OFFICIALLY SLUMPING

It would probably take a Jules Verne-like effort to pretty-up this week’s pig – the Tigers lost three more and have seen their losing streak extend to five, including eight of the last ten. All of the losses were of the Carver Central variety, dropping Belle Plaine to 4-7 in the CCL-Red, and 7-12 overall. To those of you keeping score at home: that’s not good.

Shakopee walked past the Tigre Train 16-9 last Tuesday, in what Pat Schultz called, “the longest game I’ve ever caught.” On Wednesday, things got worse as the Carver Black Sox spanked the Tigers 7-1 on our own home turf. To finish off the trifecta, the Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the ninth at division-leading Waconia on Sunday, only to watch the Lakers rally for two runs and a 4-3 win.

Last night, the Tigers hosted Le Sueur, in a chance to shake the skid. Tomorrow night, the homestand continues as Plato visits at 7:30 pm for a non-league game. This will be the Tigers final game for a week as they break for the 4 th of July, so as Mean Jean Okerlund used to say, “Don’t you dare miss it!”

One note: the suspended game at Winthrop on June 6th will be made up on Sunday, July 9th, 6:00 pm at Winthrop. The Tigers were trailing 4-2 with one out in the seventh, when a foul ball broke the umpire’s collarbone. Play will be continued where it left off. Meanwhile, the collarbone continues to ache.

And finally, a correction: two weeks ago in this space, it said that Union Hill’s (and former Tiger) Jeff Bruder went 0-for-the-tournament. It has since been brought to our attention that he was at least 1-for-the-tournament (he had a home run), according to a source “very close” to the right-handed slugger. We would also like to take this moment to mention that Bruder did not start on the mound all weekend, due to the fact he could only throw 3 out of 10 strikes during pre-game warmups.

6/20/06	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Belle Plaine	2	0	0	3	1	2	1	0	0	9	12	2
Shakopee	3	0	0	0	3	8	2	0	X	16	14	4

Belle Plaine led 8-6 after 5 ½, and felt pretty good about getting out of the land of Powder Blue with a victory. Then, the bottom of the sixth happened. Parents – prepare to shield your children.

The Tigers threw 193 pitches on the night, with SEVENTY-ONE(!) of those coming in the merciless sixth inning, as Shakopee put up the dreaded snow-man (eight runs).  The Indians did their sixth inning damage on only two hits – both singles – but drew a coma-inducing eight walks.  For the game, the Indians coerced 16 bases on balls.  BALL, BALL, BALL. If you remember the old Brad Radke commercials, there was a literal conga line of Shakopee baserunners going around the bases.  It was that stinking ugly. 

Mike Schultz started and went five, and was relieved by Ben Jass, Dave Kreft, and Jonny Schulz, all of whom pitched in the dreaded sixth.  Jass was saddled with the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year. 

Offensively, the T-Train wasted 12 hits, led by Nate Hartmann's heroic 4-for-5 effort.  Peter Schuneman also chipped in with two safeties from the nine-hole.

Belle Plaine TIGERS (7-10, 4-5)
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	Avg.
Volek, cf	3	1	1	0	1	.163
N. Selly, ph	1	0	0	0	0	.364
Lawson, ss	4	1	0	0	1	.227
Feldt, ph	1	0	0	0	0	.212
P. Schultz, c	5	2	2	1	0	.323
Kruschke, ph	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Hartmann, 3b-1b	5	2	4	2	0	.411
S. Hofmann, dh-rf	4	0	1	1	0	.290
Mi. Schultz, p	0	0	0	0	0	.000
R. Witt, rf-1b	4	0	1	1	0	.235
R. Dressen, ph-3b	1	0	1	0	0	.167
Kreft, 1b-p	2	1	0	1	1	.108
Lyons, 2b	0	0	0	0	0	.286
J. Schulz, p	1	0	0	0	0	.267
Jass, 2b-p-2b	3	1	0	0	1	.226
Connolly, ph	1	0	0	0	0	.111
Schuneman, lf	4	1	2	0	0	.194
Schuster, ph	1	0	0	0	0	.286
TOTALS	41	9	12	6	4	.293
2B – Hartmann. 3B – none. HR – none.
SAC – Volek. HBP – S. Hofmann, Kreft. SB – Kreft.
Pitcher	IP	H	R/ER	BB/K	NP	ERA
Mi. Schultz	5	7	6/5	6/0	98	2.73
Jass (L, 1-1)	0	3	5/5	2/0	21	11.00
Kreft	0.1	0	3/3	4/0	39	4.94
J. Schulz	2.2	4	2/2	3/2	35	4.05

 

6/21/06	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Carver	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	1	0	7	16	2
Belle Plaine	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	9	4

Like Jeff Witt once said to Waconia, “You’ve got a good core.” The Black Sox are improving – as evidenced by a 10-5 win over Jordan earlier this year – but not even the Tigers could have predicted a 7-1 drubbing on their home field. Worse yet, this completed the “Carver sweep” for the first time in recent memory. Belle Plaine lost 5-4 at Caver on May 21 st, on a bunt in the ninth.

Shane Hofmann started and took the loss for Judge Chatfield, “scattering” 16 hits over 7.2 innings. The bullpen was thin on this evening, so Hofmann was hung out to dry a little longer than one might normally be.

Not that it mattered with Carver’s Joe Camel I mean Campbell on the hill. The crafty veteran lefty went the distance, and his only run was unearned. Several times the locals loaded the bases, but each time Campbell dug deep into his bag of tricks to quell the Tiger uprisings.

Offensively, Pat Schultz led the way with a 3-for-5 effort, while Ryan Witt and Matt Schultz each tallied two knocks.

Belle Plaine TIGERS (7-11, 4-6)
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	Avg.
Schuster, lf	5	0	1	0	0	.273
Lawson, ss-p	4	0	1	1	1	.231
P. Schultz, c	5	0	3	0	0	.343
Hartmann, 3b	5	0	0	0	0	.377
S. Hofmann, p	3	0	0	0	0	.268
P. Dressen, ss	1	0	0	0	0	.400
R. Witt, 1b	3	0	2	0	1	.270
Ma. Schultz, dh	4	1	2	0	0	.231
Lyons, 2b	0	0	0	0	0	.286
Volek, cf	3	0	0	0	0	.152
J. Schulz, ph	0	0	0	0	1	.267
Schuneman, rf	2	0	0	0	1	.184
N. Selly, ph	1	0	0	0	0	.333
TOTALS	36	1	9	1	4	.250
2B – R. Witt. 3B – none. HR – none.
HBP – none. SB –Matt Schultz.
Pitcher	IP	H	R/ER	BB/K	NP	ERA
S. Hofmann (L, 2-3)	7.2	16	7/5	2/4	132	2.79
Lawson	1.1	0	0/0	1/0	26	0.00

 

6/25/06	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Belle Plaine	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	6	1
Waconia	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	12	5

Belle Plaine’s first two batters of the game drew walks and scored off Travis Van Doren, but a pair of strikeouts with men in scoring position thwarted what could have been a larger rally. This sequence loomed large as the game wore on, and these two foes were tied at two after eight.

In the ninth, Shane Hofmann delivered an RBI single to score Dave Feldt, who had drawn a leadoff walk. Would it hold up?

Starter Mike Schultz was still around to find out. In short, a menagerie of events unfolded – none kind to the Tigers – and Waconia had stolen the game back, winning 4-3 on a one-out single by Josh Brandenberg. In the losing cause, Schultz fanned an impressive eight batters.

Ryan Witt finally shed the Sombrero, which belongs to the last person to strike out three games in a row. His streak is believed to be the second-longest in Tiger history, since Pat Moriarty carried it for a lengthy run a few years ago. Jonny Schulz is the new man in black.

Belle Plaine TIGERS (7-12, 4-7)
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	Avg.
S. Hofmann, cf	4	1	2	1	1	.289
A. Hoffman, ss	4	1	1	0	1	.125
P. Schultz, c	4	0	1	0	0	.338
Hartmann, 3b	4	0	2	2	0	.385
Kruschke, pr	0	0	0	0	0	.000
R. Witt, 1b	2	0	0	0	0	.256
J. Schulz, dh	4	0	0	0	0	.235
Mi. Schultz, p	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jass, 2b	4	0	0	0	0	.200
Feldt, rf	3	1	0	0	1	.194
Schuneman, lf	3	0	0	0	0	.171
TOTALS	32	3	6	3	3	.188
2B – none. 3B – none. HR – none. HBP – none. SB –P. Schultz.
Pitcher	IP	H	R/ER	BB/K	NP	ERA
Mi. Schultz (L, 2-2)	8.1	12	4/3	3/8	133	2.83