WINTHROTTLED

Resugrent Winthrop Too Much for Tigers

--By Brett Kruschke

Cinderella did not go home with a bloody lip after all-instead, she used her glass slipper to deliver an emphatic 10-3 kick to the Tigers' behinds, ending their season last Tuesday in Arlington. The Winthrop Eagles finished with a moribund 4-18 record in the Carver Central League, and were outscored by a total of 20-4 in two defeats against El Tigre this season. But after a 15-0 loss to Arlington on July 13th, they caught fire-going 8-2 since-and are headed to State after hammering Minnesota Lake 13-2 in loser's bracket play Thursday night. It is a remarkable story and the Tigers turned out to be just another chapter in their book.

So as most seasons go, another ends falling short of the players' self-set lofty expectations-i.e., a trip to the State Tournament. With each passing year one can't help but cherish the Tiger teams of a decade-plus ago, with five straight trips to the tournament and the whole ball of wax in '94 (the Class 'C' State championship)-especially with the year-to-year uncertainty of who will return.

Team Tigertown finished 17-17, a decent mark considering they dug out of a 4-10 hole around the midway point. That means just another strong stretch-run (.650 clip) for the Tigers under the "spin the bottle" managerial tactics of skipper Kruschke. Heck, let's bust into the annual "Season in Review" right now: Beautiful Prairie started in usual fashion, losing four straight before righting the ship with as many wins. Then a little ol' six-game skid-their longest in several years-put the season in seeming peril. But a seven-game win streak put this .500 ship back on course, as the Tigers pinged and ponged their way through the rest of the regular season.

Kruschke teaches Creighton about "The Tiger Way"

The Big Grrr opened playoff action with a sound 8-3 victory over the Rob Wagener-less Waconia Lakers, then bested Le Sueur to secure a Region 4C birth. A 2-1 loss to those same Braves determined a #2 seed and a trip to Minnesota Lake, which resulted in a wretched 4-3, extra-inning loss. After eliminating Le Sueur, the aforementioned Winthrop Lumber Company closed Belle Plaine's campaign, two wins short of State.

The team's batting average was a paltry .255, while the ERA a respectable 3.52-respectively, their worst numbers in at least five years, likely longer. Now for everybody's favorite section, the individual accomplishments: Pat Schultz finished cooler than a cucumber (just kidding) but took batting honors with a .358 average; Dan Huber the coveted ERA title at 2.28 in 71 innings pitched. Shane Hofmann recorded a team-high six wins and Jeff Witt was Ruthian while clubbing half the team's homers (uh, that would be two of our four). The rest of the awards and honors will be handed out at the team's season-ending party, an event always rich in pomp and circumstance.

Contrary to the Tigers' body language and behavior in the final game, they are looking forward to whatever the 2004 campaign brings and are grateful to their supporters throughout 2003. Surely the natives will be pounding for a Kevin McHale-like offseason here in Tigerville, if for no other reason than if a + b doesn't equal c, then it must be time to alter the formula. Belle Plaine will host the Class 'C' State Tournament next with Jordan (http://www.jordanbrewers.com), so it should be an exciting and memorable season.

BP 3 vs. Winthrop 10, at Arlington (Tuesday, August 5th * REGION 4C Loser's Bracket)

Being full aware of Winthrop's previously mentioned numerics, Belle Plaine entered Tuesday's game confident and curious. "Who are these guys?" and "Is the 40-year old catcher playing again?" were batting-cage fodder.

With Dan Huber having thrown 151 pitches six days earlier and Shane Hofmann having thrown just two days before, the call went out to the veteran "ace in the hole" Mike Murphy. Winthrop answered with their reported-ace, Ben Melius. (By the way, I love it when manager's sons start big games, a la Tiger draftee Josh Brandenburg.)

Early on, it looked like it would be a slugfest, as after three-and-a-half, the Eagles led 6-3. Belle Plaine took their only lead of the game at 2-1 in the second, when Zip Zellmann delivered a an RBI single to left, following a Dan Weldon sacrifice fly. But the Winthrop attack soon overwhelmed Murphy, who left with one out in the third. (A potential double-play grounder that was booted also didn't help.)

Dan Huber was summoned from second base, as the Tigers could no longer play for tomorrow. However, after just fifteen pitches (and three hits and a walk), Huber's arm was not cooperating and in came Zip Zellmann. "Zipquest" evaded further fourth inning problems, but was tagged for three tallies in the fifth and things were officially getting out of hand.

The Tigers tested the language-policy of the men in blue and found it was still in effect for playoffs. Quite honestly, a full-handful of close calls all went against our lads. For Channel 9 News, I'm Tom Lyden.

As the game wore on, the scoreboard defied the Tigers belief that they would get to Melius, who, despite zero strikeouts, took advantage of a defense that made several stellar plays behind him. Befitting the Tigers fortune on this night, they loaded the bases with one out in the eighth only to see Jeff Miller ground into a 1-2-3 double play. Two more men reached scoring position in the ninth, but another "enie, menie, minie, yer out!" call sent the Tiger rookies to bagging the equipment for one final time.

For everything Tigers, access their web page at http://webhome.crk.umn.edu/sid/townteam/index.htm. And no, Nick Kornder does not get a nickel every time someone visits the site! Although he would be 75 cents richer right now if that was indeed the case.

This page was created and maintained by Nick Kornder, Sports Information Director at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. The views and ideas on this page are that of the author, and not those of the University of Minnesota.