls" as a rep for a financial services company.
Was Fred right?

Wanda Dagen in a dancing mood

The band concert I recently attended was magnificent. Part of the reason for the smaller audience than choir, I'm sure, was that it was grades 9-12 while choir went for the whole shillelagh with grades 7-12. I commented that maybe the choir concert could have been divided into two concerts. The choir concert had the real feeling of "event" characterizing it. The band concert deserved the same feeling - artistically it was superb, so kudos like always to Wanda Dagen, our totally committed director. She is so committed to band, it kind of makes her stand alone on the school staff. We need that. In this age where standardized testing is such a high priority, we need to make sure sufficient time is reserved for music, n'est-ce pas?
The tympani player for the band was totally boffo. I hope she continues her music post-high school at a high level. I caught that her last name is Mahoney.
MAHS no longer has a marching band. That's a big change from when I was in high school. Summer is now a slow time for band. It was quite the hyper time when I was in high school under John Woell who could crack the whip. We traveled as far away as Winnipeg. Scott Groth was a drum major with real elan. Our uniforms would get a little hot sometimes. Peter Timmons got left behind in a town once. I guess Peter's dad rode with John to go get him. Peter came from a political family that was quite progressive. I recall an affinity with Shirley Chisholm.
Morris history always portrays the Schaefer era as our golden age for marching band, but I think that's a little unfair, as I think we were just as good! Sometimes the drums would resonate off the buildings as we headed down a main street, creating a dramatic effect.
Marching bands went into decline because kids developed more diverse interests in summer, e.g. sports camps. My generation had parents who were most proud of what we did. I remember seeing my mom, who passed away a month ago, looking out from the parade watchers.
Parents ought to be at the top of our high school memories.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com