In baseball, or in life (and some may say that baseball is life) things don't always go perfectly.
It may not have been perfect, but everything went very well Saturday evening for the Jackson Bulls.
With Ryan Rasche tied for the team's all-time lead in career wins and the start of the league playoffs looming on Wednesday, the decision was made to have Rasche start the game on the mound with limits of two innings or 25 pitches.
Rasche went two innings and threw....wait for it....25 pitches, got some run support as Jackson put crooked number on the scoreboard in each of the first two innings on the way to a 9-4 nonleague win over the Milroy Yankees at Wacker Field.
"This game was more kind of a tune-up going into the playoffs," Rasche said. "Scott asked if I wanted to throw some and I said I'd like to and treat it kind of like a bullpen and I had a pitch limit so I only went two innings, but you play to win and pitch it just like any other game."
It won't be officially official until all teams in the First Nite and Gopher leagues complete their regular-season schedules Sunday evening (five games start at 2 p.m. and one game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start), but it appears that Jackson will open a best-of-three series with Tracy on Wednesday at Wacker Field.
"Today was more so focusing on throwing all the pitches, making sure location and everything was working well as we go into Wednesday for the playoffs," Ryan commented. "Getting the win is always nice and it's exciting to get that 73rd and surpass the great Tom Hady.
"Joining the team 15 years ago as a 16-year-old kid and you're just in awe of getting to put the jersey on and play with the likes of Tom Hady and Wade Wacker, Tom Schuller and Kip Wachal and on and on. Back then I wouldn't have thought about this, but it's exciting that I've been able to play as many years as I have and be on some good teams and get to this point."
In his two innings, Rasche allowed two hits and struck out one before leaving the game.
His work wasn't done for the day though. He spent time catching some of the four pitchers who would follow him to the mound in the bullpen and dragged the field after the game to get ready for the Pony League game that followed.
"Like we always talk about, Ryan is Mr. Consistency," said Jackson manager Scott Bahr. "Ever since he started pitching here, the Bulls have gone as Ryan goes.
"I'm happy for him and proud of him," Bahr continued. "This was one of those short starts where we had where it was a set rotation where he was only going to throw two innings or 25 pitches and be ready to go Wednesday. We had locked up two seed and we're going to be at home to start the playoffs and we definitely want to have him ready to be our Game One starter---again---for I don't know how many years in a row and we were hoping he could get the record-breaking win on that night, but we'll take it. Maybe we can start putting some distance on that number and maybe even get a few more wins this year."
Lucas Gardner, Kevin Holm, Sean Minder and Gabe Wolff also pitched for Jackson Saturday.
The Bulls scored four runs in the first and three in the second for a 7-0 lead. The lead became 9-0 on Chris Gumto's two-run home run in the fifth. Milroy scored three in the eighth and one in the ninth to cut into the margin.
Gumto walked three times in addition to his round-tripper.
Evan Olesen and Blaise Jacobsen each had two hits and walked once for Jackson.
Shad Wacker had a hit and walked twice. Nate Monson also had a hit for the Bulls.
Jackson will close out its regular-season schedule at 2 p.m. Sunday by hosting Adrian at Wacker Field.
"It's going to be a great day. It's a league game. Adrian is still playing for positioning so the game is going to mean something for them" Bahr said.
While Jackson has locked itself into position for the league playoffs, down the road it could have significance.
"What a lot of people have to remember and I have to remind my dugout is that this game means something to us, too," Bahr said. "We've got number two locked up, but that's only in the first round. We seed for the second and third rounds, so it's a vote and every win matters. Adrian has beat some good teams this year, so it will be a good test for us. If we could happen to get a win that's going to increase our chance of getting a higher seed."
Representatives from Next Era Energy Resources will be on hand to throw out the first pitch and they'll be presenting a sponsorship check. There will be a singer for the national anthem, a concession stand will be available and there will be face painting behind the grandstand.
As is always the case in Jackson during the regular season, no admission is charged.
Standings
First Nite League
Windom 18-2
Jackson 13-7
Lakefield 11-8
Fox Lake 10-10
Heron Lake 7-13
Worthington 5-14
Mountain Lake 5-14
Gopher League
Luverne 18-2
Milroy Irish 17-2
Hadley 14-5
Pipestone 10-9
Adrian 7-11
Ruthton 7-12
Tracy 4-15
Sunday's schedule
Adrian at Jackson, 2 p.m.
Lakefield at Hadley, 2 p.m.
Tracy at Heron Lake, 2 p.m.
Windom at Milroy Irish, 2 p.m.
Worthington at Pipestone, 2 p.m.
Ruthton at Mountain Lake, 5 p.m.