Manager Scott Bahr and the Jackson Bulls have never been known to back away from a challenge.
In addition to the always tough league schedule, the Bulls routinely schedule several nonleague games against teams like Blue Earth, Lamberton and the Milroy Yankees and also schedule nonleague games against league opponents like Luverne and Hadley.
New to the nonleague schedule is the next team on the schedule, Larchwood.
That starts a tough stretch of three games in five days. The other two games in that run are at Wacker Field as Luverne comes to town on Father’s Day and Fairmont visits on Wednesday.
The combined record of those three teams? 23-3. Luverne is 9-0, Larchwood is 8-1 and Fairmont is 6-2.
On Saturday the Bulls will venture into Iowa when they travel to Larchwood for a 3 p.m. game vs. the Diamonds.
Larchwood started the season with eight straight wins before losing 4-3 at the Tea, S.D. Stream on Wednesday after getting out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
Prior to that, the Diamonds won the Pipestone Pepsi tournament last weekend, beating the Dawson Drakes 12-1 and the host A’s 12-2.
The Larchwood team was established in 1894.
The Diamonds are members of the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association and won the state title in 1959. Larchwood has also finished second four times, the most recent in 2017.
There are a couple of connections to the Bulls with the Diamonds.
Spirit Lake native Mitch Peschon played a season with Jackson. He’s maybe best remembered for hitting a home run over the Wacker Field scoreboard in left-center.
Peschon played college baseball at Northwestern College and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. His college coach was Brian Wede, who also plays for Larchwood and coached current Bulls players Shad Wacker and Evan Olesen.
Peschon is hitting .348 this season with a .609 slugging percentage. He has three doubles and three home runs among with 16 hits.
Wede is a pitcher for the Diamonds and has a 5-0 record with an earned run average of 1.22. In 37 innings he has allowed seven runs (five earned) on 28 hits, walked six and struck out 38.
On Sunday, Gopher League-leading Luverne Redbirds, who are 8-0 in league play. Luverne has been to the state tournament four straight years.
Wrapping up the stretch is Fairmont on Wednesday.
The Bulls own a half-game lead over the Martins in the First Nite League standings. Jackson is 7-2 while Fairmont is 6-2.
The Martins will host both Ruthton and Pipestone on Sunday.
Early start
The weekend schedule gets off to an early start with a pair of Friday games.
There’s a league game in Lakefield as the Frogs host Heron Lake at Stan King Field as part of the Summerfest activities. Pork chops on a stick will be served.
Also Friday is a nonleague game with a lot riding on the outcome as the Windom Pirates travel to Leavenworth to play the Orioles in the “Battle for Schlomann’s Spikes.”
Former Windom coach Brad Schlomann played for Leavenworth while he was in high school and college, and also later for Windom. He came out of retirement in 2021 for the Pirates at Leavenworth and left his spikes on the mound after the game as an official sign of his retirement from amateur ball.
The spikes were then turned into a traveling trophy with a beautifully crafted carrying case.
Standings
First Nite League
Jackson Bulls 7-2
Fairmont Martins 6-2
Windom Pirates 5-4
Lakefield Frogs 5-4
Heron Lake Lakers 2-6
Fox Lake Foxes 2-7
Mountain Lake Lakers 1-5
Gopher League
Luverne Redbirds 8-0
Milroy Irish 7-2
Hadley Buttermakers 4-3
Worthington Cubs 3-7
Pipestone A's 1-5
Ruthton Royals 1-5
Upcoming schedule
Friday, June 16
Heron Lake at Lakefield, 7:30 p.m.
Windom at Leavenworth, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 17
Milroy Irish at Green Isle Irish, 10:30 a.m.
Milroy Irish vs. Stockmen’s Irish at Green Isle, 1:30 p.m.
Jackson at Larchwood, 3 p.m.
Sunday, June 18
Luverne at Jackson, 2 p.m.
Windom at Mountain Lake, 2 p.m.
Pipestone at Fox Lake, 2 p.m.
Ruthton at Fairmont, 2 p.m.
Ruthton at Fox Lake, 5 p.m.
Pipestone at Fairmont, 5 p.m.
Heron Lake vs. Mountain Lake at St. James, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 21
Fairmont at Jackson, 7:30 p.m.
Hadley at Windom, 7:30 p.m.
Heron Lake at Worthington, 7:30 p.m.
Mountain Lake at Fox Lake, 7:30 p.m.
Milroy Irish at Luverne, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 23
Fairmont at Hanska, 7:30 p.m.
Marshall at Pipestone, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 24
Worthington at Hadley, 1 p.m.
Minneota at Hadley, 4 p.m.
Region 13C gets another state berth
At its recent meeting, The Minnesota Baseball Association’s Board of Directors voted to add an additional state Class C tournament berth to Region 13C.
For a number of years, the region, which consists of the 13 teams in the First Nite and Gopher leagues, received three spots in the state tournament. That number has been increased to four.
The region was first in the state in attendance and gate receipts from its region tournament and was rewarded by the board for doing so.
The playoff format will remain the same.
There will be five best-of-three series in the league playoff round. The first-place team from the First Nite League receives a bye into the region tourney, along with the top two teams from the Gopher League.
The teams in the region tourney field will be seeded 1-8 by the managers with the usual format of No. 1 seed vs. No. 8 and No. 4 vs. No. 5 on the top half of the bracket, with 2 vs. 7 and 3 vs. 6 on the bottom half.
Winners of those series will be guaranteed a spot in the state tournament. The teams will play the tournament out to seed the teams 1-4 for the state tourney. Region champions receive a first-round bye in the state tournament.
This year’s 100th anniversary state tournament is held over three weekends in late August and early September, concluding on Labor Day.
Delano, Dassel and Litchfield are the primary sites for the state tournament. Waconia will host some games the first weekend and will also stand ready if weather forces changes to the tournament schedule.
Eli Anderson
Fairmont High School graduate Eli Anderson is playing with the Maunesha River Rats of the Dairyland Collegiate League, based in Lake Mills, Wis.
He leads the league in hits with 11 in the team’s first six games. Anderson is batting .423 (11-236) with three doubles and one triple. He has walked five times, three runs batted in and five stolen bases.
Anderson has also made one pitching appearance and got a win in the River Rats’ 12-11, 10-inning victory over the Wisconsin Cheese Kings. He pitched two-thirds of an inning, did not allow a run or hit and struck out one.
The River Rats have a 3-3 record heading into a game tonight (Friday) vs. the Johnson Creek Mapaches.
Luke Becker
Fairmont grad Luke Becker is playing this season with the Frederick Baseball Club of the Atlantic League. In 41 games he’s hitting .231 (34-147) with seven doubles, one triple and three home runs. He has walked 32 times for a .370 on-base percentage.
Frederick has a 14-29 record.
Becker returns to Kentucky this weekend for a three-game series vs. the Lexington Counter Clocks. He played college baseball at the University of Kentucky and spent last season in the Atlantic League with the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes.