by Dennis Dalman
For the first time since 2017, the St. Joseph Joes will head to the State Amateur Baseball Tournament after a highly successful season and two solid wins at the Minnesota Region 11C Tournament in Sartell in early August.
The Joes’ region tournament wins over the Eden Valley Hawks (6-2) and the Luxemburg Brewers (7-4) qualified them for state competition, which will take place Aug. 17-Sept. 2.
The region tournament took place at St. Cloud Orthopedic Field in Sartell. In the final game of that tournament, the Joes lost to the Sartell Muskies (8-1), but the Joes will still get to play in the state tournament, representing Region 11C as the #2 seed.
Earlier, in playoff games held from July 17-28, the Joes battled their way to the tournament with wins over two of the three teams they played: Joes vs. Becker Bandits 6-1 and Joes vs. Clearwater River Cats 13-6. The team lost to the Monticello Polecats 4-2.
Earlier, the Joes ended their regular season with an overall record of 11 wins-8 losses and a stellar Sauk Valley West League record of 9 wins-3 losses – a record that vaulted them to second place in the league.
The team has long been a member of the Sauk Valley League West, Class C. Other team members of that league are the Sartell Muskies, the Sartell Stone Poneys, the Clear Lake Lakers and the Sauk Rapids Cyclones.
The teams in Sauk Valley League East are the Monticello Polecats, the Clearwater River Casts, the Becker Bandits and the Albertville Anglers.
The Cold Spring Springers belong to Sauk River Valley League, Class B.
In May, St. Joseph Joes player Ben Alvord was named “Player of the Month” in the league. He hit three homeruns, 13 runs batted in and a 400 batting average.
The team
Managed by Pat Schneider of St. Joseph, the St. Joseph Joes include the following players (in alphabetical order): Andy Ahlschlager, infielder; Ben Alvord, infielder; Charlie Atkinson, infielder/pitcher; Joey Atkinson, infielder/pitcher; Isaac Benesh, pitcher; Brandon Bissett, outfielder; Noah Bissett, outfielder; Brandon Bloch, infielder; Tanner Blommer, outfielder; John Huebsch, catcher; Peyton Joos, outfielder; Blake Kilanowski, pitcher/first baseman; Lukas Nyberg, pitcher/infielder; Andrew Rott, infielder/outfielder/pitcher; Jonah Schneider, infielder; Sam Schneider, catcher; Parker Schultz, infielder; Tanner Staller, second baseman/designated hitter; Kyle Taufen; Lukas Theisen, infielder/pitcher; Willie Willats, third baseman/first baseman; and Josh Wood, pitcher.
The following are the Joes’ wins and losses during league play this season:
July 14: St. Joseph Joes 9, Becker Bandits 0.
July 13: Clear Lake Lakers 10, Joes 9.
July 12: Joes 11, Sartell Stone Poneys 2.
July 10: Joes 6, Albertville Anglers 0.
June 26: Joes 10, Clear Lake Lakers 0.
June 23: Sartell Muskies 8, Joes 5.
June 16: Sauk Rapids Cyclones 10, Joes 9.
June 1: Joes 7, Monticello Polecats 3.
May 29: Joes 13, Sauk Rapids Cyclones 6.
May 19: Joes 12, Clearwater River Cats, 6.
May 18: Joes 6, Sartell Stone Poneys 0.
May 12: Joes 5, Sartell Muskies 2.
The following teams are the ones who competed in non-league play during the season:
June 30: Twin Ports Timbers (Duluth-Superior) 4, Joes 2.
June 9: Sartell Stone Poneys 3, Joes 2.
June 8: Jordan Brewers 8, Joes 2.
June 8: Joes, 7, Pearl Lake Lakers 0.
June 2: Twin Ports Timbers (Duluth-Superior) 11, Joes 4.
June 1: Joes 7, Monticello Polecats 3.
May 29: Joes 13, Sauk Rapids Cyclones, ????
May 22: Cold Spring Springers 17, Joes 9.
May 15: Joes 8, St. Augusta Gussies 1.
Some of the St. Joseph Joes huddle for a chat. In the middle is John Huebsch, catcher, who is also highly regarded for his guitar version of the National Anthem before some games.
