First Weekend,of B & C, Ken Sargent, Class A Final

The first weekend of the State Tournament is over.  It was a good experience.  All three parks, Glencoe, Brownton and Hutchinson were in great shape.  With the perfect weather all went well. 

It was amazing to see how close every game was in Class B.  With the exception of Mankato beating up on Savage 11-0, no B team scored more than five runs.  Burnsville beat Moorhead 2-1, Sauk Rapids beat Austin 2-1 and Chaska beat Austin 2-0 rounding out the first round of games.  In the second round it was Savage 3-2 over Moorhead, Mankato 1-0 over Burnsville, Sauk Rapids 5-2 over Chaska and Miesville 5-4 over Austin.  There isn’t much difference in these eight teams and that makes for great games.

In the 16 games played in Class C, eight champions won and eight runners-up won.  Regions 1, 5, 11, and 14 all won both games (champions and runner-up) and regions 2, 6, 15, 16 all lost both games.  Some of the favorites—in my mind—that lost were Winsted, St. Patrick, Blue Earth, Dassel-Cokato, Hanska, Belle Plaine, Freeport and Sobieski.  That was half the field.  It is very hard to predict the winners in C.  The thing that shows most is that every team has at least one good pitcher.  

Sargent takes a licking, keeps on umping

I was at the Prior Lake Mudcats-Freeport game in Brownton on Saturday night.  In the eighth inning umpire Ken Sargent took a vicious foul ball off his right arm.  He spun around and gave out a little howl but after a minute or so, everything seemed to be OK and the game continued.  I noticed that he wasn’t raising his right arm when he called strikes like he usually did.  In fact when I looked again, he was protecting the arm and keeping it behind his back.  The game ended in the ninth with Freeport scoring one and making the final out on a grounder to short with a runner on third. Prior Lake won 5-4. 

“If it had gone extra innings, I wouldn’t have been able to umpire,” stated Sargent when I talked to him Wednesday morning.  He had in fact broken the radius bone in his right arm.  He asid that he was in pain, but decided to finish the game.  The Brownton Fire Department gave him a cold press and wrapped the arm along with a sling immediately after the game.  His partner, Henry Hentges drove his car to Henry’s home in Lonsdale and then Ken drove to the Northfield ER from there.  The ER doctor confirmed that the arm was broken. 

Ken will have surgery on Thursday, August 25^th.  The doctor will put in a plate and screws to help it heal.  Ken said that the doctor told him it was a clean break but too big to heal with just a cast.  He also noted that the doctor and ER people told him that the Brownton Fire Department did and exceptional job in helping with the initial treatment. 

Class A Championship

On Sunday I attended the Class A Championship game.  Stockmen’s defeated Lyon’s Pub 9-5 to claim the championship.  The game (and most of the tournament) was held at Haddox Field in Bloomington.   They have done a lot of work on the field and added a very nice grandstand with a pressbox.  There were about 250 people in attendance and it was a very spirited crowd.  The Class A people talked of having found a home in Bloomington and suggested that future tournaments would very likely be held at Haddox.  You can read a write-up of the game and view pictures by clicking on the story right above my blog.   

Here is the all-tournament team for Class A: 

Nick Bjerken  Stockmen’s

Zack Goodwin  Stockmen’s

Dan Miller   Stockmen’s

Chad Ogden  Stockmen’s

Nick Wineke  Stockmen’s

Jon Hurt  Lyon’s Pub

Billy Meister  Lyon’s Pub

Tim Mettert  Lyon’s Pub

Brandon Royce-Diop  Lyon’s Pub

Rob Schildgen  Lyon’s Pub

Dave Follmer  North End

Bud Lovas  North End

Tijl Vanderwege  North End

Joe Shallenberger  Minnetonka

Chris Urbain  Minnetonka

Nick Bellmont Shamrocks

Brett Olson  Shamrocks

Pat Fix  St.

Louis Park

Sam Gotham Lakers

MVP  Zack Goodwin….. Stockmen’s Irish Pitcher…..2 wins; 12 1/3 IP  4 ER  10 H  10 SO

Dan Carey Research Fund

I received an email from Mike Hartung today and think it is important enough to let all of the people associated with the MBA know about it.  It deals with Dan Carey a former State Tournament MVP from the Miesville Mudhens.  Dan passed away on March 19 of this year and his friends are setting up an endowed research fund in his name.  Here is the information:

Dear friends & family members,
We are trying to raise $25,000 in an effort to establish an endowed research fund in memory of Dan Carey (aka "Moose") in hopes of finding a cure for glioblastoma multiforme. On March 19, 2011, Dan, our brother, friend, mentor, teacher, colleague, and teammate died at the young age of 61 after a 1-year battle with this extremely aggressive form of brain cancer. He was a world-class athlete and world-class person, but was not able to win his fight against this deadly opponent. The research fund is entitled the Dr. Daniel G. Carey Brain Cancer Research Fund and although donations may ultimately be used to support any type of brain cancer research, our intention is that the monies will initally be targeted to finding a cure to glioblastoma multiforme. The fund will be under the auspices of the Children's Cancer Research Fund, but the research will potentially benefit brain cancer patients of all ages.
In an effort to kick start the fund-raising campaign, we have secured donations of $12,500 and with your help, hope to raise the remainder in the coming weeks. When we reach our goal of $25,000, the monies will be invested and researchers will have access to 4.75% of the total each year. The remainder of the fund will then accrue interest and support brain cancer research for years to come in Dan's name. You will also have the option of making annual donations to the fund, and we hope you will support this worthy cause for many years. 
To make a secure credit card donation, please follow the link below:
http://bit.ly/dancarey
Your name will appear on a donation list on the fund website, but the amount of your donation will remain private. All donations are tax deductible.
Sincerely,
Dr. Barbara Butcher and Mike & Mary Hartung