Tourney guarantees Muskies will head to state

by Dennis Dalman

editor@thenewsleaders.com

The winning streaks of the Sartell Muskies and the St. Joseph Joes continued last weekend at Sartell’s Champion Field, guaranteeing both teams will enter the Class C State Amateur Baseball Tournament.

Last weekend was the beginning of the Region 1C Tournament in Sartell, co-sponsored by the Muskies and the Sartell Stone Poneys. Tournament play will continue this weekend starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, when the Muskies face off against the St. Joseph Joes. If the Muskies or the Joes emerge unscathed from the tournament this weekend, they will get a bye in the state tournament, meaning they won’t have to play in the first weekend of the state tourney.

Three teams from Region 1C will compete in the Class C State Tournament. The other team to do so will be decided this coming weekend.

The Region 1C tournament began last Saturday with eight teams. Rum River and Hinckley were eliminated in play. Now there are six: Muskies, Joes, Braham, Foley, Mora and the Sartell Stone Poneys.

On Saturday, Aug. 13, again at Sartell’s Champion Field, there will be three games played: at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. The next day, Sunday, the championship game will start at 1:30 p.m.

Last weekend was one of the most exciting times that ever took place in the long history of Champion Field. It was a locally historic event because it was the first time a Region 1C tournament was hosted there. Many of the large crowd of about 500 people who attended expressed pride in the facility, which has been a labor of love for many years by so many people who worked to make many improvements at the field. Some of the developers of the field and some of the first players on it from the 1970s attended the tournament last weekend.

On Saturday, the Muskies defeated Rum River, 10-1, with Adam Wenker pitching; next day they defeated the Sartell Stone Poneys, 11-2, with David Deminsky pitching. All told, eight games were played last weekend.

Four Muskies hit over-the-fence homeruns in their two winning games – players Tim Burns, Jace Otto, and brothers Jake and Luke Sweeter.

The Muskies’ season record now stands at 27 wins, two losses. The team won the Class C State Championship in 2013 and hopes for a chance to win it again.

“Last weekend (at Champion Field) was very much a success,” said Muskies Manager Randy Beckstrom. “The crowds were great, volunteers did a wonderful job, the baseball was good and the weather was awesome. It was unbelievable how many people were there. I’ve never seen that field that full before.”

Catering at the concession stand was provided by Trobec’s Bar of St. Stephen, with huge turkey legs and pulled pork the specialties of the weekend.

Kaye Wenker, mother of Muskies’ pitcher/player Adam Wenker, 25, said she was very proud of the Muskies and how well they played in the tournament. She, too, was impressed by the turnout and seeing so many people having fun at Champion Field.

“There were a lot of Little Leaguers there,” she said. “That was good to see. And some of the first workers who made Champion Field in the 1970s were there, and some of the first players on the field were there.”