--By Brett Kruschke
Hey! Alright now fellas… what’s cooler than being cool? ICE COLD! Alright, alright… and what’s colder than ice cold? THE TIGER BATS!! (That’s not) alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright! As confusing as this reference was, one thing is for sure: the Tiger bats have been on their baddest behavior for the last half of the season, and are officially a point of concern.
Gaylord veteran Brian Rodning went the distance in a 4-2 victory over Belle Plaine on Thursday night at Gaylord, limiting the Tigers to six hits while walking only one and striking out ten. The loss puts the locals at 10-4 in CCL play, 11-7 overall. Tigertown’s team average was .316 five games ago, but has dropped to .291 after a 35-for-161 spell (.217). Through Belle Plaine’s first eight games, they totaled 82 runs, for an average of 10.25 per game. Over the last ten, the Tiger Choo-Choo has plated a mere 41 runs. The way this slump is going, it looks like we may need to sacrifice a live rooster yet.
The Chatfield Warriors will try to right the ship with last night’s game at St. Peter, and 7:30pm home contests tonight and Thursday against Delano and Chaska, respectively, to conclude the regular season.
Belle Plaine will open the CCL-White playoffs at home on Monday night as the #1 seed, 7:30pm, against Winthrop. On Wednesday (7:30pm), El Tigre will face either Arlington or Waconia (note: Waconia does not have lights) at a site to be determined; it could also be a home game. Following games—depending on outcome—could be Friday (7:30pm), with the CCL-White Championship on Saturday at 6:00pm. Please see the playoff bracket accompanying this story, and check www.bptigertown.com for updates and game locations.
Region 4C action—should the Tigers qualify—begins Friday, August 6th.
BP 2 @ Gaylord 4 (Thursday, July 15)
As mentioned above, Brian Rodning was the story on the hill. Making about his 1,000 th consecutive appearance against the Tigers, Rodning worked ahead of hitters and had his good forkball going. Shane Hofmann, however, brought his tidy little 7-1 record into the game, and led 2-0 heading to the bottom of three.
Leading off the first and third innings for the Tigers—and coming around to score each time after steals of second—was Dan Huber. In the bottom of the third, the Islanders snared a run and then two more in the fourth off Hofmann.
As the game wore on, Rodning settled into a groove and recorded seven of the last fifteen outs via strikeout. If you remember last week’s Herald, that is eerily similar to the Victoria game and right-hander Chad Everett.
In the eighth and the score 4-2 Islanders, Mike Schultz relieved Dave Feldt with the bases loaded and one out, and took just one pitch to induce a 1-2-3 inning ending double- play. However, Rodning had a 1-2-3 of his own in mind—the ninth inning—and the Tigers were done for.
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.