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About echosports

Eric Morken is a sports reporter for the Echo Press newspaper in Alexandria, MN. He covers a wide variety of sports in the Douglas County area, from local high school sports to Alexandria teams in the North American Hockey League and Northwoods' Baseball League. Follow me on Twitter @echo_sports.

Alexandria’s Grant Hanson cards double eagle at Geneva

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Alexandria’s Grant Hanson has never carded a hole-in-one before, but he did something even rarer after recording a double eagle on the Marsh’s par-5 ninth hole at the Geneva Golf Club on Thursday night.

Grant Hanson

Hanson, the head professional at Geneva, was playing with Ken Jensen, Todd Bork and Andrew Wiener in league play. The group was just four holes into their round when Hanson hit a good ball off the box on No. 9. The hole was playing a little more than 500 yards and the dogleg left him about 182 yards from the pin as he approached his ball with a 5-iron for his second shot.

“It was into the wind,” Hanson said. “I hit a real high ball into the wind and that’s why I hit a 5-iron instead of a six. It just hopped twice and went down. It was a straight ball right in.”

Hanson knew exactly what he thought had happened but couldn’t be sure until he got up to the green. He had been fooled before on good shots from that distance, so he had to hold off on the celebration for a little bit.

“We saw it bounce twice and then do something goofy,” he said. “I turned to them and asked, ‘Did that go in or over?’ We couldn’t quite tell if it hopped off the back. I was pretty sure I saw it go in, but I have got my hopes up before for a hole-in-one or holing out from the fairway and then you get up there and it’s over the back, so I didn’t want to get my hopes too far up.”

Jensen and Bork beat the other two up to the green where they looked to see if the ball had gone off the back. Once they didn’t see anything, Hanson and Bork slowly made their way toward the hole where they found exactly what they were hoping for.

“It was pretty amazing,” Hanson said. “It’s not something that you’re ever expecting. I have never even witnessed one. I’ve probably seen six hole-in-ones in my life. I’ve holed out from the fairway on par 4s before but never had a hole-in-one myself, so this was pretty exciting. It’s tough to play after that when you get that excited. It’s all you think about.”

Estimates are not definitive but many put the odds of getting a double eagle at 1-million-to-1. The odds of getting a hole-in-one are much greater with around 40,000 aces being recorded every year. Hanson didn’t witness it, but he was the assistant pro at the Alexandria Golf Club last April when AGC head pro Ron Rebrovich carded a double eagle on No. 14 at AGC.

“You have to hit a good tee ball,” Hanson said. “You need to be able to hit two great shots instead of just one. That’s what makes it so rare.”

Alex boys’ golf excited for chance to capture a CLC title

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Momentum can be fleeting in sports, but the Alexandria boys’ golf team may have it heading into the biggest meet of the season to this point.

The Cardinals moved from third to a tie for first in the Central Lakes Conference standings with a first-place finish in Willmar earlier this week. They then put eight players in the 70s on Thursday as two Alexandria teams finished first and second in an abbreviated home invite at the Alexandria Golf Club by shooting team scores of 306 and 307.

That’s exactly where this team wants to be as it prepares for the final conference meet of the season at the Wapicada Golf Club in Sauk Rapids next Tuesday. The formula is simple for both Alexandria and St. Cloud Tech – win and the CLC title is their’s.

Lukas Bigger followed the flight of his ball onto the green after chipping on the third hole at AGC on Thursday. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

“If we can get four scores in the 70s, that would be the best,” Alexandria sophomore Lukas Bigger said after shooting a 74 on Thursday. “Keep it under about 310 as a team score, and we should probably take home the conference. [Tech] has three players that can shoot in the 70s more than half the time and more than likely will. So as long as we can get three or four guys in the 70s, we should be sitting pretty good.”

Bigger tied for medalist honors at AGC after shaving 10 putts off his round from the previous meet. Brady Bast shot a 75. Cole Haugen and Brandon Bistodeau each shot 76. Four others also reached the 70s as Brady Hafdal (77), Nick Brundell (78), Nic Hanson (78) and Kyle Blank (79) all added to what was a great day for Alexandria on its home course.

Now the Cardinals have to hope that St. Cloud Tech doesn’t have a similar result on its home course next Tuesday. The Tigers will host the final CLC meet at Wapicada knowing they have a better feel of the course over anyone in the field. That would seem to give them a bit of an advantage coming into the day.

Sophomore Cole Haugen followed his tee shot out at AGC on his way to shooting a 76 on Thursday morning. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

“That will be hard,” Haugen said. “But I think we have the team to do it. If everyone goes out and plays like they know they can, then I think we should be good. I feel like we can handle their course just as well as they can, but it’s definitely an advantage.”

The Cardinals feel they have the players to overcome that after knocking the rust off through the early portion of the season. Alexandria, like almost every program around the state, hardly got any practice time on a golf course before having to jump into meets.

The Cardinals didn’t get off to a fast start. They finished fifth in the first CLC meet of the season at Sartell. That put them behind the eight ball, but they have battled back and are starting to feel good about where their games are at.

Senior Nick Brundell watched his tee shot off the third box during the Alexandria Invite on Thursday. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

“It’s getting better every day,” Brundell, this team’s senior leader at the top of the lineup, said about his game after shooting a 78 on Thursday. “Today obviously wasn’t the best, but it’s getting there…you just have to practice more, practice harder and hopefully it all works out. It doesn’t feel like a normal golf season. Usually, we’re halfway through the season right now (with this number of meets). But now we have a week or two to get where we need to be.”

The Cardinals hope that’s enough time to finish with a flurry. A win next Tuesday would give them their second CLC title in the last three years after finishing second to Brainerd in 2012. That would mean a lot to this group and add to the momentum that this team seems to be building at the end of the regular season.

“That would definitely give us some confidence going into sections, knowing we beat all those other teams that we’ll be playing with,” Haugen said. “So obviously, we want to win conference to prove that we’re better than everyone else.”

Alexandria’s Dalton Leuschke excited to be back home with chance to prove himself in the NWL

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The Alexandria Blue Anchors unveiled their home and away jerseys at Fat Daddy’s on Wednesday night and also let the fans know there would be a familiar face in those jerseys this summer.

Future Blue Anchors players Tyler Beck (white jersey) and Ryan Mestnik modeled the team’s new jerseys at Fat Daddy’s on Wednesday night. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

Alexandria’s Dalton Leuschke has signed a full contract to play for the local Northwoods League team all summer after getting a taste of the NWL with the Beetles in 2012 on a short contract. He was at the jersey unveiling on Wednesday as his future Blue Anchors teammates, Ryan Mestnik and Tyler Beck of Augsburg College, modeled the new attire before answering a few questions from general manager Joe Dempsey. Leuschke just wrapped up his second season at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) where he hit .298 with 20 runs scored and 16 RBIs.

The Bears were ranked No. 1 in the Division II National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) polls at one point this season and finished with a record of 44-11. Their season came up short of where they wanted to get after losing 9-2 to Iowa Central Community College in a NJCAA Region XI elimination game recently.

“We ended on a sour note,” Leuschke told me when I caught up with him after the jersey unveiling. “Things just didn’t go our way. We had a good team, it just didn’t end the way we wanted it to. For me personally, I didn’t hit as good as I wanted to. I still ended up hitting all right, but defensively I felt comfortable.”

The former Alexandria Cardinals shortstop played a lot of right field and also caught a few games for the Bears. He hit .304 with 30 RBI and 32 runs scored his freshman season at DMACC in 2012. That earned him a shot with the Beetles in the NWL early last summer where he hit .182 in just 22 at-bats. The short contract left him with about two months where he played some with the Miltona Tigers in the Resorters Amateur Baseball League. It wasn’t the day-to-day action that he was hoping for to keep his game sharp before heading back to DMACC.

Dalton Leuschke waited for a pitch as a member of the Alexandria Beetles early last summer. (Echo Press file photo by Eric Morken)

“I kind of had two months off before I started playing again and that kind of hurt me,” he said. “But I think being on a full contract will be awesome this year. It will help me get ready for next fall and keep everything intact, my swing and then just staying healthy for next fall and hopefully keep things going.”

Leuschke is excited for the opportunity to work with Blue Anchors manager Al Newman again. Newman was Leuschke’s coach on a traveling all-star team through the Minnesota Baseball Academy, owned by new Blue Anchors’ co-owner Adam Barta.

Leuschke will have the comfort of knowing he has the opportunity to prove that he can play at the NWL level over the course of an entire summer. The new ownership group has made it clear that they want to have a lot of Minnesota players on this team in the coming years, and having a local product fits exactly what they are looking for. That’s exciting for Leuschke, who says he’s eager to try to prove that you can build a winning team in the NWL with Minnesota players.

“Obviously, being from Minnesota, people don’t really see you as a baseball player because it’s not a really warm state,” he said. “But I feel like there are a certain amount of kids who work hard to show people that they can do it, and I think they use it to their advantage. They like to prove people wrong. For me, being from Alexandria and playing in front of everyone, it’s a chance for me to show them that I can play at this level and prove to them that Minnesota kids do work hard and like to play and can play at the highest levels just like the kids from down south that get to play all year around.”

Leuschke hopes a good summer will lead to some big opportunities in the fall. He said he has some Division II offers for baseball and is also getting strong interest from a few Division I teams. One of those is the University of North Dakota, where he says he hopes to play next fall.

“I’m pretty sure it’s everyone’s goal as an athlete to get to the highest level,” he said. “Division I has always been a dream of mine to play. All the perks that come with it – the flying, the traveling, getting to compete at the highest level you can compete at.”

Alex softball’s seventh-inning rally was much-needed in quest for CLC title

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The Alexandria softball team was three outs away from what would have been a pretty demoralizing doubleheader sweep at the hands of Sauk Rapids-Rice on Thursday night.

The Cardinals came into the day as the only undefeated team left in conference play. They have their sights set on a CLC title with a veteran roster, but for 13 innings, the Storm had outplayed them to the tune of a 3-2 win in game one and a 6-2 lead going to the seventh in the nightcap.

That’s when everything came together to capture a 9-6 win that could go a long way toward deciding whether or not Alex gets that CLC title at season’s end. It started with a couple hard hit grounders that deflected off the glove of Sauk Rapids’ pitcher Jennifer Rasmussen.

“You need a little bit of luck,” Cardinals head coach Randy Albers said. “It’s crazy how when you get a rally in the late part of a game like that, it starts with maybe a walk or an error or just a couple deflections. Then you need some timely hits, which we got.”

The first one came from junior Taylor Ellingson as she popped up a ball that dropped in front of the left fielder on the first pitch she saw with the bases loaded. The Alexandria runners had to pause halfway to see if the ball would be caught. There was an out to be had at third base, but the throw went home instead.

Emily Kuennen looked over at her dugout with a big smile on her face after clearing the bases with a triple that tied the game at six apiece in the seventh inning on Thursday. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

Not getting that out would prove costly a couple batters later with Emily Kuennen at the plate and the bases still loaded. The junior catcher came up with one out and crushed a pitch to the right field fence that cleared the bases and tied the game on a triple. Jana Roste followed suit with an RBI triple in what would become a seven-run inning for Alexandria.

“I was just looking for contact,” Kuennen said. “The only thing I was thinking was I just want to get my teammates in. They worked so hard to get on base, and it was just a team thing, and we all did our part.”

Kuennen kept coming back to the team and how important it was that everybody played their roles. It’s a a core group that has played together a few years at the varsity level now, and they’ve been through these kinds of situations before. They know how important it is that they pick each other up.

Senior Joycelin Steidl threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings on Thursday to keep her team in the game during the nightcap. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

Ellingson threw well for most of the night, taking a tough-luck loss in a low-scoring game one. She started the second game as well before giving way to Joycelin Steidl with two outs in the fourth inning after Sauk Rapids had taken a 6-1 lead. Steidl pitched 2 1/3 clean innings before Ellingson came back out for the seventh to pick up the save.

“We all did our part when it comes to hitting, fielding, pitching – everyone contributed,” Kuennen said. “It just goes to show how teamwork can really make a difference in a game. If we all put our minds to it and we focus and have a good mental game, we’re going to come out strong in the end.”

That ended up being the case in a game that the Cardinals really wanted on their home field. There is plenty left to play out, but the win moved Alexandria to 6-1 in CLC play and dropped the Storm to 4-3. Rocori also has just one loss at 4-1 and St. Cloud Tech isn’t far behind at 6-3.

The Cardinals needed to protect their home field with some tough road games still ahead. Included in that is a game at Rocori tonight, Friday, and a doubleheader at St. Cloud Tech to end the regular season on May 17.

Brainerd had been so dominant in the CLC in year’s past with hard-throwing pitcher Nikki Anderson anchoring that team. Anderson, now a freshman at the University of Minnesota, was the 2012 Ms. Softball in Minnesota and the Gatorade Minnesota Softball Player of the Year. The league has opened up with her out of the picture, and the Cardinals believe they have the pieces and the experience to be the new team on top in 2013.

“The pressure is on us right now,” Kuennen said. “We’re the team that people want to get and we’re just trying our best to keep up the spirit. That (winning the CLC) would be a great way to represent Alexandria softball, and that’s what we’re trying to do. That’s our goal.”

Thursday’s come-from-behind win could be an important part of the season if they are able to attain that goal. Now they hope to carry the momentum from that into another big game with the Spartans tonight.

“A great day would have been a sweep,” Albers said. “But a good day is a split. It took to the very end, but we’re very fortunate. I was talking to the [Sauk Rapids] coach, and they pretty much outplayed us for [one] game and six innings. We just got lucky in the end…the girls never gave up and it was a nice comeback.”

Miltona Tigers won’t field a team this year, hope it’s a one-year thing

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For the first time since its inaugural season in 2004, the Miltona Tigers amateur baseball team won’t field a team in the Resorters League this summer.

Alexandria’s Mark Whiting checked his swing during a game against the Carlos Cougars on June 16, 2012. (Echo Press file photo by Eric Morken)

It was news that came as a surprise to teams across the league, but a decision that simply came down to a lack of player availability. Manager Paul Walsh called it a perfect storm of events with a lot of players getting close to retirement, college students having to be out of the area on internships and other regulars getting to a point where living out of the area and having families made it impossible to commit every weekend.

“We’re looking at this, hoping this is a one-year thing,” Walsh said by phone on Thursday morning. “We hope to get some younger players next year who are maybe still playing Legion ball this summer and can’t commit to this. We feel bad for the community of Miltona. They have supported us so much…It’s something that we’re looking at as a bump in the road.”

Walsh said not being able to field a team was a surprise to him even after it became somewhat difficult to find enough guys for games toward the end of last season.

“Quite frankly, up and down the league, there’s only a couple teams that don’t have that problem,” Walsh said. “Kids are very busy these days. They have a lot going on. These are young men that, ever since I’ve been doing this, I’ve had guys who were coaching and giving back to the baseball community, at least a couple guys coaching VFW and then maybe one or two coaching Legion…We started up nine years ago and some of those guys have families and don’t live around here anymore. It can be hard to commit to coming back on the weekends.”

The Tigers have built some strong teams and strong rivalries with other surrounding communities. The hope is that those will continue in 2014 after a one-year hiatus.

“We had a great run,” Walsh said. “And we still think we can put something back together.”

Osakis baseball looks like a section contender through seven games

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The Osakis baseball team will have to go through tougher competition than the 0-6 Hancock team they beat 23-1 last night to reach its ultimate goal.

The Silverstreaks know that. But there’s no doubt that this team passed the eye test in what was a dominating performance at Knute Nelson ballpark in Alexandria on Monday night. Osakis pounded out 23 hits and walked six times on its way to a perfect 7-0 record.

“These guys are focused,” head coach Shad Schmidt said. “They know what our goals are, and they’re kind of keeping their eye on the prize. I remind them every day, and they probably get tired of it, but that’s what coaches are supposed to do. They make it easy for me too because they look sharp, they’re focused and that comes from playing a lot of baseball.”

It’s a team that looked focused down the the finest detail against the Owls. Even before the game, Osakis warmed up with a purpose. The Silverstreaks were sharp and fast in everything they did.

Osakis head coach Shad Schmidt (left) and Doug Zimmel share a laugh after Brandon Giesler (right) crushed a two-RBI double before getting thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple in the first inning. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

They then went out and played the exact same way. Junior Lane Berberich got them going with a clean first inning on the mound. His offense then gave him five runs to work with after starting a rally with two outs in the bottom of the inning.

The veterans in the middle of the lineup set the table as Drew Fearing, Doug Zimmel, Ky Zimmel and Grayson Fortenberry all reached with two outs. The youngsters then drove them in as freshman Michael Herringshaw had a two-RBI single before sophomore Brandon Giesler followed with a two-RBI double.

That was just a prelude to a 12-run second inning where the first eight guys reached before an out was recorded. Osakis sent 17 to the plate in all as Fearing (2), Fortenberry, Ky Zimmel, Herringshaw, Hunter Scherr (2), Jordan Frederick, Doug Zimmel and Austin Rollag all had RBIs in the frame.

“It’s strong one through nine,” Doug Zimmel said of this lineup. “We got people who can drive the ball hard everywhere around the field.”

Berberich not only got the win on the mound, but he finished with five hits, three runs and two RBIs. Fearing added four hits, three runs and three RBIs. Giesler, D. Zimmel and Herringshaw all had three RBIs, while Jordan Frederick, Scherr, K. Zimmel and Rollag each added two.

Zimmel crushing the ball at cleanup

It’s an Osakis lineup that is filled with veteran guys who don’t give at-bats away. Seven of the players in the starting lineup on Monday are hitting .300 or higher through the early season. Fearing is batting .565 with 13 runs and 15 RBIs from the third spot in the lineup, and he has a guy with even better numbers behind him.

Doug Zimmel was all smiles as he stood at third base during a pitching change in the middle of a 12-run second inning for Osakis on Monday night. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

Doug Zimmel has gotten off to a torrid start after being named the 2012 Prairie Conference Co-MVP last season. The senior clean-up hitter is batting at a .739 clip with 17 hits in 23 at-bats. He leads the team with 17 RBIs and four doubles to go along with five walks and 10 runs scored.

“I’m feeling good,” Zimmel said. “The ball is coming in like a beach ball. It feels good just to hit it hard somewhere and get the runs in.”

Zimmel also has seven strikeouts, allowed just two hits and has yet to give up a run through eight innings on the mound. When he’s not pitching, he’s anchoring third or calling the game behind the plate.

“I think just consistency is the word with Doug,” Schmidt said. “He just does everything right. He’s smooth. He never gets cheated in at-bats. He knows what he’s doing. It’s kind of a high comparison, but he’s almost like a right-handed Joe Mauer. It doesn’t matter the count, you know he’s going to put the ball in play, and if he’s not going to put the ball in play, he’s going to take a walk. No matter if he’s catching, third, pitching, I’d put him at short or second and he would get the job done.”

Sights set on a section title

Zimmel anchors a team that doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. Even the younger players in the lineup like Herringshaw (.412 BA) and Giesler (.389) have proven they know how to handle the bat through this 7-0 start.

“We got a lot of bats, a lot of hitting, a lot of depth,” Ky Zimmel said. “We’re going to come out strong with our offense. I’m thinking it’s going to be hard to hold us down.”

Lane Berberich came off the mound to field a ground ball during the first inning on Monday night. Berberich got the win in three innings of work. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

The pitching and defense have been equally as impressive. Frederick leads the staff with 12 innings pitched and an ERA of 0.58. Doug Zimmel (8IP, 2H, 0R, 7SO)  and Berberich (8IP, 8H, 1ER, 7SO) are also experienced arms on a staff that has thrown six different pitchers. Behind them is a defense that has committed just five errors.

“I’m confident in all our pitchers,” K. Zimmel said. “We have a lot of depth in pitching. I’m not too worried about the crammed schedule because we have a lot of pitchers who can throw well.”

The result of all three phases coming together has been a dominant start to the season for Osakis. The Silverstreaks have outscored their opponents 83-12 during this opening stretch.

Schmidt said before the season started that this could be the best team he has ever coached at Osakis. That’s why his sights for them were set on a state tournament appearance. So far, they have done nothing to diminish those expectations.

“They definitely have lived up to expectations, actually exceeded them in some sense,” Schmidt said. “I knew our offense was going to be pretty good, but I was a little worried about what our lower lineup was going to do. Tonight, they showed they can hit and play…it’s scary to think what we are capable of, but I think also when we see a little stiffer competition, we’ll see where we’re at.We have some big games coming up, and we’ll see what type of team we’re made of.”

Alex baseball shows no signs of rust in doubleheader sweep

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The Alexandria baseball team showed off a common recipe for success in a doubleheader sweep over Willmar on Tuesday night at Knute Nelson ballpark.

The Cardinals got great pitching from seniors Beau Backhaus and Nick Knoblach in a 2-1 win in game one. Junior Blake Stockert followed suit with 11 strikeouts in five innings on his way to a win in game two.

Grant Becker (left) waited to congratulate left fielder Christian Anderson near the dugout after Anderson made a diving catch to save two runs and preserve a 2-0 lead in game one. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

Their defense didn’t commit an error all night and got a diving catch by Christian Anderson in left field that saved two runs in the opener. Their bats then came to life in the nightcap as Alexandria scored seven runs in the fourth inning to carry them to a 12-2 win.

The Cardinals believe if they can continue to get clutch hitting that they will win a lot of games this spring behind their pitching staff. I wrote about that rotation and how it’s anchored by two legitimate aces in Backhaus and Stockert for Friday’s issue of the Echo Press.

Here is some more from my interviews with both those guys and head coach Russ Hinrichs after Tuesday’s games.

BEAU BACKHAUS

On how excited he was to come out in game one and set the tone after such a long spring: I was beyond excited to finally get out here and play baseball. I’m sick of being in the RCC and in the gym, taking ground balls and doing flat grounds. It’s just the worst and it’s awesome to play again.

Beau Backhaus threw on to first after fielding a soft ground ball during game one of Tuesday night’s doubleheader against Willmar. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

On how he feels about the depth of this rotation during a season where having multiple pitchers will be so important with so many games in so few days: I think we have a great pitching rotation. We have Jake Booth that can come in and put out seven innings for us. Parker Bowden is another starter for us. Then you have Ben Allen and Nick Knoblach coming in and shutting the door.

BLAKE STOCKERT

On how moving up to varsity midway through his sophomore season last year helped him coming into this spring: It just makes you so you’re not as nervous when you come in. I think if you become nervous, you’re not going to be able to play at your best. Once you get a couple games in, you just feel a lot more comfortable up there and you’re able to do what you want.

On what his immediate success (1.03 ERA, 34SO, 20 1/3IP last year) did for his confidence coming into this year: When you come in and get all the luxuries like getting all these strikeouts and everything, not trying to sound cocky at all, but just the way it all unfolded [really helped]. Everything is going really good right now.

Blake Stockert (left) gets congratulated after striking out the side in the first inning of game two on Tuesday night. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

On how many pitches he has in his repertoire and what he was relying on against Willmar: I have four pitches. I just didn’t use the change-up because there wasn’t really a need for it tonight. Fastball, curveball, change-up and my slider, which I threw a couple times. But usually that curveball is what sets [hitters] off, just the speeds and the rotation on it.

COACH RUSS HINRICHS

On what he thought of the way his guys played after a long spring practicing inside: You come out here the first game, and we’ve done a lot of practicing inside and over at the Runestone, but you never really know. I think the kids are definitely excited and were ready to play a game.

Pitching and defense are definitely going to be our strength. If we can pitch like we did tonight and play defense like we did tonight, we’re going to be in good shape. The hitting is going to come and go, but we can always stay in every game. To see the way our infield played in the first game, that bodes well for the whole season.

On what went into the decision to have senior Nick Knoblach start this year after he primarily served as a closer last season (Knoblach will get a start against Brainerd today, Thursday): I think he did a great job for us last year. He appeared in 10 games, but I know during the summer he threw some and he started. I think I’d like to see him be that third starter for us and then we can go with [Mitch] Thompson or Ben Allen at the end.

I think Knobby deserves that. I think he deserves it as a senior to pitch a little more, and I know he wants to have a chance to start, and I like having those three guys.

On what he thought of the way his offense played after not facing much life pitching outside coming into the opener: It was great. One thing we talked about as a coaching staff is we love our speed. We’re going to threaten the defense just by putting the ball in play, especially with the top of our order.

I think the second game, it came down to us having some two-out hitting. We had some guys on base and it was just a matter of getting them in. I have no doubt we’re going to get guys on. We can bunt, we can hit the ball on the ground; it’s just, can we get the two-out hitting?

In the second game, you saw that Beau got a big hit there to break it open. Then Mitch Thompson came through, and I thought Knobby, Grant [Becker] and Ben, the top three in our order, were just fantastic all night.

On Stockert and his ability to overpower guys and miss bats: Blake has a bright future. He strikes out a lot of guys so as a result his pitch count gets up there a little bit, so hopefully we can just build his arm strength. He certainly has a bright future. It’s to the point where we were in the dugout, I think he struck out the first four guys, it’s just one, two three, one, two three.

Osakis baseball off to a torrid start through four games

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The Osakis baseball team couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start after four games.

The Silverstreaks have yet to allow an earned run on their way to a 4-0 record with 14-4 and 10-0 wins in five innings over Eagle Valley on Monday night. Osakis allowed just one hit in the nightcap and its defense has committed just three errors over the first four games.

“Really just a great way to start the season,” head coach Shad Schmidt said. “Our pitchers have been impressive in giving us a chance to win each game. Offensively, we are getting some big hits and been able to string some hits together. We have done a nice job taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes.”

Doug Zimmel adjusted his chest protector during a game against Browerville last season. (Echo Press file photo by Eric Morken)

The Silverstreaks never gave Eagle Valley a chance in either of the games on Monday. They scored nine first-inning runs in game two after putting seven on the board in the first frame in game one.

Senior Doug Zimmel has picked up right where he left off during a Prairie Conference Co-MVP season in 2012. He got to Eagle Valley for five hits, including a double, five RBIs, two runs and a walk. Zimmel is 10-for-13 with two doubles, seven RBIs, two walks, four runs and no strikeouts through the first four games.

He was part of a big night all around for the Osakis offense. Jordan Frederick had two hits, including a double, four RBIs, two walks, two stolen bases and scored six runs in the two games. Drew Fearing added four RBIs as well.

The offense made things a little easier on freshman Michael Herringshaw in the nightcap. He went three innings and allowed just one hit, while striking out three. Hunter Scherr followed suit the rest of the way, striking out two over a couple perfect innings.

Lane Berberich was equally as impressive in game one. He went the distance, scattering five hits and two walks, while striking out five. All four runs he allowed were unearned and came in the fourth inning in what was already a 12-0 game.

“He really should have had a shutout but a few errors cost him that,” Schmidt said.

All in all, it’s exactly the kind of start Schmidt was envisioning for this team coming into the spring.

“A few things can be cleaned up and a few guys need to get going offensively,” he said. “But I am happy with the start. Pitching and defense have been solid and the bats are coming alive.”

Alexandria’s Grant Hanson thrilled for chance to be head pro in his hometown

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Alexandria’s Grant Hanson always knew the chances of becoming a head golf professional in his hometown were pretty slim, which is exactly why he’s so grateful for this latest opportunity.

Hanson was a standout golfer for the Alexandria Cardinals who went on to play four years at St. Cloud State University. He worked in the financial services industry before spending the last two years as an assistant pro at the Alexandria Golf Club. That prepared him for what will now be his first head professional position at the Geneva Golf Club this summer.

“It was always kind of a hope,” Hanson said of staying in Alexandria. “You just never know if it will work out. I lived in the Cities for four years and I was very happy to get the chance and thankful to AGC to get to come back up here. Obviously, I’m thankful now to Geneva that I get to stay here.”

Hanson knows all about the passion this area has for golfing and the competitive players that it has produced. Plenty of men and women have gone on to join the college ranks at different levels after high school. Hanson is looking forward to building on that in a new role as a club pro.

“I’m very excited to be able to stay in a community that I know and have made a lot of relationships in,” he said. “I have family in this community. Any time you’re looking for  head professional positions, you basically know there’s only so many golf courses in a town, so to be able to stay in this area with the people that we have and the golfing community we have and the history behind it, it is a blessing.”

Hanson will be responsible for the day-to-day operations at the Geneva pro-shop. He is also in charge of organizing tournaments and corporate outings for the club.

The snow this spring hasn’t done him any favors when it comes to getting started in his new position. Geneva, which he said normally hopes to be up and running by around April 15, is shooting for the course opening during the first week of May.

“We have stuff scheduled for then and we’re crossing our fingers,” Hanson said. “Hopefully [the forecast] is correct. We’re shooting for that Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We’ve got groups coming in from out of town, and they haven’t cancelled or rescheduled yet.”

Al Newman talks Blue Anchors, why he chose the NWL

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Alexandria Blue Anchors field manager Al Newman has already been in town helping to stir up excitement for the upcoming Northwoods League baseball season.

I sat down with him on Tuesday afternoon to talk about why he wanted to coach in Alexandria and what he wants out of his players this summer. You can read much of that interview in Friday’s issue of the Echo Press. Here is more of what we talked about that didn’t fit in the print edition.

EM: What did you know about Alexandria before you took the job with the Blue Anchors?

AN: What I knew about Alexandria is that I loved coming here in the winter to snowmobile with the Dan Gladdens and the Kent Hrbeks back in the day. We would come and stay at the Arrowwood. We met some nice people.”

EM: Some may look at this and see that you have played and coached at the highest level of baseball and ask why you would want to take this job in the Northwoods League. So why did you?

AN: I would say to anybody who would ask me that question, because I know what I feel inside my heart, is that after I retired as a player and became a minor league manager for the Twins, I felt like I wanted to be a teacher of the game. When you teach the game, you love the game, and it’s not so much getting the credit.

 EM: You have coached at the major league level and you’ve also coached legion ball and younger kids at the Minnesota Baseball Academy. Are you excited to work with guys who are kind of in-between those levels and guys who will be hungry to reach that upper level?

AN: For sure. Felipe Alou told me when he was my Triple-A manager that he enjoyed the lowest levels of the game because that’s when you teach and you see the feedback of hard work. So these kids are coming here as college players. They’re looking to become a professional player and the Northwoods League is a pretty good test of that.

First of all, you play 70 games in 75 days. You travel on buses, which is something you would do in rookie ball. I can tell these guys what it was like. Now there’s players in the big leagues that were rookie ball players when I managed – Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, Torii Hunter, I can tell them that these guys were just like you fellas, and we had to teach them to have that work ethic. Not taking any credit for anything those players have accomplished, but first you must learn the work ethic to get there. If you claim you want to get there, you have to be ready to practice more than a high school player.

EM: Many field managers in the NWL are assistant coaches in college who are getting a taste of leading their own teams and will use the experience to move up in the coaching ranks. You are obviously in a different situation. How long could you see yourself managing this team in Alexandria?

AN: I’m planning on being here until I’m tired. I know right now, the plan is a couple two or three years…If I wasn’t doing this I would probably be coaching legion baseball or trying to put together a travel team to travel in the summer to compete.

The game is in the blood, and if it’s in the blood, it’s life sustaining. I just don’t want to sit around and not do anything. I watch enough baseball as it is. I’d like to extend a helping hand to players who aspire to get to the next level. I hate to say the major leagues because I know how hard that is to accomplish. There’s only 800 of them and now it’s truly an international game, but there’s plenty of opportunity to make money in the game of baseball.

EM: How much does your experience in the game and playing in the major leagues, winning a couple World Series titles, how much does that help you when it comes to trying to get your point across to some of these younger players?

AN: I don’t use that. That speaks for itself, but I know one thing, I know how hard it is to get there. And having been a bench player, a backup, as people like to say, a bench warmer, I know how and what it took to be able to sustain and build a career in the major leagues and that’s by hard work, desire, dedication and determination. That’s where I think a lot of players fall short. They’re quick to try to blame. The reason I didn’t make it is because…as a manager, I can take that away from them and let them know that it’s mostly internal fortitude and desire to get it done.

EM: How would you describe yourself as a coach?

AN: The same way that I had to play and earn my time. You put your time in and the coach recognizes that you’re working hard, you get love. You don’t put your time in, you have no expectations of playing and you make that self determination. I like to say I treat everybody the same but different. I have no favorites, but I know I love the 25th man on the team because I know he’s getting after it every day because he wants to play.

Sometimes the guys that, I like to say the guys who sit down and eat, sometimes they don’t work hard. They don’t have to. They’re at the upper echelon of ability of everybody. A Kirby Puckett, he worked hard though, Joe Mauer, they work hard, they’re just better than everybody else. The rest of us must sit around and serve these guys. There aren’t but two or three of them that are elite, elite. The rest of the guys have to work extra hard to maintain their spot.