Tigers Finish 9-8 in CCL as Playoffs Arrive (--by Brett Kruschke)
The lads of Tigertown experienced it all over “BBQ Days Week,” the final week of the regular season. Belle Plaine saw 20+ runs put up against them for the second time in four days Thursday at Mankato, but sandwiched that with a dramatic 4-1 win at Winthrop and a 14-4 drubbing of Le Sueur, to finish 9-8 in the Carver Central League. Belle Plaine’s overall mark is 14-18.
The question is: which is the real Tigers team? We are about to find out, as the playoffs open Friday, when the 2 nd-seeded locals host # 3-seed Brownton, at 7:30 pm. El Tigre has beat the Bruins twice this year, 9-3 and 11-6, but this will be the only one that truly matters. To the victor goes an appearance in Tuesday’s semi-final game, while the loser must toil through the loser’s bracket starting Sunday, and win three straight to advance to Regions.
See the accompanying playoff bracket for all scenarios; the format is double-elimination. The high seed is the home team, unless the lower seed has had less home game(s) for games 3, 5, and 7. Game 8 is at the undefeated team.
The CCL-White Championship will be played on Saturday, July 30, and Region 4C play will take place on August 6-7, 13-14, with all games at Belle Plaine. Come out and support your Tigertown Tigers! Sing it with me now: And we can build this thing together, stand in stone forever, nothing’s gonna stop us now…
Tigers 4 @ Winthrop 1 (Tuesday, July 12)
| 7/12/05 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| Belle Plaine | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
2 |
| Winthrop | 0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
Dan Huber was a one-man wrecking crew, leading the Tigers to a 4-1 victory at Winthrop. Huber threw a complete-game six-hitter, and collected four of the team's eight hits, including a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth. Huber drove in all four Tiger runs on the night.
Huber outdueled Winthrop's pious sidewinder, Ben Melius, who also went the distance for the Eagles. Belle Plaine scored their first run in the first, then did not strike again until the last moment in the ninth.
Tigers 0 @ Mankato 21 (Thursday, July 14 – 7 innings)
| 7/14/05 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| Belle Plaine | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| Mankato | 7 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
X |
0 |
0 |
21 |
19 |
3 |
If Ron Burgundy was to describe the Mankato Twins, he might say, “They looked good – I mean, really good.”
I know I said just last week we’d never see another game like the 20-5 loss to St. Peter, but this one really wasn’t. The Tigers had ten errors in that game and lost to an opponent of similar caliber; against Mankato, our boys had only two errors but were outmatched by one of the finer clubs in Class ‘B’ baseball, a team filled (perhaps entirely?) with Mankato State Mavericks. Nice scheduling, Kruschke.
The Mavericks moved the ball quickly and struck for a first-quarter touchdown against Zip Zellmann, and added a chip-shot field goal in the second for an early 10-0 lead. Backup quarterback Jonny Schulz gave up five in the third, made a goal-line stand in the fourth, then gave up another touchdown in the fifth (the PAT was no good) to make it 21-0 at the half.
It got so bad that even Spurgeon Wynn (yours truly) came on for the first time since 2001, a shocking scoreless inning although the requisite couple of pitches were thrown behind batters, just for old time’s sake.
Nervous about the Tigers three previous singles, Mankato brought ex-Pittsburgh Pirate farmhand Chris Rupert in to preserve the 21-0 lead. It was not quite a save situation, but Rupert did fan all six men he faced.
Brad Connolly was the Tiger’s player of the game, getting his first hit of the season, simply taking the ball to right-field as he has been taught. Already a student at Minnesota State, Mankato, this student of the game may just walk-on this fall.
| Belle Plaine TIGERS (13-18, 8-8) | ||||||
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
BB |
Avg. |
|
| Hofmann, cf-ss | 3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.179 |
| Kreft, dh | 2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.196 |
| J. Schulz, 3b-p | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.261 |
| Kruschke, p | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
| Dhaene, ss | 2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.327 |
| Schuneman, cf | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.149 |
| P. Schultz, c | 3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.352 |
| Huber, 2b | 2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.291 |
| M. Schultz, 2b | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
| R. Witt, 1b-3b | 2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.186 |
| Thiesfeldt, 3b | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.106 |
| Zellmann, p-1b | 3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.225 |
| Feldt, rf | 3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.200 |
| Connolly, lf | 2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.048 |
| TOTALS | 26 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
.115 |
| 2B, 3B, HR, HBP – none. SB – Dhaene. | ||||||
| Pitcher | IP |
H |
R/ER |
BB/K |
NP |
ERA |
| Zellmann (L, 0-1) | 2.0 |
7 |
10/10 |
4/1 |
72 |
10.80 |
| J. Schulz | 3.0 |
11 |
11/8 |
1/1 |
84 |
6.57 |
| Kruschke | 1.0 |
1 |
0/0 |
0/1 |
16 |
0.00 |
Tigers 14 @ Le Sueur 4 (Sunday, July 17)
| 7/17/05 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| Belle Plaine | 1 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
14 |
15 |
3 |
| Le Sueur | 2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
Playing on BBQ Days weekend already provides an interesting dynamic, and the weather was 98 and sultry. But the real story of the game was former Braves Mike Dhaene and Scott Schaffler, facing their old mates for the first time, in their old stomping grounds, no less. The two combined to go 5-for-11 with three runs and three RBI.
Shane Hofmann started on the mound and went six, finally getting back to form while allowing four hits and three runs (one earned). He left with a 10-3 lead, as the Tiger bats struck early and often off starter Darren Culbert.
El Tigre posted five in the third and four in the fourth, the highlight of the barrage being a two-run circuit clout by Pat Schultz. The long ball snapped an 0-for-15 streak for Schultz, who hadn’t got a hit since asking for Jenny Ollhoff’s hand in marriage. Before that, “our Patrick” was 7 for his last 7, and 9 of his last 10. The things we do for love!
Dave Kreft threw two hitless innings as a playoff tune-up, before the Tigers added four more in the ninth for good measure. Ryan Witt allowed a run in the ninth, but it was unearned (just ask him) so his ERA remains perfect heading into the postseason. Uh-oh.
Peter Schuneman and Dave Feldt were valuable cogs in the Tiger effort, combining to go 5-for-8 with five RBIs out of the 7 th and 8 th slots in the order. That is Nike sweatshop-like productivity.
| Belle Plaine TIGERS (14-18, 9-8) | ||||||
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
BB |
Avg. |
|
| Huber, cf | 4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
.289 |
| Kreft, 3b-p | 4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.183 |
| Connolly, ph | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.046 |
| J. Schulz, ph-3b | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
| Dhaene, ss | 6 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
.337 |
| P. Schultz, c-1b | 5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
.355 |
| Schaffler, 1b-c | 5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
.294 |
| Witt, dh-3b-p | 4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.189 |
| S. Hofmann, p | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.179 |
| Kruschke, ph | 0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
| Schuneman, lf | 4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.196 |
| Feldt, rf | 3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
.261 |
| Hoffman, 2b | 5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
.227 |
| TOTALS | 42 |
14 |
15 |
12 |
5 |
.357 |
| 2B –Dhaene. 3B – none. HR – P. Schultz. | ||||||
| HBP –Feldt. SB – Huber, Schaffler, Witt. | ||||||
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
R/ER |
BB/K |
NP |
ERA |
| Hofmann (W, 1-4) | 6.0 |
4 |
3/1 |
2/3 |
86 |
4.4 |
| Kreft | 2.0 |
0 |
0/0 |
1/0 |
25 |
1.77 |
| Witt | 1.0 |
0 |
1/0 |
2/2 |
18 |
0 |
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.