Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
June 23—Finally, A Winning Streak
Hello ECC Softball fans. Welcome to another exciting recap of ECC softball.
This was going to be an interesting week. The team was already starting in a bit of a hole. Kyle Small was not in town. On top of that, Coach (and centerfielder extraordinaire) John Quinlan was on vacation with his family and unavailable. Coaching duties fell onto the shoulder of rookie manager, Craig Butler. Sure, he’s a big guy and can carry the bag with all the bats in it, but what about the little things…the writing names in the batting order, the keeping up with the number of outs and the score, the shouting of important things like “okay guys, let’s turn two”—the things that make management a daunting task. How would Coach Butler do? Fortunately, Coach Quinlan took care of the hard part, making sure everyone was there. Pete Bjorlin arrived to do the pitching. An old friend, Brian Board, showed up from Seattle, and a new teammate, Jon Adsem, who recently returned to ECC from New York, joined the squad.
Some things, however, remained the same. Brian Wiersma homered (#5, for those counting at home) against St. Therese in game 1. Kit Housh, inserted into the #2 spot in the lineup by Coach Butler, responded by going 5 for 5 with 4 runs scored. Jon Volling scored 3 runs from the leadoff spot and made a number of fine plays in the outfield. Clint Talmo also crossed the pay station 3 times and Mike Mrosko turned in his usual outstanding job at shortstop. This was an exciting game on a hot and humid night at Freeman Park. St. Therese, on the back of an 8 run second inning, had a 10-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 2nd. This is when the ECC bats took over, highlighted by Wiersma’s dinger. 6 runs in the 2nd, 5 in the 3rd, and 5 more in the 4th. Pete Bjorlin also found his groove after the 2nd and held St. Therese to 5 runs over the final three innings. Big Innings took their toll on the clock and the game was called after an hour with 4.5 innings complete. Final Score: ECC 19, St. Therese 15.
Game 2 was more of the same for ECC, this time against Maynards. The only change made by Coach Butler for this game was the insertion of Jon Adsem into the lineup. Jon responded with 2 hits (including a triple) and a run scored. Kit Housh and Jon Volling continued their hot hitting by both going 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored. Brian Wiersma hit his 6th home run of the season. He has now homered in 3 consecutive games. The high point of the game, and perhaps the season, was the 11 run 3rd inning that saw ECC send 15 men to the plate. The highlight of the inning, from this writer’s point of view, was Craig “Wheels” Butler scoring from first on a double by Matt Dickinson. The fact that Craig was already gasping for air as he rounded second and headed for 3rd did not deter 3rd base coach Mike Mrosko from sending him towards home. Yes, he made it, and did NOT require medical attention. All but one member of the ECC team scored in the 3rd inning. Pete Bjorlin, backed by excellent defense all over the field, pitched a near flawless game. He threw shut out softball for 2 innings before ECC’s big inning gave him a commanding lead. After that, he gave up a total of 6 meaningless runs. Final score, ECC 19, Maynards 6. That’s it, sports fans. ECC is on fire with a 3 game winning streak heading into next weeks late game versus Westwood at 9 pm at the Excelsior Commons. Hope to see you there.
This was going to be an interesting week. The team was already starting in a bit of a hole. Kyle Small was not in town. On top of that, Coach (and centerfielder extraordinaire) John Quinlan was on vacation with his family and unavailable. Coaching duties fell onto the shoulder of rookie manager, Craig Butler. Sure, he’s a big guy and can carry the bag with all the bats in it, but what about the little things…the writing names in the batting order, the keeping up with the number of outs and the score, the shouting of important things like “okay guys, let’s turn two”—the things that make management a daunting task. How would Coach Butler do? Fortunately, Coach Quinlan took care of the hard part, making sure everyone was there. Pete Bjorlin arrived to do the pitching. An old friend, Brian Board, showed up from Seattle, and a new teammate, Jon Adsem, who recently returned to ECC from New York, joined the squad.
Some things, however, remained the same. Brian Wiersma homered (#5, for those counting at home) against St. Therese in game 1. Kit Housh, inserted into the #2 spot in the lineup by Coach Butler, responded by going 5 for 5 with 4 runs scored. Jon Volling scored 3 runs from the leadoff spot and made a number of fine plays in the outfield. Clint Talmo also crossed the pay station 3 times and Mike Mrosko turned in his usual outstanding job at shortstop. This was an exciting game on a hot and humid night at Freeman Park. St. Therese, on the back of an 8 run second inning, had a 10-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 2nd. This is when the ECC bats took over, highlighted by Wiersma’s dinger. 6 runs in the 2nd, 5 in the 3rd, and 5 more in the 4th. Pete Bjorlin also found his groove after the 2nd and held St. Therese to 5 runs over the final three innings. Big Innings took their toll on the clock and the game was called after an hour with 4.5 innings complete. Final Score: ECC 19, St. Therese 15.
Game 2 was more of the same for ECC, this time against Maynards. The only change made by Coach Butler for this game was the insertion of Jon Adsem into the lineup. Jon responded with 2 hits (including a triple) and a run scored. Kit Housh and Jon Volling continued their hot hitting by both going 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored. Brian Wiersma hit his 6th home run of the season. He has now homered in 3 consecutive games. The high point of the game, and perhaps the season, was the 11 run 3rd inning that saw ECC send 15 men to the plate. The highlight of the inning, from this writer’s point of view, was Craig “Wheels” Butler scoring from first on a double by Matt Dickinson. The fact that Craig was already gasping for air as he rounded second and headed for 3rd did not deter 3rd base coach Mike Mrosko from sending him towards home. Yes, he made it, and did NOT require medical attention. All but one member of the ECC team scored in the 3rd inning. Pete Bjorlin, backed by excellent defense all over the field, pitched a near flawless game. He threw shut out softball for 2 innings before ECC’s big inning gave him a commanding lead. After that, he gave up a total of 6 meaningless runs. Final score, ECC 19, Maynards 6. That’s it, sports fans. ECC is on fire with a 3 game winning streak heading into next weeks late game versus Westwood at 9 pm at the Excelsior Commons. Hope to see you there.
June 16—Another Day, Another DH split
Hello ECC Softball fans. Sorry for delay in a report but the talented author of these reports is on vacation and I am filling in.
Things were not looking great for your ECC softball team as 6:30 approached on Monday night. At game time, 8 men had arrived for the game and the clock was ticking towards a forfeit. Even after some valiant dialing by many, ECC was prepared for instant defeat. Fortunately, Kyle Small, with a keen eye for softball talent (and clothing sizes) found Aaron To quote from the “Johnny Bravo” episode of “The Brady Bunch”, Aaronfit the suit, or in this case, the uniform jersey. Aaron stepped in at catcher and performed admirably. In the 2nd inning, his bid for a base hit was thwarted by a nice play by the St. John’s send baseman. Reinforcements in the form of Patrick Stolz and Mike Mrosko soon arrived to even up the odds. The Convenanters jumped out to a 1-0 lead before surrendering 3 runs to St. Johns in the bottom of the inning. After taking a tieing up the score at 9 in the 3rd inning, ECC thought momentum was on their side. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. St. Johns scored 10 runs in the last two innings to take a 6 run lead into the 4th. ECC mounted a comeback scoring 3 quick runs. However, the late start and slow pace of the game proved to be the Covenanters undoing. The game was called because of the time limit with ECC on the short end of a 15 to 12 game.
Game two saw Coach Quinlan’s team at full strength, battling the team for Our Savior. This game was highlighted by the return of Brian Wiersma’s home run swing (#4 on the season), the clutch pitching of Kyle Small, and a 4 hit night by Craig Butler. Some stellar work in the field was turned in by many, including Matt Dickinson, who needed to keep his mind on the game while wondering if the phone call from Tina would come in saying it that the baby was on its way. The Covenanters jumped out to a quick lead, leading 7 to 0 after 2 innings. Four more runs in the 3rd inning staked Small to a 11-1 lead after 3 innings of play. After that, it was hold on tight as Our Savior fought back, chipping away at the lead. RBI by Brian Wiersma and Craig Butler in the 5th gave ECC enough insurance to hold on to a 13-10 victory.
So, another day, another double header split. After starting the season being swept for two consecutive weeks, ECC has fought back to split the last three double headers? Will this .500 ball continue or will your Covenanters find their stride and pull off a long winning streak? Only time will tell.
Things were not looking great for your ECC softball team as 6:30 approached on Monday night. At game time, 8 men had arrived for the game and the clock was ticking towards a forfeit. Even after some valiant dialing by many, ECC was prepared for instant defeat. Fortunately, Kyle Small, with a keen eye for softball talent (and clothing sizes) found Aaron To quote from the “Johnny Bravo” episode of “The Brady Bunch”, Aaronfit the suit, or in this case, the uniform jersey. Aaron stepped in at catcher and performed admirably. In the 2nd inning, his bid for a base hit was thwarted by a nice play by the St. John’s send baseman. Reinforcements in the form of Patrick Stolz and Mike Mrosko soon arrived to even up the odds. The Convenanters jumped out to a 1-0 lead before surrendering 3 runs to St. Johns in the bottom of the inning. After taking a tieing up the score at 9 in the 3rd inning, ECC thought momentum was on their side. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. St. Johns scored 10 runs in the last two innings to take a 6 run lead into the 4th. ECC mounted a comeback scoring 3 quick runs. However, the late start and slow pace of the game proved to be the Covenanters undoing. The game was called because of the time limit with ECC on the short end of a 15 to 12 game.
Game two saw Coach Quinlan’s team at full strength, battling the team for Our Savior. This game was highlighted by the return of Brian Wiersma’s home run swing (#4 on the season), the clutch pitching of Kyle Small, and a 4 hit night by Craig Butler. Some stellar work in the field was turned in by many, including Matt Dickinson, who needed to keep his mind on the game while wondering if the phone call from Tina would come in saying it that the baby was on its way. The Covenanters jumped out to a quick lead, leading 7 to 0 after 2 innings. Four more runs in the 3rd inning staked Small to a 11-1 lead after 3 innings of play. After that, it was hold on tight as Our Savior fought back, chipping away at the lead. RBI by Brian Wiersma and Craig Butler in the 5th gave ECC enough insurance to hold on to a 13-10 victory.
So, another day, another double header split. After starting the season being swept for two consecutive weeks, ECC has fought back to split the last three double headers? Will this .500 ball continue or will your Covenanters find their stride and pull off a long winning streak? Only time will tell.
Monday, June 16, 2008
A Grand Night at the Commons
Hello ECC fans. The second Monday night in June started out in grand fashion for Excelsior Covenant softball. On a picture perfect night at the Commons, our boys were pitted against Faith Presbyterian Church one word comes to mind, defense. Kyle Small was on the mound and by the end of the second frame, the score was knotted at 4 runs a piece. Little did we know that those would be the last runs that pitcher Small would give up in this contest as the eight players behind him flashed some serious leather. However, the bats seemed to be as cold as the defense was hot because ECC could only manage one run through the next four innings to lead 5-4. Fast forward to the top of the seventh and the script couldn't have been written any better as Steve Anderson and Tim Carlson, AKA the Thumper boys, started the rally off with two straight singles. After a screaming liner to the shortstop by leadoff hitter Jon Volling, Kyle Small filled the bases with a walk. Wanting to be a hero, first baseman Craig Butler got a bit over anxious and popped out to his counterpart setting up the ultimate scenario. Bases loaded, two outs and your team needing a big hit to break the game wide open and cleanup hitter Brian Wiersma delivered with a majestic shot into the night for a grand slam homerun giving his team a commanding 9-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Well, Faith Presbyterian Church continued to find the gloves of Excelsior defenders putting up a final goose egg giving ECC it's second straight win. Final Score: ECC 9 Faith Presbyterian 4.
In between games, the boys of ECC showed off another talent as they proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to Senior Pastor Steve Pitts who was amongst the many fans that came out to support the club.
Question? Could ECC sweep the doubleheader and make it three in a row? Answer. Not quite, but a great effort. After an exciting end to the first game, ECC took on the Catholics from St. John the Baptist Church. The strong defense from the first game didn't carry over to the next as St. John's tallied 4 quick runs in the opening frame. A two run double by first game hero Brian Wiersma and an RBI single by Kit Housh narrowed the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the inning. Over the next two innings the score was tied twice but by the end of the fourth, St. John's took the lead for good at 9-7. Unfortunately, the rally caps did not appear for ECC in this game as Brian Wiersma lined out to the left centerfielder with a man on the bottom of the seventh to end the game and give St. John's a hard fought 12-9 victory. A valiant effort that came up a bit too short.
Coach Quinlan and the guys will try start a new winning streak next week at Freeman Park starting at 6:30 and 7:30. Word is, the team will have a opportunity for revenge right away as they will play St. John's in the first game of the evening on June 16th. Hope to see you there.
In between games, the boys of ECC showed off another talent as they proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to Senior Pastor Steve Pitts who was amongst the many fans that came out to support the club.
Question? Could ECC sweep the doubleheader and make it three in a row? Answer. Not quite, but a great effort. After an exciting end to the first game, ECC took on the Catholics from St. John the Baptist Church. The strong defense from the first game didn't carry over to the next as St. John's tallied 4 quick runs in the opening frame. A two run double by first game hero Brian Wiersma and an RBI single by Kit Housh narrowed the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the inning. Over the next two innings the score was tied twice but by the end of the fourth, St. John's took the lead for good at 9-7. Unfortunately, the rally caps did not appear for ECC in this game as Brian Wiersma lined out to the left centerfielder with a man on the bottom of the seventh to end the game and give St. John's a hard fought 12-9 victory. A valiant effort that came up a bit too short.
Coach Quinlan and the guys will try start a new winning streak next week at Freeman Park starting at 6:30 and 7:30. Word is, the team will have a opportunity for revenge right away as they will play St. John's in the first game of the evening on June 16th. Hope to see you there.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Big Hits and Big Win
Hello ECC Softball fans. Can you remember the last tiime you heard about your local diamond dwellers? Let me refresh your memory. It has been 3 weeks since ECC played a softball game. Way back on May 12th, the covenanters took the field against the young Mudhens and St. Therese. Thanks to an unpredictable wind and a thin roster of 9 players, the Mudhens outlsugged ECC winning 28-16. In the second game, one more player arrived for our boys to give Coach Quinlan a full squad on the field but the result was the same as St. Therese won 22-7. Fortunately for ECC, the schedule makers allowed for an adjustment period with a bye followed by the Memorial Day weekend.
Now, we come to last Monday where a light drizzle seemed to fall all night long as ECC faced Ridgewood Church and Westwood Gray. The first game started out with Ridgewood getting out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. By the third inning, Excelsior had erased that deficit and even took a brief 4-3 advantage highlighted by first baseman Craig Butler's 2 run double over the right centerfielder's head. However, that lead was short lived as Ridgewood plated 8 runs in the bottom of the inning to ultimately put the game away. Over the remainder of the innings, our boys mounted a valiant comeback highlighted by LF Brian Wiersma's first homerun of the season but the team eventually lost 12-9.
The second contest of the rainy evening began with Westwood jumping out to a 5-0 lead against pitcher Pete Bjorlin. However, the first inning proved beneficial for both teams as the covenanters scored 4 runs of their own to trim the deficit to one. The lead changed hands several times in the middle innings highlighted again by Brian Wiersma hitting his second round tripper of the night and the season giving ECC a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, by the bottom of the sixth, the score was Westwood 13 ECC 10 and it looked Coach Q and the team were going to start the 2008 campaign 0-6. Nothing could be further from the truth because the never say die covenanters mounted a huge comeback. The boys scored 5 runs compliments of another ringing 2 run double by Craig Butler, and RBI double by Brian Wiersma and a RBI triple by shortstop Mike Mrosko. Final score ECC 15 Westwood Gray 13. A special thanks goes out to Dave and Bonnie Clawson, Dan and Carleen Wiersma and Marvin Bjorlin for coming out to support the team despite the rainy conditions.
Next week, the team tries to continue their winning ways at Excelsior Commons starting at 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.
JQ
Now, we come to last Monday where a light drizzle seemed to fall all night long as ECC faced Ridgewood Church and Westwood Gray. The first game started out with Ridgewood getting out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. By the third inning, Excelsior had erased that deficit and even took a brief 4-3 advantage highlighted by first baseman Craig Butler's 2 run double over the right centerfielder's head. However, that lead was short lived as Ridgewood plated 8 runs in the bottom of the inning to ultimately put the game away. Over the remainder of the innings, our boys mounted a valiant comeback highlighted by LF Brian Wiersma's first homerun of the season but the team eventually lost 12-9.
The second contest of the rainy evening began with Westwood jumping out to a 5-0 lead against pitcher Pete Bjorlin. However, the first inning proved beneficial for both teams as the covenanters scored 4 runs of their own to trim the deficit to one. The lead changed hands several times in the middle innings highlighted again by Brian Wiersma hitting his second round tripper of the night and the season giving ECC a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, by the bottom of the sixth, the score was Westwood 13 ECC 10 and it looked Coach Q and the team were going to start the 2008 campaign 0-6. Nothing could be further from the truth because the never say die covenanters mounted a huge comeback. The boys scored 5 runs compliments of another ringing 2 run double by Craig Butler, and RBI double by Brian Wiersma and a RBI triple by shortstop Mike Mrosko. Final score ECC 15 Westwood Gray 13. A special thanks goes out to Dave and Bonnie Clawson, Dan and Carleen Wiersma and Marvin Bjorlin for coming out to support the team despite the rainy conditions.
Next week, the team tries to continue their winning ways at Excelsior Commons starting at 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.
JQ
Monday, May 12, 2008
The 2008 Season has begun
Yes, ECC Softball fans, the 2008 Softball season officially began on Monday, May 5th with a doubleheader at the Excelsior Commons. Your local men of the diamond started out against the two Lutheran teams of the league, Our Savior and Minnetonka Lutheran respectively.
Let's just say the first game did not feaure enough highlights or innings to spend a lot of time discussing in this recap. In fact, all I can really say about the game was that Pete Bjorlin made his debut on the mound and Our Savior Lutheran seemed to enjoy what he was throwing because the final score was 18-2 in a five inning contest.
The second game of the evening, against Minnetonka Lutheran, turned out to be a much better representation of what to expect from ECC. Kyle Small towed the rubber in this contest and the first inning proved to be beneficial for both teams as five runs crossed the plate in each half inning. In the middle innings of the evening, Minnetonka Lutheran touched the pentagon a few more times then ECC to build a 12-8 lead. However, there was a nifty 4-6-3 double play turned by Matt Dickinson, Luke Wiersma and Craig Butler to prevent any more Lutherans from scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning. Unfortunately, Minnetonka Lutheran had more luck than ECC as the final score was 16-12.
All in all, it was good first week of the season. Mother Nature cooperated, nobody got hurt and fan support for ECC was absolutely fantastic. At both games, I saw many people young and old in the stands cheering and supporting the men of ECC. I hope to see you next week at Freeman Park starting at 6pm.
Let's just say the first game did not feaure enough highlights or innings to spend a lot of time discussing in this recap. In fact, all I can really say about the game was that Pete Bjorlin made his debut on the mound and Our Savior Lutheran seemed to enjoy what he was throwing because the final score was 18-2 in a five inning contest.
The second game of the evening, against Minnetonka Lutheran, turned out to be a much better representation of what to expect from ECC. Kyle Small towed the rubber in this contest and the first inning proved to be beneficial for both teams as five runs crossed the plate in each half inning. In the middle innings of the evening, Minnetonka Lutheran touched the pentagon a few more times then ECC to build a 12-8 lead. However, there was a nifty 4-6-3 double play turned by Matt Dickinson, Luke Wiersma and Craig Butler to prevent any more Lutherans from scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning. Unfortunately, Minnetonka Lutheran had more luck than ECC as the final score was 16-12.
All in all, it was good first week of the season. Mother Nature cooperated, nobody got hurt and fan support for ECC was absolutely fantastic. At both games, I saw many people young and old in the stands cheering and supporting the men of ECC. I hope to see you next week at Freeman Park starting at 6pm.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
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