--by Jeff Witt
The Tiger Town Team hosted their annual “Tigertown Classic” this weekend, and ended up splitting two games by beating Rockford on Saturday morning and then getting upended by New Germany on Sunday morning in 11 innings. The Tigers were slated to open the weekend on Friday night, but as always, Mother Nature has the final say in what goes on, and she cancelled both of Friday Nights games, which pushed the opening round games to Saturday Morning. With the weather cooperating for the remainder of the weekend, six games were played on Saturday, and three were played on Sunday, with the Championship being mysteriously cancelled, due to the Mayer Blazers having a conflict with the 5:45 start time in order to play a Sunday Night League game. Anyways, Union Hill took home the Consolation trophy, with New Germany and Mayer splitting up Championship trophy.
All in all, the weekend was a success, and was a precursor to the upcoming State Tournament, which will be played at Tiger Park come late August.
Most of the Tiger 25 had to wake up before the crack of dawn for this 9 o’clock game, with the originally scheduled Friday Night getting cancelled and rescheduled. Shane Hofmann was handed the ball for the Tigers, and he performed better than ever. Mr. Ace was on the top of his game as he allowed a measly three hits to Rockford, striking out seven and walking one. After a one-out hit in the third, Hofmann retired 14 of the next 15 batters to close out the game.
The Tigers started the scoring in the home half of the first with “Captain” Trace Selly reaching on an error. Pat Schultz followed by getting hit by a pitch, and “Mr. Euchre” Pat Moriarty singled in Selly. An errant throw allowed Schultz to score on the play, and the Tigers had a two run lead. After a silent second inning, Selly led off the third with a single. A Schultz single put runners on first and third. As Schultz stole second, Rockford got Selly hung up in a hot box between third and home, but a high throw allowed Selly to slide under the tag, and the Tigers were now up 3-0.
With the cruise set the rest of the way, the Tigers added an insurance run in the fifth, thanks to a two-out double by scorching hot Jake Creighton. Hofmann did what he does best, and the Tigers walked away with a 4-0 win, and a ticket to play the winner of New Germany and Union Hill in the semi-finals.
New Germany 7 Belle Plaine 5 (11 innings)
This game was one for the ages, as the seven inning scheduled game turned into an 11-inning marathon, as the dehydrated Tigers fought and clawed but could never plate the winning run in the extra frames. New Germany scored twice in the eleventh inning, and the Tigers hopes faded into the sunset as they went scoreless in their half.
Belle Plaine started the scoring in the contest with a run in the first. Selly started things again with a two-out double, Schultz singled, and Moriarty singled in Selly to give El Tigre a 1-0 lead. New Germany answered back with four runs off of Tiger starter “Hulkamania” Dan Huber. A walk and four hits gave the Dutchmen a 4-1 lead. Silent until the fifth, the Tiger bats woke up and erupted for four of their own. Adam Hoffman lead off the inning with a “Muehly-Style” hit. Creighton walked to put two men on, and two batters later, Dan Weldon singled in Hoffman. Selly singled to load the bases, and a New Germany balk moved everyone up a base, plating Creighton. “Mr Big” Pat Schultz then doubled to center, plating Weldon and Selly, to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.
Both teams went scoreless until the top of the seventh when a two out single by famed Tiger killer Gus Wischnack plated his brother Tony and tied the game up at 5. Both teams had plenty of chances to score in the extra frames, but New Germany broke through with 2 in the eleventh. A single, walk, and a bloop accounted for the first run, while a fly ball plated another.
Belle Plaine had the meat of the order up in the bottom half, but a Selly single was negated by a double play. Moriarty flew out deep to right for the third out, and the Tigers championship hopes were ended.
Huber started for the Hometowners, going six innings and giving up four runs. Jonny Schulz then came in and pitched 2 scoreless innings, and Mike Schultz finished up the game, throwing the last three innings and picking up the loss.
As for upcoming games, The Tigers will host Le Sueur on Thursday, 7:30pm, and Jordan on Sunday, 6:00pm.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Tigertown Classic was a success again, and many thanks go out to all the players, fans, and umpires. But the biggest pat on the back goes out to the volunteers, who put in many man and woman hours, making sure all of the conditions were perfect for the weekend.
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.