After losing three straight, El Tigre reversed fortunes and took a pair this weekend—toppling Arlington 11-0 on Friday night, then Waconia 6-2 on Sunday. Belle Plaine is 8-2 in Carver Central play, and has a 2.5 game cushion over Waconia in the AL Central I mean CCL-White, as the Lakers are 5-4. Team Tigertown’s overall mark is 9-5.
The boys have a week off over the 4 th of July holiday period before firing up for the stretch drive, beginning on Tuesday, July 6 th as the Chaska Cubs pay a visit—first pitch 7:30pm, as per usual.
Arlington 0 @ Belle Plaine 11 (Friday, June 25 th – 7 innings)
Kids, gather around the phonograph as old uncle Krusch spins the tale of The Old Red Helmet. Last year upon their first visit to Arlington, the Tigers beat the A’s and on their way out of the famous party shack, permanently borrowed a beat-up helmet. Belle Plaine informed the Arlingtons that they would have to beat the Tigers to get it back. They did not do so in last year’s 2 nd matchup, so Friday’s game was the third “Battle for The Old Red Helmet.”
Current BPHS head coach Dave “Superman” Kreft toed the slab for the villains, while the lovable teddy bear Shane “Worst Best Man’s Speech Ever” Hofmann drew the same assignment for the home team. Three consecutive hits to start the 2 nd led to two Tiger runs, and two more would be added in the third for a 4-0 lead.
Through five innings, Hofmann was dealing with razor-like efficiency; no more than four men batted in any inning. He would finish after six innings and 68 pitches. It seems Superman may have had a kryptonite hot dog as Belle Plaine tallied three more in the bottom of the fifth, taking a commanding 7-0 advantage.
In the sixth, the Big Grrr smelled blood, scoring one and loading the bases with two outs when Pat Schultz delivered a bases-clearing triple. That’s right, a triple for Hot Wheels Schultz.
In the seventh, Tiger Park faithful wiped their eyes and did a double-take toward the mound. The prodigal son Mike Murphy had returned! He worked a 1-2-3-4-5 seventh to close things out. They players feasted on a fatted calf in Murph’s honor immediately following the proceedings. More importantly, the Red Helmet secured a spot in the Tiger dufflebag at least until the rematch on July 11 th.
BP 6 @ Waconia 2 (Sunday, June 27 th)
Due to a uniform number retirement ceremony, this duel for CCL-White supremacy kicked off at noon. Having set his mental alarm clock the night before, Dan Huber found his way to the hill and opposed milk carton prospect and former Tiger draftee, Travis Van Doren.
Tigertown’s potent lineup—hitting .316 entering the game—struck first when Jeff Witt plated Dan Weldon on an RBI single. Belle Plaine snagged three more in the fourth, thanks in large part to some bottom-of-the-order production. Ryan Witt, now hitting .357 out of the 8 th spot, stroked a one-out RBI single. Jake Creighton then knocked him in for a 4-0 bulge.
The Lakers scratched Huber for a run in the bottom of the fourth when Dan Chrest smoked a run-scoring double to the centerfield wall. However, the fourth would be the only inning of the first eight that Huber faced more than four men, and he carried a two-hitter into the ninth. El Tigre held a 6-1 by that point after plating single runs in the fifth and seventh.
Waconia had a run in and loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, when Huber put the cherry on this one by striking out his eighth batter of the game. Huber moved to 2-0 on the year and lowered the staff ERA to a dead-ball era mark of 2.66.
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.