The schedules for amateur baseball teams in Region 13C has slowed down quite a bit for the holiday weekend.
Only three games are on the scheduled for Sunday and Fox Lake is involved in two of them.
The Foxes play at Ruthton at 2 p.m. and then Pipestone at 5 p.m. Also, Worthington is at Hadley at 5 p.m. followed by fireworks at dusk.
Jackson returns to play Wednesday at Fairmont.
The teams are tied in the loss column in the First Nite League. The Bulls are second in the league with a 12-5 record, while the Martins are third at 7-5. Windom is first at 13-3.
“We use May and June to to try to get ready for July,” Jackson Manager Scott Bahr said on Thursday (June 30) after the Bulls won a non-league game 3-2 over Lamberton at Wacker Field.
Jackson has an overall record of 14-6. The Bulls have two league games remaining (Fairmont and Pipestone) as well as three non-league games (Blue Earth, Wells, Luverne).
The Bulls defeated the Martins at home in their first meeting of the year on June 12.
“We hadn’t beat them in a few years and we beat them here,” Bahr said. You know they’re going to be ready for us. We’re second in the league and they’re third, so that game is going to have a big impact not only on the league standings but probably also the region seeding if we’re able to get past that first round.”
Lakefield made its way to a longer holiday break with a couple of home wins this week, beating Heron Lake 15-4 on Wednesday at Pipestone 13-3 on Friday.
The Frogs (5-9) don’t play again until hosting Windom next Sunday.
The regular season ends Sunday, July 17 with the league playoffs starting on Wednesday, July 20.
There are seven teams in both the First Nite and Gopher leagues, so the top seed in each will receive a bye in the first round.
Standings
First Nite League
Windom Pirates 13-3
Jackson Bulls 12-5
Fairmont Martins 7-5
Fox Lake Foxes 5-7
Lakefield Frogs 5-9
Mountain Lake Lakers 2-8
Heron Lake Lakers 2-13
Gopher League
Milroy Irish 12-1
Luverne Redbirds 13-2
Hadley Buttermakers 9-4
Adrian A's 5-7
Ruthton Royals 4-9
Pipestone A's 3-10
Worthington Cubs 2-11
League games only
This week’s games
Sunday, July 3
Fox Lake at Ruthton, 2 p.m.
Fox Lake at Pipestone, 5 p.m.
Worthington at Hadley, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, July 6
Jackson at Fairmont, 7:30 p.m.
Heron Lake at Mountain Lake (St. James), 7:30 p.m.
Hadley at Adrian, 7:30 p.m.
Ruthton at Luverne, 7:30 p.m.
Milroy at Worthington, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 8
Fairmont at Fox Lake, 7:30 p.m.
Leavenworth at Windom, 7:30 p.m.
Milroy at Pipestone, 7:30 p.m.
Jackson at Blue Earth, 7:00 p.m.
Luverne at Marshall, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 9
Mountain Lake at Hadley, 2 p.m.
Adrian at Ruthton, 2 p.m.
Adrian at Luverne, 5 p.m.
Sunday, July 10
Adrian at Mountain Lake, 2 p.m.
Windom at Lakefield, 5 p.m.
Worthington at Fox Lake, 5 p.m.
Milroy at Hadley, 2 p.m.
Heron Lake at Luverne, 2 p.m.
Fairmont at Pipestone, 2 p.m.
Fairmont at Ruthton, 5 p.m.
Luke Becker update
Fairmont graduate Luke Becker is hitting .287 for the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes of the independent Atlantic League.
He’s 60-for-209 with eight doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 41 runs batted in. Becker has an on-base percentage of .368 and slugging percentage of .502.
Becker gained a pair of teammate with major league experience this week.
The Genomes signed of Khris Davis, who led Major League Baseball in home runs in 2018; and former big-league reliever Gabriel Moya., who spent two seasons with the Twins and appeared in 35 games in 2018.
And on another note, here’s Genomes Manager Mark Minicozzi getting ejected on Saturday.
Derek Shoen
Truman native Derek Shoen is hitting .292 for the Mankato MoonDogs of the Northwoods League.
He is 21-72 with four doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI and 16 walks and has an on-base percentage of .433. His slugging percentage is .472.