In this edition, we take a look at the final day of the regular season for Region 13C amateur teams, have updates on pitchers Gavin Jacobsen and Brandon Williamson and the Twins are hosting a youth baseball clinic in Heron Lake.
Final day
Heading into the final day of the regular season for amateur baseball teams in Region 13C, 10 of the 12 teams are locked into their position for the league playoff round. The only spots open are the fifth and sixth spots from the First Nite League.
Fairmont shut out Heron Lake 11-0 Saturday to clinch the number one seed in the FNL. Windom will be the number two seed. The Martins and Pirates receive byes into the region playoffs.
Jackson is locked in as the No. 3 seed and Lakefield will be the No. 4 seed.
Heron Lake and Fox Lake are tied for fifth.
The Lakers will be the No. 5 seed if the Foxes lose at home to Fairmont. If the teams are tied, Heron Lake holds the tiebreaker on the basis of having the better record within the First Nite League.
The Lakers are hosting the Milroy Irish today.
Meanwhile the Gopher League positions are set. The fifth and sixth seeds were still open early this morning, but Pipestone forfeited its game at Windom today.
Luverne and Milroy are the top two seeds and earn byes to the regional. Hadley will be the third seed and Worthington fourth.
Ruthton will be the fifth seed and Pipestone sixth. The Royals and A’s split their regular-season games, but Ruthton holds the tiebreaker by having one more Gopher League win.
Standings
First Nite League
Fairmont Martins 14-3
Windom Pirates 13-5
Jackson Bulls 12-6
Lakefield Frogs 8-9
Heron Lake Lakers 6-11
Fox Lake Foxes 6-11
Mountain Lake Lakers 0-18
Gopher League
Luverne Redbirds 15-1
Milroy Irish 12-4
Hadley Buttermakers 11-5
Worthington Cubs 5-12
Ruthton Royals 4-12
Pipestone A's 4-13
League playoff round matchups:
Pairings for the league playoff round. Each is a best-of-three series.
1 FNL (Fairmont) has bye
2 FNL (Windom) has bye
3 FNL (Jackson) vs. 6 Gopher (Pipestone)
4 FNL (Lakefield) vs. 5 Gopher (Ruthton)
5 FNL (Heron Lake or Fox Lake) vs. 4 Gopher (Worthington)
6 FNL (Heron Lake or Fox Lake) vs. 3 Gopher (Hadley)
2 Gopher (Milroy Irish) has bye
1 Gopher (Luverne) has bye
Bulls at home Sunday
The Jackson Bulls will try to put an end to a two-game skid today when they host the Milroy Yankees in a 4 p.m. nonleague game at Wacker Field.
Jackson lost at Fairmont Wednesday and at home to Hadley Thursday.
The Bulls are 15-8 overall, while the Yankees are 15-4. Milroy is third in the Corn Belt League with a 10-3 record, trailing Raymond (12-1) and Bird Island (9-2).
The Yankees have a rich tradition that dates to 1945. Milroy has played in the state tournament 30 times, winning the title in 1954 and finishing second in 1994.
Jacobsen update
Jackson County Central graduate Gavin Jacobsen has made two appearances with the St. Cloud Rox of the Northwoods League, a relief appearance at home vs. Duluth and a road start at Willmar.
He’s pitched five innings, allowing six runs on six hits, walking five and striking out six. Jacobsen has an 0-1 record.
St. Cloud is tied with Willmar for first place in the second half Great Plains West Division standings with a 7-4 record.
The Rox are at Duluth today, off Monday and will then head to North Dakota for games at Minot vs. the Hot Tots Tuesday and Wednesday.
Corbett Field in Minot, built in the 1930s through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, has a unique setup as the teams' dugouts are behind home plate in the base of the grandstand, rather than along the foul lines:
Williamson’s next start
Martin County West graduate Brandon Williamson is scheduled to make his first start after the All-Star break Monday when the Cincinnati Reds host the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park. Game time is 6:10 p.m. Minnesota time.
It will be his first start since July 6 at Washington.
Williamson is 1-2 on the season with a 5.21 earned run average. In 46 2/3 innings he has allowed 30 runs (27 earned) on 44 hits, walked 19, hit one and struck out 38. Opponents have a .246 batting average.
It’s his 11th career start for the left-hander, his sixth at home. He’s also started one game apiece at Colorado, the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Washington.
Cincinnati hosts the Brewers in the final game of a three-game series this afternoon. Milwaukee has won the first two games, 1-0 Friday and 3-0 Saturday.
The Reds are 50-43 on the season, one game behind 51-42 Milwaukee in the National League Central.
In the Wild Card standings, Cincinnati is 1 1/2 games out of the final playoff berth.
Miami, Arizona and San Francisco hold down the Wild Card spots heading into today’s games. The Giants come in for four and the Diamondbacks for three to close out the Reds’ 10-game homestand.
Cincy then has a 10-game road trip, playing three at Milwaukee, three at the Los Angeles Dodgers and four at the Cubs.
Twins clinic
The Minnesota Twins are bringing a free youth baseball clinic to the area early next month.
The clinic, for ages 6-12, will be held from 4-6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at Laker Field (601 Chapman Ave.) in Heron Lake. The Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda baseball team is the clinic host.
For more information, go to playballmn.com.