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Sunday, August 21, 2011
Miltona	4
BELLE PLAINE	2

Class C State Tournament

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OFF-SEASON TRAINING

 9TH INNING NIGHTMARE

One Out Away, Miltona Stuns Tigers

Belle Plaine led Miltona 2-1 with two outs – and two strikes, at one point – in the 9th, but four consecutive batters reached base to hand the Tigers the most gut-wrenching of defeats, a 4-2 loss to end their season Sunday in the Class ‘C’ State Tournament at Glencoe.

The State Tourney appearance was BP’s fourth in the last five seasons.  In 2007 and 2008, the Tigers’ ran into a budding state power in the Sauk Rapids Cyclones, who finished second in Class ‘C’ each of those years.  The Tigers lost a first-round matchup in 2007 before falling to them again in 2008’s second round, after first dismissing Albertville.

The Cyclones have since been bumped up to Class ‘B’ and are currently one of two undefeated teams (along with the Mankato Twins) remaining in the ‘B’ State Tourney bracket.  They’re the real deal. 

Last year, the Tiger Train opened with a shutout win against the Mankato Mets before dropping a closer-than-the-final-score-might-indicate 6-3 decision to Sacred Heart.  In that game, Belle Plaine trailed 4-3 in the 8th and had runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out, but consecutive outs on the bases and a two-run homer in the 9th provided the final margin of defeat.  Sacred Heart went on to qualify for the tournament’s final weekend.

A pitch or a play away against Miltona is no solace to a team that’s gone 83-30 (.735) over the last three years – including 13-2 in the playoffs the last two seasons, while outscoring their opponents in those two playoffs by a combined total of 93-22.  But as George Costanza once said, “You can stuff your sorrys in a sack, mister!”

The Tigers’ final record for 2011 is 26 wins and 11 losses.

Forget Fan Appreciation Night for a minute – we’d like to take this valuable inch of Herald space to thank you for once again supporting us; hopefully you have as much fun coming out to the ballpark as we do playing.

Don’t forget you can follow everything to do with the ballclub at bptigertown.com, and the Tiger Twitter account will really be the hot-spot for whatever off-season activity there may be. 

Minnesotabaseball.org will keep you posted on the remainder of the Class ‘B’ and ‘C’ tournaments.  Chaska is the lone River Valley League team still playing, and they square off Friday against Savage at 5:00 pm, in Glencoe.

Miltona 4 vs. BP 2 @ Glencoe (Sunday, August 21 ~ Class ‘C’ State Tournament, First Round)
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When you heard BP was playing Region 14C Runner-Up Miltona, the first response was, “Who?”  A trip to the Mapquest was in order.  It turns out 17 of their 20 man roster attended Alexandria High School, and they have some pretty good talent – led by former ‘U of M’ Golden Gophers Tom and Sam Steidl, and ex-Iowa Hawkeye, Caleb Curry.

Lefty Adam Johnson – who else? – would get the task of keeping the Miltona Tigers off the board, and he entered with the finest of credentials:  an 8-1 record, a 0.91 ERA, and 127 strikeouts in 89.1 innings pitched.

Travis Latzke started off the 3rd inning with a double and gained third base when Miah Fogarty sacrificed so successfully, he beat it out for a hit.  Dan Huber delivered a sacrifice fly, and the Region 6C Champs had an early 1-0 lead.

In the 4th Belle Plaine added another run, thanks again to the leadoff man getting on.  Pat Schultz opened with a single and was bunted to second by Shawn Larson.  After a Matt Schultz ground out, the Tigers received a gift when Jim Buesgens’ ground ball was thrown away and Schultz came around to score.

The 5th inning offered some controversy when DH Jake Leuschke, with a man on, mashed a line drive down the left-field line that would have been a homer if it had been fair, but it was ruled foul.  It was very close.  Miltona objected, was told, “Listen here, String Bean!” by the first-base dugout, and play resumed shortly thereafter.

In the 7th, Miltona started the inning by going double, single, and single, which plated one and made it a 2-1 game.  Johnson retired the next three batters in order, however, quelling the rally and leaving runners stranded at first and third.

Miltona starter Chris Koep worked seven innings of four-hit ball, then gave way to fellow lefty Colin Erickson.  The Tigers went 1-2-3 against Erickson in the 8th, and the stage was set for the fateful 9th. 

Johnson struck out the first batter, Cody Curry, his sixth punchout of the game.  Tom Steidl singled to right, and home run threat Lueschke popped up to shortstop.  Two away, and the Tigers were almost home.

On a full count, #8-hitter Kevin Engebretson took a close pitch inside for ball four.  With runners at first and second, #9-stick Trey Thompson sent a ground ball to the left side.  It was a tough play and brought third baseman Dan Huber to his knees; he recovered quickly and threw to second for the force, but it was a tad late. 

With the bases loaded and Johnson still seeking the final out, Ryan Emter, who twice robbed the Tigers with fine defensive plays in centerfield earlier on, drilled a base hit to left-center to score a pair and make it 3-2.  The hearts of Tiger fans and players sank alike as the ball safely reached the grass. 

The next batter hit a routine grounder to shortstop, but steady Brad Lawson booted it, allowing another run to come in.  Johnson then induced a pop-out to end the inning.

“Pop Tart” Larson began the home-half of the 9th with a walk, and after two consecutive outs scampered all the way to third when Ryan Diers reached on an infield error. 

With the winning run at the plate in the form of Travis Latzke, Erickson got him swinging and the surreal late-inning collapse officially stung.

Belle Plaine was out-hit nine to four in the contest, with two coming from Pat Schultz.  The veteran catcher recorded a hit in every playoff game, going 10-for-26 (.385).

Erickson picked up the win for Miltona, working two hitless frames.

2011 SEASON-IN-REVIEW
The Tigers unveiled new white uniform tops and pants, but rain quickly became the story of May.  BP was 4-2 after a 14-1 thrashing of Opole in the Black Sox Tournament in Freeport and Spring Hill, but not even the Fairy Godmother and her magic wand could keep the rest of the weekend from being a washout. 

The Tigers had some eight rainouts and three cancellations on the season, not to mention a five-inning affair that was just squeezed in at Henderson, winning 1-0 before tornado sirens sent people scrambling.  The game at Arlington was postponed twice before it was finally made up during the last week of the regular season.

In June, the locals made it to championship game of the Tigertown Classic for the first time in 13 years, but were nipped 4-3 by the Marshall A’s. 

Early July saw four Tigers head to the RVL-DRS All-Star Game in Union Hill:  Dan Huber, Brad Lawson, Adam Johnson, and Brett Kruschke as a fill-in manager for Jeff Miller.  Johnson ended up working the final two innings for the save, and Huber finished third in the home run hitting contest.

A rare feat was accomplished the following day at St. Benedict – Adam Johnson slugged not one, not two, but three home runs in a 13-8 win at The Ben.

The Tigers ran their win streak to eight before hitting a three-game skid heading into the playoffs.  BP won the RVL-Central division with an 11-1 record against ‘C’ teams, and posted a 12-4 overall mark in the RVL.

The Red Caps won the RVL-Central postseason crown as well, this time in dramatic fashion as they scored twice in the bottom of the 10th to defeat Chanhassen 2-1.

El Tigre rolled through Region 6C capped by a 6-1 win over Fairfax in the championship game, and the pitching staff allowed only one earned run (two total) through the first six playoff games.

The State Tournament was not as kind to the Tigers, as a 2-1 lead with two outs in the 9th turned into a 4-2 season-ending loss to Miltona of Region 14C.

For the season, the Chatfielders outscored their opponents 217-141, including 31-6 in the playoffs.

The team batting average was .273, down considerably from the .300 mark last year.  Brad Lawson took home his first batting title, settling in at .323.  There were several other hitters worth mentioning who just didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify:  Zac Dahlke hit .381 in 42 at-bats, Miah Fogarty .357 in 42 at-bats, and Tyler Hartman .339 in 62 AB’s.

Dan Huber slugged five of the team’s 12 home runs, and led the team in games played with 35.

The pitching staff compiled a 2.82 ERA, not far off from last year’s stellar 2.70 mark.  Both of those numbers were driven largely by Adam Johnson, who posted an insane 1.10 ERA for the season, and also led the staff with eight wins and 98.1 innings.

Rob Wagener turned in another ridiculously stingy campaign in somewhat limited action, putting up a 0.58 ERA in 31 innings on the heels of not allowed an earned run last year in 39.2 innings.  The old dog Shane Hofmann proved there’s plenty of life left in that rubber right wing of his, sporting a 2.38 ERA in 45.1 frames, while Brad Lawson checked in at 2.06 in 35 innings.

Lawson and Huber each recorded two saves in the Matt Capps role.

After recording ten and nine shutouts the previous two years, the team hurled seven whitewashings this year.

Finally, the Tiger defense left room for improvement by posting 83 errors for a second consecutive campaign.

Complete season statistics should be posted to the team website within a few weeks.  Check back every three minutes or so; we could use the web hits.

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