Good Timing as Tigertown Classic Arrives (--by Brett Kruschke)
June 8th, 2005
This is the heart of the baseball season – summer has finally arrived, a few home game promotions coming up, and the Tigertown Classic is on tap. Right in sync, Belle Plaine has started to play better baseball – losing a tight, 4-3 decision at Chaska; then an 11-1 pounding of Winthrop, snapping a five-game losing streak and bumping the Tigers to 2-4 in CCL play (3-9 overall). Saturday’s game at New Munich was rained out, but provided some much needed team bonding for the boys of Tigerville.
This Friday, two forces come together: the Tigertown Classic and “All-You-Can-Eat” Pork Burger Night. The Tigers open things up against Freeport (formerly Melrose) at 6:30pm, while Union Hill and Norwood will begin Game 2 at approximately 8:30pm. All the while, you are free to gorge yourself on pork burgers for $5, until the last out of the night is recorded.
The 7 th annual “Classic” features the same format as last year: two games Friday, five games Saturday, and three games Sunday, including the championship at 3:30pm. The field is probably the finest this tournament has assembled; there are a bevy of state tournament-caliber teams, highlighted by last year’s Class ‘C’ state champions, the Blue Earth Pirates.
The other four teams debuting Saturday will be Lonsdale and Marshall, Watkins and Blue Earth. See tournament bracket accompanying article for full details; this information is also available at www.bptigertown.com.
Before the dust settles from the weekend, El Tigre will host league-mate St. Peter on Tuesday night at 7:30pm. It will be “Dollar-A-Foul Ball Night” for kids age 12 and under, a nice inflationary bump from the usual quarter received for a returned foul ball. Little Leaguers are encouraged to wear their uniform up to the park, and as always, there is no admission charge for kids of this age bracket. Outrace – or strategically outplace – your foul ball competition, and bring the ball to the concession stand for a one-dollar bill, all night long.
BP 3 @ Chaska 4 (Thursday, June 2)
| 6/2/05 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| Belle Plaine (2-9) | 1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
1 |
| Chaska | 1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
X |
4 |
8 |
1 |
The odds didn’t look good as the Tigers treaded into the lion’s den that is the home of the Chaska Cubs. Due to injuries and what have you, the local Grr had just three healthy bodies on the bench. Jonny Schulz got the nod on the hill, entering with an 0-3 record.
Dan “Night at the Roxbury” Huber led off with a single and stole second, coming home to score on an RBI single from Pat Schultz. Chaska leadoff star Chris Brown answered his cohort in exact fashion – singling, stealing second, and scoring on Cass Mosley’s RBI single.
And so it went – Chaska took a 2-1 lead in the third, only to see the Tigers answer in the fourth. El Tigro went ahead in the fifth, while the Cubs tied it up at three in the sixth.
Jonny Schulz worked seven solid innings, then walked the leadoff batter, Eric Welter, in the eighth. Huber came in to relieve, and recorded an out on a sacrifice bunt. Huber then recorded a strikeout of catcher Cory Poppitz, and two were gone. Speedy Chris Brown grounded one to short, but in his haste, reliable Mike Dhaene lost the handle on the ball and then had to rush his throw. First-sacker Zip Zellmann went high and came down with it, but the ball was knocked loose instantaneously, allowing the go-ahead run to score all the way from second base.
Mike “Foot Wedge” Schultz was plunked with two outs, to give the Tigers a chance, but Ryan Seifert (recent AAA pitcher with the Colorado Rockies) came in to retire Huber, who popped up to first for the final out.
Winthrop 1 @ BP 11 (Sunday, June 5 – 7 innings)
| 6/5/05 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| Winthrop | 0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
| Belle Plaine (3-9, 2-4) | 0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
4 |
X |
11 |
12 |
1 |
Winthrop came into Sunday night’s game at Tiger Park with a 1-8 record, but the home team wasn’t buying it. That is a similar backdrop to how the Eagles have entered the playoffs the last few years, both times only to get hot and dispatch the Tigers accordingly.
Dave Kreft, the man in charge of the town team feeder program at BPHS, drew the starting assignment on the hill. He was buoyed by one of the Tigers most complete lineups to date, meaning Madison, WI resident and defensive star, Adam Hoffman, was present and in place at second base.
Things looked eerily familiar when Winthrop broke up a scoreless game in the fourth, making it 1-0 and threatening for more. But a dandy 6-4-3 double play – from Dhaene to Hoffman to Zip Zellmann – helped the Tigers escape further trouble.
The double play may have been a pick-me-up, as the Tigers roared to a seven-run fourth inning, chasing starter Jesse Erdal and batting eleven men in the process. Team Tigertown got it going again in the sixth, plating four before third base coach Brett “Dale Sveum” Kruschke waived in Kreft, where he was throw out by only about 50 feet, ending the rally.
Kreft dusted himself off and finished the five-hitter, the game ending early via the ten-run rule. The krefty I mean crafty veteran has allowed only three earned runs in 27 innings this year, good for a 1.00 ERA. He’s also a really neat guy, and when he plunks other batters, he totally doesn’t mean for it to hurt.
Perhaps the “most important thing” (ala ESPN’s Baseball Tonight) is that after having back-to-back four error games, the Tiger defense has tightened up and posted just one each game, over the last two.
This page was created and maintained by Nick Kornder, Sports Information Director at Northern State University. The views and ideas on this page are that of the author, and not those of Northern State University.