On the surface, a baseball game that ended with a score of 29-6 doesn’t appear to be anything to remember.
But there were some interesting events that came out of Jackson’s First Nite League amateur baseball win today (Sunday).
Two of those are going to be hard to find anywhere except a Minnesota townball field. They’re the kind of moments that are unique to the state and have made the sport special for more than a century.
The other is rare at any level of baseball.
Here’s what happened:
Jackson had a battery (pitcher-catcher combination) where the catcher was three times the age of the pitcher. Talan Holm, who is 15 years old and just completed his freshman year at Jackson County Central, pitched the sixth inning for the Bulls. His catcher was 46-year-old Blaise Jacobsen, who was a Jackson Blue Jay last century.
Heron Lake had a father-son duo as corner infielders (first and third base). Keegan Klontz started at third base for the Lakers and his father, Dana Klontz, came into the game late to play first base.
Jackson had a player who reached base eight times. Andy Wolf had six hits, was hit by a pitch and walked once. He had five runs batted in and scored three times.
For Jacobsen and the Klontzes, it’s the second time they’ve been part of a rarity in a Jackson-Heron Lake game.
In 2019 there was a father-son matchup at Wacker Field in Jackson when Keegan was playing for the Bulls. He was pitching when Dana pinch hit for Heron Lake. The kid got his old man to ground out to third.
Then in 2020 in Heron Lake, Blaise had an opportunity to play catcher with his son, Gavin, on the mound.
Only in townball.
Look for more on the Bulls staying undefeated on the young season in a future newsletter.
