--By Brett Kruschke
Team Tigertown dropped a home game Friday to Mayer, 6-3, before outlasting Brownton in 13 innings on Sunday, 13-7. The game included a rain delay and lasted four and a half hours, or almost as long as a Jeff Witt at-bat. Up next for the Tigers is a pair of league games: at home against Chaska on Friday night (7:30 pm), and on the road at Shakopee—special 1:00 pm start time—this Sunday.
One State Tournament note: if you know any person or business that might be interested in advertising in the State Tournament program, please contact Dave Hartmann or Shane Hofmann, or any Belle Plaine Baseball Association board member.
Finally, perhaps you’ve noticed the improvements being made at Tiger Park—if you’d like to lend assistance, please either talk to a board member or just show up. Currently we’re working most Saturday mornings from about 9:00am – noon range. Thank you!
Mayer 6 @ BP 3 (Friday, May 14)
Belle Plaine started quickly as their first two batters, Dan Huber and Adam Hoffman, reached and scored. But from that point on, only a Dan Weldon homer would interrupt what turned out to be donut holes the rest of the way out.
Shane Hofmann started on the mound and worked his usual “just enough to qualify” five innings. He turned a 3-2 lead over to Mikey Schultz and the bullpen, who promptly handed it back to the Blazers thanks to three runs (one earned) in the sixth. Mayer added one more in the eighth for good measure.
The Tiger 25 scratched only five safeties all night, but was able to unload the bench midway through the game to get our newer Tigers some exposure. Those exposed were Ryan Creighton, Jonny “Spellcheck” Schulz, Cody Hiles, Tim Schuster, and Brad Connolly, all rookies, as well as the “Sophomore Trouble” quadrant of James “Guitar” Thomason, Mike Schultz, Dave Feldt, and Ryan Witt. What I’m trying to tell you is the Tigers are young—and not pretty—but “there’s a few potential all-stars in there.”
BP 13 @ Brownton 7 (13 innings—Sunday, May 16)
In a managerial matchup that had to be pleasing for the fans, this one was wild, wooly, slow and ugly but more importantly a “just win baby,” as Sid Hartman oft repeats the famous Al Davis line.
Belle Plaine produced base runners throughout the early going, but thanks to wretched baserunning, found themselves scoreless after five. Brownton touched up starter Dan Huber for two runs in his three innings, before adding two more in the fourth off Jon Schulz to hold a 4-2 lead after five.
The Tiger Train got rolling in the sixth, plating two. A Bruin run in the seventh made it 5-2. That’s when the rain came and, so did the Tigers, batting eleven and plating five while playing mostly through a steady downpour. The Tiger rally “featured” four walks and two hit batsmen. It was no fluke—Brownton plunked five Tigertown Growlers on the day. You know beanball magnet Brad Connolly had to be nervous, even from the bench.
Yet you got the feeling this game would not finish quietly, and it didn’t. The Bruins came back with two in the eighth to tie it, and nearly ended it in the eleventh. That’s when Mike Schultz struck out Brownton’s 5’5” leadoff hitter, Jake Maurer, on a full count with the bases loaded.
After having ten in a row retired at one point, the Ti-grrr bats posted one more big inning, a six-spot in the thirteenth that sent ten to the plate. Mike Schultz finished things off, sealing his first win of the year after taking the loss Friday. Schultz threw 2 2/3 hitless innings.
The Tigers stole five bags—including two double-steals of 2nd and 3rd—which was one more than they’d totaled their first four games combined. And the other final zinger for this ballgame—the Tigers only had one extra-base hit (a Ryan Witt double) among their 17 hits.
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.