Martin County West’s baseball team will play in the Howard Schmidtke Wood Bat Tournament Friday and Saturday at Veterans Field in St. James. The tournament is a three-team round-robin event.
The Mavericks play the host Saints at 7 p.m. Friday and United South Central at 2 p.m. Saturday. The final game at 4 p.m. Saturday has St. James Area facing USC.
MCW is 3-7 on the season after a 10-0 win in six innings over Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s. SJA is 10-4 after losing two games at Luverne Thursday, 8-1 and 11-4.
The Rebels are 7-8 following an 8-2 loss to Hayfield.
The tournament is named for Howard Schmidtke, who coached at St. James and Lake Benton.
He coached the Saints for eight years, winning six district and four section championships. St. James won the Class A state title in the two-class format in 1979. Schmidtke also coached the St. James VFW team to a state title in 1978.
He’s a member of the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.
HOWARD SCHMIDTKE WOOD BAT TOURNAMENT
At Veterans Field, St. James
Friday
St. James Area vs. Martin County West, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Martin County West vs. United South Central, 2 p.m.
St. James Area vs. United South Central, 4 p.m.