Summertime Legion baseball is like a continuation of high school baseball. Many of the same names carry over from spring. Legion ball seems to have a more relaxed atmosphere, consistent with summertime itself.
So on Thursday the Legion athletes of Morris and Hancock gathered at Chizek Field for a contest. Brandon Jergenson was most reliable in the pitching department for Morris. His arm was good for a route-going performance. And it was a shutout performance. Morris prevailed over their county rivals, 2-0.
Jergenson set down six batters on strikes. He walked two and allowed five hits. He gave himself the only run he'd need when he came home on a wild pitch in the third. For insurance he picked up a second run when Durgin Decker singled to score Brett Hansen.
The pitching duel had Preston Rohloff on the other end. Rohloff pitched the whole way for Hancock. He posted the eye-opening strikeout stat of 12! He was touched for only three hits and walked just one. Rohloff could win many games with such form but he was hurt by unearned runs. Both Morris runs were in that category.
Unearned runs hint at errors and indeed Hancock committed three. The Morris success upped the Post #29 mark to 5-4. Hancock meanwhile stayed above .500 at 3-2.
Drama with softball complex
It's never fun when everyone cannot get on the same page with something like the community softball complex. The complex is trying to find its legs. There's so much softball action over there now, one wonders why wheelbarrow-fulls of government money still have to be poured into the project.
No matter how much upgrading is done, we're left with inferior fan seating, it would seem, and a project such as this one cannot overcome that. So much for hosting any really big-time events there.
The superlatives were so rich when the project started. I had visions of Morris maybe hosting the state high school tournament. It is easy to make early proclamations. It's easy to simply dream, to envision something grand and to even try to "sell it." Promoters of the project have been working hard at selling, no doubt.
An early graphic mapped it all out. It's always so much easier to promise all this stuff than to achieve it. The issue that concerns me is this: if the promises were used to "sell" to the public, and if members of the public came forward with their own donations, it would be concerning if the project is pared back now. There is evidence it will likely be pared back.
The school superintendent came forward in a radio interview and talked about a "design change." To take away some of the parking? And instead include more "green space?" Well, "green space" is essentially nothing. Paved parking I'm sure entails $ cost. So why is this option being weighed? Surely it's because of cost pressure, right? Cut down the package to manage cost.
The superintendent did not cite this as a specific reason. Instead he sort of took a detour out to left field, as it were, and cited concerns about balls striking windshields and hoods. Hmmm. Couldn't this factor have been weighed at the start?
I think the project is facing considerable financial pressure. So, how much do you want to bet there will be no parking lot? No paved one anyway. I saw the graphic early-on that had provisions for what appeared to be a standard paved lot. And then I had to wonder: Would this be considered an official UMM lot? A permit lot? If not - if it's free - wouldn't UMM people just use it as a matter of course?
Mark Ekren alerted us all to safety issues with the parking arrangement early-on. That was with vehicles going down the little incline and piling into the grassy area between fields. The area was barricaded off after Ekren's public comments. But, then I noticed it was opened up again.
We have various government-supported entities involved with this project, therefore there is more than a little potential for discord. There has to be, although the principals will go to great lengths to keep it under wraps, to make sure the public statements are all about Teddy bears and puffy white clouds.
We get a hint of discord with the city's decision to not contribute any further funds. I question why the city got involved in the first place. The city should support non-structured sports, i.e. recreation, rather than elite organized sports such as the high school and UMM.
It is easy to get carried away supporting the organized sports because it's just expected in a small community. We can get carried away with the emotions with such things. That's OK to a degree if it doesn't drain our pocketbooks unduly. I'm afraid we have already been drained. The new varsity field with its lousy fan accommodations is ours forever.
I invite you to read my current post on "Morris of Course" which gets into the school board aspect. Thanks.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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