A Mazo belle ringing "The Mazo Bell"

MAZOMANIE – Lois O’Connell was in the bleachers in Mazomanie on Saturday watching her Mustangs take on the Pine Bluff Bluffers in a Home Talent League match up.

There were few things better to do that day for O’Connell. After all, what better way was there to spend the day than take in a baseball game on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year?

She was in attendance to support her son and his team. Her son, Dan O’Connell, was manager of Mazomanie ball club. And support she would, by ringing a bell, a gilded little treasure, with every good play made by the Mustangs.

Sometimes a double would elicit the sound of her bell. At other times, a nicely turned double play by the “Mazo” infielders would too. But not very often. It was certain plays that made her give the bell a vociferous shake.

“Especially when we score,” explained Lois. “Otherwise it’s clap, clap.”

Lois has been at it, cheering on the Mazomanie squad for some time now. As long as her son has been either playing or managing.

“How long has she been doing this?” Dan asked himself.

“For many, many years,” he said in reply. “I started in 1974, I guess. I was at Black Earth, Wisconsin from ’74 to ’93, and I came over to Mazo and started a team over here. And I enjoyed every minute of it. And she’s been ringing the bell down here when we score runs.”

Lois and the bell got a workout this particular Saturday. Mazomanie would end up winning the game in a high scoring 21 to 9 affair. Unfortunately for Pine Bluff, they still might hear the ringing in their ears.

In the bottom of the seventh with two runners on base, up by a score of 18-9, Mazomanie’s Mark Nelson stepped up to the plate with a chance to end the game.

“A single would have ended the game,” said Mark referencing the 10 run rule in the Home Talent League that ends play anytime after the seventh inning. “So I was just trying to put bat on ball and hit it hard somewhere. Sometimes that way you don’t overswing, and good things happen.”

Good things did, indeed, happen. A powerful drive over the right field fence resulted in a walk off homerun for Nelson and the Mustangs. An animated shake of “The Mazo Bell” by Lois signaled the end of the game.

“The offense was just on fire today, and I guess the credit goes to everybody,” said Dan O’Connell. “I don’t really think there’s any particular hero today. I guess everybody did their chores, and got the job done for us.”

If everybody did their chores, it was Nelson, at least, who used a little elbow grease and helped cap off the win.

Lois, meanwhile, wouldn’t end up putting her bell away for long.

Mazomanie would travel to Cazenovia the very next day, and Lois would trek along to one of the furthest outposts in the league. It was a double-up weekend for the Northern section where most teams had to play games two days in a row.

It would be a hike, but that didn’t matter.

“It’s such a pretty drive,” said Lois.

Considering it was the solstice, there was plenty of daylight to take in another ballgame and ring that bell.

Next weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Lake Mills takes on Evansville at Warner Park in Madison on Sunday June 29 at the conclusion of the Mallards game.

Brian Carriveau is writing a book about the Home Talent League this summer. He can be contacted at carriveau@uwalumni.com

Home Talent photo blogging

Marshall plays a game of "base-olf" in the time leading up to the rivalry game with Waterloo during the Marshall Firemen's Festival.

Home Talent photo blogging

Plain travels to Cross Plains to take on the Businessmen.

Home Talent Photo Blogging

Mazomanie is home of the Mustangs.

Festival still holds aura of Clarence Buss

COTTAGE GROVE – The Buss family gathered this past weekend for a family get-together just like they do every year for the annual Cottage Grove Firemen’s Festival now in its 77th year.

Even Dennis Buss who makes his year-round home in Anchorage, Alaska nowadays, made his yearly pilgrimage to be here just like he has been here every year since he was a child. It makes for the perfect weekend for a family reunion. The midway pulls into town complete with a Ferris wheel. Music hovers over Firemen’s Park from Thursday through Sunday.

And it all centers around baseball. From Teeners to Legion to Home Talent, there’s plenty of baseball to be had from the first day of the festival to the last. Many Home Talent League teams host a game during their town’s own summer festival, and Cottage Grove’s happens to be one of the best.

But there was one thing different for the Buss family this weekend, though. It was the first Firemen’s Festival spent without their family patriarch. Clarence Buss passed away this past February.

Clarence Buss is a name synonymous with the Home Talent League and specifically Cottage Grove. From the age of 17 when he joined the Cottage Grove team as a player to age of 83 when he passed away, there hasn’t been a single year when Buss wasn’t somehow involved in the H.T.L.

After his playing days, Buss became the manager of the team. When he wasn’t on the field, he was the team’s business manager. And he would later join the league’s Board of Directors, a post which he held right onto the very end.

Daughter Becky Ilgin explains, “The very first thing he did when he was dying was resign due to health reasons. And that was in January.”

During the Saturday of the festival, the Buss family circled just outside the left field fence to reminisce about their father.

Each member of the family had their own favorite memory of their father. Becky remembers the family vacations their father would take them on to places like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. Daugher Carolyn Pohlman remembers the time she spent playing cards with him. Son Dennis remember the hours Dad hit him ground balls out in their front yard. And son Larry remembers preparing the baseball diamond for game after game with his father.

Grandson Scott Polman actually had the honor of playing during one of the nine Home Talent League titles Clarence Buss took part in. But Scott’s fondest memory of his grandfather was during the days after Clarence had retired from managing the team.

During the championship game of a National Baseball Congress tournament, Scott remembers, “Grandpa was actually standing behind the dugout rattling the fence because he wanted a pinch hitter to come in. I’ll never forget it. He was just hollerin’, shaking the fence hollering at the guy that was coaching then.

“At the time he wasn’t the coach, but he wanted to be.”

That story adds to the legacy that Clarence Buss would give to Cottage Grove baseball.

“For some people, it’s just Sundays,” said Scott speaking about the day Home Talent League teams traditionally play on. “For grandpa it was every day of the week …December first he’d be talking about baseball – who was playing next year, who wasn’t playing next year. He was always concerned about those teams. He cared about the league too, but this was his baby.”

As the family was talking, the current version of the Cottage Grove baseball team was beating Rio on the ballpark adjacent to them dedicated to their father, Clarence Buss Field. Only a day later it would be Clarence Buss Day at the Firemen’s Festival like it will be every Sunday during the festival from here on out.

That day would be Father’s Day, appropriately.

Next weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Waterloo at Marshall on Sunday June 22 for the annual Marshall Festival.

Photo caption: Cottage Grove warms up before their game against Rio during the town's 77th annual Firemen's Festival

Photo credit: Brian Carriveau

Too much water for Waterloo

Here's the view of Firemen's Park in Waterloo after last week's treacherous

rains. That's the scoreboard in the distance. I'll try to update the status of teams around the league as I get more information.

The tourney is tops in Fort Atkinson

This past Thursday and Friday marked the beginning of the annual Fort Atkinson tournament that spans three weeks and culminates with the championship game being played during the city’s yearly Baseball Festival.

If only the coaches would have known that Sunday’s Home Talent League slate of games would have been wiped out by rain.

Had they had the foresight to predict the stormy weather the weekend had in store, they could have gotten their staff aces some pitching work during the opening round of games.

The Fort Atkinson tournament is considered one of the best amateur tournaments in the area, and most teams have to alter their schedule just to fit it in.

According to Stoughton manager Jim Winter, “I consider the Fort tournament just like a Sunday game where every team that comes here usually plays their Sunday starters except for maybe their pitcher. They’ll use their No. 2 or 3.”

Stoughton was able to get by Jefferson in the first round in extra innings, so Blue Devils manager Jeff Laesch knows just how competitive this tournament can be not only against Stoughton, but against the host team as well.

When asked if thinks this tournament is taken more seriously than the usual Thursday Night games, Laesch replied, “I think so, obviously with the five mile distance between Jefferson and Fort. And we’ve always had good success down here. So I think we probably do. It’s usually your starters that are playing in this tournament because it’s a big thing. It’s big crowds, and everybody likes to play on that Friday night of Fort Fest.”

Even though Jefferson lost during the opening round, they’re still alive and still have a chance to compete during the desired Friday night slot of the Baseball Festival on June 20 through the consolation bracket.

As an added bonus, there’s even a stipend that goes along with becoming the first or second place finishers in the eight team tournament as well as the only team that makes it through the consolation bracket undefeated.

The coaches insist it’s not about the money, though. They’re just glad to be getting good competition in a competitive environment.

Laesch was representative of the rest of the coaches when he said, “Mainly it’s kind of a bragging rights type thing. And it’s always good to win this tournament. Everybody’s always played in it for years. So I don’t think the money has anything to do with it. To be honest, we’d come over to the concession stand and spend it.”

That’s part of what the Home Talent League is all about. There’s sort of a gentlemen’s agreement among visiting teams to help support the hosts. On any given day, you’ll see the visitors supporting the home team and socializing with their opponents after nearly every game.

And it’s hard to pass up the chance to play at Jones Park in Fort Atkinson as well. Known as one of the best ballparks in the Home Talent League, the opportunity to play up to three games on a well-manicured diamond is too much to pass up.

“We just love playing here,” said Winter. “It’s obviously the best field in our section. They take really good care of it, it’s a great environment … and they always get good crowds.”

Next weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Cross Plains at Ashton on Sunday June 15 for the annual Ashton Picnic on Father's Day.

Brian Carriveau is writing a book about the Home Talent League this summer. He can be contacted at carriveau@uwalumni.com

Has hell frozen over?

Word on the street is that Jefferson's Justin Thiede has been traded to Fort Atkinson for a fungo bat and a player to be named later.

Tastes great, less filling

Dodgeville's Brandon Weier said he'd drink a beer for every one of pitcher Ryan Kussmaul's strikeouts. Not really. But we'd be proud of him if he did.

Dodgeville schools Ridgeway in annual Graduation Game

Chris Clerkin worked up a sweat acting as the bullpen catcher for the Dodgeville Knights on Saturday in a Home Talent League game that would count in the Sunday league standings.

And while Clerkin wouldn’t enter the game at Ridgeway on Saturday, he was the star of the show for friends and family less than 24 hours later when he strolled across the stage on Sunday to receive his diploma from Dodgeville High School.

Saturday marked the annual “Graduation Game” between Dodgeville and the Ridgeway Cardinals in a match-up of Western section of rivals that are separated by only about seven miles.

In a league that usually plays games on Sunday afternoons, these two teams annually agree to move this particular contest to the day before graduation due to both teams heavily drawing players from the same Dodgeville school district.

The two teams know that players, family and even fans are going to be attending the ceremony and ensuing graduation parties on Sunday. So rather than fight a losing battle, the game was moved to a mutually agreed up time the day before.

Clerkin, still young in regards to Home Talent, served a very particular role for the Knights in what would end up being a 4-3 win.

“(He) was our bullpen catcher today,” said Dodgeville manager Pat Reilly, “and would’ve caught if we had to go longer too.”

It turned out that Clerkin was nearly called upon as the game was tied 3-3 heading into the ninth. Luckily for Dodgeville, fellow graduating senior Danny Sullivan scored the winning run in the top half of the frame and the Knights would hang on to win.

Even though Dodgeville ended up winning this year’s version of the “Graduation Game,” each side has some favorite memories from the rivalry in years gone by.

“One year we 10-runned ‘em,” recalls Ridgeway manager Rich Hogan referencing the rule which calls for a game to end after only seven innings if a team is up by 10 or more runs. “That was the most memorable game. That was the biggest upset we’ve ever had with them. And then, of course, we went over there, and they beat us. But they tried to 10-run us and could only 9-run us. Other than that, they’ve always been like this. Real close.”

Reilly can remember another game between the adversaries that ended up in Ridgeway’s favor. And while Dodgeville didn’t end up winning, it remained memorable.

“There was one game here that we got beat in the 15th inning on a Saturday. We started at 3:00 because we had other things going on, graduation stuff going on. We played 15 innings before it was over.”

In a twist of irony, it was Dodgeville’s current first baseman Tony DeMuth’s father that ended up hitting the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 15th that put Ridgeway on top.

“I guess that’s a memory,” laughed Reilly who probably didn’t find it funny at the time but can now look fondly back at the game years later. It, no doubt, helped that the junior DeMuth contributed to this year’s victory.

No matter which team has won the game throughout the years, the intensity has been as memorable as the contest.

“When I first started playing, the bleachers were full, the sides were full, people were standing all over,” said Dodgeville veteran center fielder Gary James. “It was just crazy here.”

And if there happens to be any more one run games decided in the last inning, it’s sure to get just as crazy in the future too.

Next weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Cambridge vs. Utica in the opening round of the annual Fort Atkinson tournament on Friday June 6.

Photo credit: Brian Carriveau

Memorial Day migraine

Memorial Day is usually the first time of the season where a team really has a chance to prove its mettle.

It’s one of the few times all year when a team will have to double up likely on both Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend.

Anyone who follows Home Talent League baseball knows that there’s both a Sunday day league and a Thursday night league, but it’s the Sunday games that really count.

Each team’s staff ace usually takes the mound on Sunday except for the holiday weekends centered around Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. In order to complete the league schedule, the games played on these two holidays count towards the Sunday league standings.

Teams will need a secondary starter to fill those holiday games, and it’s those games that could decide who will win their section.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to maybe having another double up weekend because it really shows more of the depth that some teams have,” said Columbus manager Juan Guerrero. “You get to face some of the first and second tier pitchers instead of having a team ride one pitcher.”

Depth is exactly what will be needed in order to get through the weekend unscathed. In order to go 2-0 on Memorial Day weekend, teams will have to get a good performance from their No. 2 starter, not an easy task to do.

Pine Bluff knows the situation all too well. They rode their ace Justin Lambert to a complete game victory over Black Earth on Memorial Day, but they lost a tough game the day before to Plain when Brandon Carlin took the mound.

“(Carlin’s) from Mount Horeb, but he goes to school in LaCrosse so he just got done with college,” explains manager Jerome Krantz. “So he just came back last week.”

Many Home Talent League teams face the same problem. They’re short handed early in the season until a couple of their players get home from college for the summer. And then, like in the case of Carlin, they’re expected to pitch critical games on very little preparation.

Sauk Prairie takes the stance of having their staff ace pitch the first game of a double up weekend no matter who they’re playing according to playing manager Trent Sorg.

And it’s not as if Sorg is too proud to stray from that strategy. In addition to being Sauk Prairie’s manager, he’s also their No. 2 starting pitcher. Sorg gave the ball to Paul Lerenz on the first game of the weekend in a victory over Ashton. Lorenz ended up going all nine innings while striking out seven and issuing only one walk.

“On a double up weekend we usually play game to game,” said Sorg. “The first one comes, and that’s the one we shoot for. We play each game one at a time. We try not to look ahead too far. Paul’s our ace. He threw tonight because that was our first game. I’m probably going to throw the game Monday, but you have to play the game that’s in front of you and not look down the road.

“Anybody can beat anybody on any given day so that’s kind of how we look at it. You don’t want to look by anybody.”

Reedsburg, meanwhile, got a break. The Pirates had to play on Sunday with staff ace Jeremy Horkan who got them a complete game 8-2 victory over Middleton.

Lucky for them, their bye came on Memorial Day due to an odd amount of teams in the Northern section. And it’s not as if there’s a huge drop-off from their No.1 to their No. 2 starter, but, regardless, Reedsburg would have been without their No. 2 man if they had to play on Monday.

Their secondary pitcher is Steve Hedgepath who was understandably busy while suiting up for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater while competing in the NCAA Division III College World Series over the weekend.

So while some teams are struggling to stay afloat over Memorial Day weekend, Reedsburg has a 3-0 record in the Northern section of the Home Talent League. And they get Hedgepath back soon. That’s good news for Reedsburg and bad news for the rest of the H.T.L.

Next weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Lake Mills at Jefferson on Sunday June 1st

Photo: Middleton and Reedsburg stand at attention during the national anthem during Memorial Day weekend.

Photo credit: Brian Carriveau

Where's the pot of gold?

In a game that featured three rain showers in a weather shortened five inning game, it was mostly rain for Waterloo, but it was rainbows for Monona.

Monona beat Waterloo 14-5 to improve to 2-0 in the Eastern section of the Home Talent League.

A Norse victory

Friday marked the first of many important festival games on the Home Talent League schedule as Stoughton hosted rival Utica during the town’s annual Syttende Mai celebration.

The baseball game was just one of several events taking place in the Madison suburb that celebrates the Norweigan Constitution Day every year on the weekend closest to the seventeenth of May. And that’s exactly what “Syttende Mai” translates into in English, the seventeenth of May.

In fact, just about the time Stoughton was finished taking their pre-game infield practice before the game, the Norse Canoe Race was taking place downtown in Stoughton’s Division Street Park.

People would be crowded on the banks of the Yahara River to cheer on the convoy of canoes just about to prepare for the portage portion of the race.

When he was a little bit younger, Stoughton’s Scott Muehlemann was one of crazies taking part in the canoe race. Now he’s manning second base for the Merchants.

“I remember being in the canoe race one year with a friend of mine,” said Muehlemann. “That was in eighth grade. Now, unfortunately, I live out of town so I don’t get a chance to live it up too much.”

Syttende Mai is the major social event of the year in Stoughton. Almost everyone in town seems to participate in the pageantry somehow. For some it’s braving the cool spring waters on a canoe. For others is taking part in a Rosemaling exhibition. Even the youngsters get involved.

“I remember being in it when I was really, really young,” recalls Muehlemann. “They dressed me up in some Norweigan outfit even though I’m German. And they threw me out there in the parade one year.”

Nowadays Muehlemann is doing his best just trying to beat Utica, the opposing team every year during Syttende Mai weekend.

For the sake of comparison, it’s kind of like Green Bay versus Minnesota in professional football. Except Stoughton are the Vikings, naturally.

“Most of (Utica’s) players are from Stoughton, too,” explains Stoughton manager Jim Winter. “So there’s a natural built-in competitiveness. We play them here, and then we play them at their festival, Utica Fest, which is the first weekend in August, which is the last regular season game of the year.”

Stoughton catcher Marc Movrich has seen the game from both dugouts. He played for Utica for seven years, but after moving away from the area and since moving back, he’s joined his hometown Stoughton Merchants.

“I’ve been playing in the Syttende Mai game either when I’ve been playing for Stoughton or Utica since I was a junior in high school,” explains Movrich. “It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s definitely I think one of the bigger rivalries in Home Talent between the Stoughton and Utica teams.”

However, it’s been a rivalry that hasn’t meant much for the Merchants lately.

“This is my seventh year coaching, and we’ve only beaten Utica once on Syttende Mai,” explains Winter. “And it wasn’t actually on Syttende Mai night. It was a rain out makeup where we beat them. So we’ve always struggled in this game.”

But Friday was different. Behind both the pitching and hitting of former Wiota standout Ryan Van Haden (pictured), the Merchants were able to down Utica 12-8.

Van Haden went six strong innings for Stoughton while notching four strikeouts and earning the win. He was just as effective at the plate going three for four with two doubles. Two of those three hits banged off the outfield fence.

Performances like that just might make Stoughton a tough team to beat when they play the return game at the Utica Festival when a playoff berth could be on the line. But no matter what happens, they can take solace in the 2008 Syttende Mai victory.

“We always tend to get really tense, really tight in this game,” said Winter. “So yeah, to win this game is very important.”

Next weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Deerfield at Evansville on Memorial Day. Free hot dog and soda for the first 500 fans!

Photo credit: Brian Carriveau

Dodgeville pitcher gets pro attention

In just a matter of weeks, Dodgeville pitching phenom Danny Sullivan will be transitioning from high school baseball to facing some of the best adult amateur players in the area in the Home Talent League.

That’s merely a hop compared to the quantum leap he could be making if he gets selected in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft. Sullivan is being courted by several MLB teams, and it’s possible he could be a mid-round draft choice when the draft gets underway on June 5th.

“Right now I’ve been talking to some pro scouts, and they’ve been coming to a couple games,” said Sullivan. “The draft is in early June, so I’m just waiting to see what happens there.”

The Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds are among the teams that have scouted Sullivan and could possibly draft him.

But even if the Brewers, just for example, draft Sullivan, it doesn’t mean he’ll be sitting in the dugout next to Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun anytime soon.

It’s not quite as simple as that. The baseball draft doesn’t exactly resemble that of the more popular drafts for the NFL or the NBA.

The players who get drafted in the NFL are superstars well before they get to the professional game. They’ve made a name for themselves playing college football. And football has a rule where athletes have to be at least three years out of high school before they get drafted.

In the past, teams in the NBA were allowed to draft kids just out of high school. Now they have to be at least one year removed. And with only two rounds in the NBA draft, only about 60 some players get drafted at all.

Baseball is a different beast altogether. First of all, there are 50 rounds. It’s a necessity that teams stock their multiple minor league farm teams with good, young talent. Even relatively obscure high school players who aren’t well known outside their conference get drafted with regularity.

But if a player like Sullivan gets drafted, there’s no guarantee he’s going to sign a contract with any team that drafts him.

Only if he gets an offer he can’t refuse, will Sullivan sign on with a Major League team. In fact, Danny has a backup plan.

“He definitely is going to go to Hill College and play,” explains father Bob Sullivan.

Hill College is a two year junior college located in Texas, where Danny plans to matriculate this fall. And that suits him just fine.

In both football and basketball, junior college is seen as a place where maybe an athlete can’t cut it at the Division I level, but that’s not the case with baseball.

At a four year institution, a player might be asked to sit the bench while he develops in an effort to contribute his junior and senior years. At a two year school, an athlete will play right away. There’s no time to wait.

“The coach is the main reason I’m going there,” said Danny. “His philosophy is to gain three to five miles per hour within your first year. And down south, there’s the University of Texas, there’s Baylor, there’s Texas Tech. You’ve got your big schools, and a lot of scouts are down in Texas. There’s areas where the Yankees come and watch you, and big time teams come and watch you.”

Danny estimates he’s already throwing somewhere in the range of an 89 to 91 mph fastball. Add three to five mph to that, and his arm will be major league ready.

If Danny does happen to get drafted, he may decline the opportunity in hopes that he will be an even higher draft choice in the future. In baseball, it’s not uncommon to be drafted two years in a row.

Players enrolled in a two year college can be drafted in either their first or second year, while players enrolled in four year schools can’t be drafted until after their junior year. That’s just another reason Danny and his family has made the choices they’ve made.

In the meantime, Danny will be focusing on finishing his senior year of high school in both the classroom and on the ball diamond. The Home Talent League is on the horizon this summer, and the unknown is beyond that.

“I’m very excited to see what’s going to happen,” said Danny.

This weekend’s Home Talent League road trip: Utica at Stoughton on Friday May 16 at 7:00 for the Norwegian Syttende Mai Festival

Photo credit: Brian Carriveau

No-no deserves a thumbs up

Argyle started off their season in dramatic fashion with a no-hitter.

Ben Wallace and Jarret Baumann combined to no hit Blanchardville and strike out 15 batters in what would lead to a 3-0 victory.

Wallace started the game and went five innings, where going the distance would be a daunting task so early in the season. Baumann came in relief and got the save to preserve the no-no.

The performance deserves two thumbs up. One for Ben, and one for Jarret. Congrats, guys!

Monona's bats come alive

Defending Home Talent League champion Monona had to wait a week to get its season underway, but the week off didn’t seem to hurt. They got past Rio on Sunday by a score of 12-2.

The rest of the Eastern section got their season underway seven days earlier, but Monona was forced to postpone their game at Waterloo due to a wet field with the diamond being so close to the Maunesha River. Thus, their opening day was pushed back to May 4th.

Being the defending champions and with several players back, Monona is sure to be a favorite once again. They don’t figure to have many weaknesses in their game, but if their performance in an exhibition tournament in Fort Atkinson in mid-April was any indication, scoring runs might be an issue.

Monona lost both games that weekend by a combined score of 14-4. They lost to host Fort Atkinson in the opening game 5-4, although they took a 5-0 deficit into the last inning. And in the consolation game they lost 9-0 to Middleton. Not exactly the type of production you’d expect from the last year’s grand champions. And not exactly the type of performance you’d want to carry into the regular season.

Now that the games count, forget any concerns about scoring runs. Veteran Monona manager Greg Strangstalien explains there was a good reason the team didn’t put many tallies on the board in the pre-season. Up to five guys who would be regularly in the lineup were missing at some point that weekend. Three of them were still in the midst of their season playing for Edgewood College in Madison.

“We know that while they’re at college, they’re swinging the bat,” said Strangstalien. “So once they come back, they’re going to be in mid-season form. It’s just the other guys that haven’t played as much, they know they have to pick it up.”

And pick it up they did. With the game complete after seven innings because of a 10 run lead, Monona put up plenty of runs highlighted by homeruns by both third baseman Alex Bauer and catcher Shawn Burcum.

And once some of those missing players return that Strangstalien hinted at earlier, the lineup should have even more potency. And it won’t take that long. On the same day that Monona started their season, Edgewood College ended theirs.

Edgewood failed to qualify for the Northern Athletics Conference playoffs, which means that Dan “Boomer” Gugel will be eligible to play next week for Monona. Gugel was the Eastern section’s leading hitter a season ago with a .467 batting average.

So while Strangstalien was, no doubt, rooting for some of his collegiate players to succeed, you can’t blame him if there was some small part of him that didn’t see it as a total loss.

“This is a different team,” said Strangstalien after the victory over Rio. “We have most of our starters. We’re still missing one, but most of our starters are here today. And these guys have been around long enough that when it’s time to play, they’re ready to play.”

The offensive jolt was certainly a welcome addition for starting pitcher Zac Najacht.

“It’s great to come out the first game and see the guys hit the ball like that, definitely,” said Najacht. “It’s nice to jump on a team in the first inning when you’re pitching, and it feels good to get some run support right away.”

As last year’s playoff co-MVP as a pitcher, Najacht knows a thing or two about run support. And he’ll be jonesing for more of it as the season goes along.

Pictured: Third baseman Alex Bauer is congratulated after his homerun

Photo credit: Brian Carriveau