The day started out well, many cranks came to witness the match that was held on the grounds of the Pioneer Village in Cameron, Wisconsin. The St. Croix’s lost the toss of the coin and were sent to strike first. The St. Croix’s could not muster a hit of any kind and went down in order. The Onions took their strikes in their half of the first and tallied two aces.

The next inning saw the Onions add to their lead by having four players cross home plate. The St. Croix’s got on to the tally board by making one tally in their third, but the Onions made good use of miscues by the St. Croix fielders and tallied another two aces. The Onions tallied another two in their fourth making the score ten to one in favor of the Osceola nine.

The Onions defense made many outstanding plays in the field, receiving the much deserved “huzzah” from the assembled crowd. The Onions continued to hit the sphere hard – tallying another three aces in their fifth, two more in their seventh and another in their ninth.

The Minnesota collection of ball players finally had their hitting shoes put on in their seventh when they tallied twice and another three aces in their ninth – but too little to catch the hard hitting Onions. The final score of the match was the Osceola Onions 16 and the St. Croix’s 6.

For the St. Croix’s, Captain Peterson lead the way with three aces scored, Mr. Pfundstein tallied twice and Mr. Tholkes once.

The match was played with threatening skies, which unleashed it’s water during the second and third innings, which only affected the players with slippery bats and hard hit daisy-cutters – but the skies then retreated and a full nine inning match was completed.

The St. Croix’s won the toss of the coin and sent the Onions to bat first. The Onions, made up of some of the finest ballists in the area, quickly struck and tallied twice. The St. Croix’s answered in their half of the inning with one tally of their own.

The bats continued to work for the Onions as they tallied several more times in the next few innings with help from some miscues in the field from the St. Croix’s. Meanwhile the St. Croix bats turned quiet as the rains came and they could not send any of their strikers across home base.

In the fourth inning, the St. Croix’s exploded out of their hitting slump and tallied four times to bring the score to 6 to 5 in favor of the Osceola club. Osceola tallied another three aces in their fifth to make their total of nine aces for the match. The St. Croix’s tallied another four aces in their half of the fifth inning to tie the score at nine each.

The sixth inning saw the Osceola club tally seven runs and the St. Croix’s could not tally any in their sixth or seventh. In the eighth the St. Croix’s tallied one ace and in the ninth, the St. Croix’s had five strikers cross home base with another striker standing only 90 feet away as the tying ace.

Now the excitement was high pitched and the cranks on the side were nervous as Scott “Bear Trap” Foss approached to strike. Two hands were down and the pitch was made, Mr. Foss, who had already tallied one ace in the inning took a mighty swing and the ball traveled into the air and nestled into the hands of an Onion fielder – ending the exciting back and forth match with the score of Osceola 16 and the St. Croix’s 15.

For the St. Croix’s, Mr. Jurek tallied four times, Mr. Peterson tallied 3 times, both Mr. Nelson and Mr. Foss crossed the home base twice, and Mr. Pfundstein, Mr. Cagley, Mr. Ebnet and Kid Liberty tallied once.

The St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled to the village of Melrose on a sticky Sunday afternoon for a match against the local picked-nine. Those in attendance of our ball club were Misters Maurer, Pfundstein, Cagley, Sjogren, Ebnet, Arpi, Ernst, Tholkes and Nelson.

The match was played in a beautiful green meadow with some puddles and many gravestones as a cemetery was visible in the distance. The deceased, and those present and alive, were treated to some fine striking in the first two innings by the men from Washington County with four aces, while holding Melrose to two.

Like the doldrums of this summer day, both clubs’ bats became quiet and only Melrose could muster one more ace in their fourth. After which, both clubs were fleet of foot in their respective fields preventing their opponents from touching the home plate.

The ninth and final turn at the line for Melrose proved interesting. The first hand down recorded was that of a Melrose gentleman striking a sky ball where the man made his second and then found himself meandering off his base whereupon Mr. Tholkes, who was in possession of the ball, alertly tagged this man while he was off his base. The second and third hands down were soon recorded and The St. Croix’s found themselves victorious four to three.

Tallying for our club today were one ace each by Misters Maurer, Pfundstein, Ernst and Nelson.

Many spectators and a band were present during the match. We enjoyed the folks from Stearns County and hope to have another match there soon.

The St. Croix Base Ball Club traveled to the fair city of Northfield, MN in Rice County to cross bats with the Silver Stars on Independence Day.

The sun was shining and old Main of St. Olaf College was looking over the match as a mother hen would do with her chicks. The toss of the coin was won by the home club and they sent up to bat the St. Croix’s.

Mr. Pfundstein and Mr. Cagley both had clean hits to the outfield and Mr. Ebnet drove his two team mates in with another clean strike of the ball. The St. Croix’s ended their portion of the first inning with two aces scored. The Silver Stars were not able to crack the defenses of the St. Croix’s in their half of the first making the score 2 to 0 in favor of the visitors.

The St. Croix’s could not score in their second but the Silver Stars tallied three times to take the lead 3 to 2 after the second inning. There was no more scoring until the fourth inning when Mr. Cagley tallied another ace for the St. Croix’s which tied the score at three.

In the sixth inning Mr. Peterson crossed the home plate for the St. Croix’s giving his club a 4 to 3 lead. In the Silver Stars half of the sixth inning they tallied three times, regaining the lead after six inning at 6 to 4. The St. Croix’s tallied twice in their half of the seventh to again tie the score at six apiece.

The Silver Stars in their half of the eighth inning, with two hands down and two players on base, had nearly the third hand out when a poor throw, coupled with several other poor throws allowed three Silver Stars players to cross home plate and moved into the lead 9 to 6. The St. Croix’s were not about to go down without a fight, after a great defensive play by the Silver Stars, St. Croix striker Mr. Cagley hit a hard daisy-cutter that forced a poor throw and allowed Mr. Cagley to score for his club. It was thought that the St. Croix’s might come back, but the defense of the Silver Stars stiffened and ended the match with the third hand being retired.

The final score of the match was Northfield Silver Stars nine aces to seven aces for the St. Croix Club.

Mr. Cagley scored all four times he was at the bat, Mr. Pfundstein, Mr. Arpi and Mr. Peterson accounted for the rest of the scoring for the St. Croix’s.

The St. Croix’s attacked early with three tallies in the first frame, but were answered with two by the Silver Stars. The hurling of the sphere with prominence then took over for both clubs until the middle of the match when all seemed to change.

The Silver Stars in the middle frames then begun to strike the ball with accuracy and strength and soon thereafter, Northfield had tallied nine. It was not until the eight inning, when The St. Croix’s plated two. The final score of the match was Silver Stars nine, St. Croix’s five.

Aces tallied for the St. Croix’s were one each by Mr. Smith, Mr. Ebnet, Mr. Cagley, Mr. Stash and Mr. Pfundstein. Our club has graciously accepted a challenge in Northfield later in the year on our nation’s birthday.

The first match versus the Roosters was a successful one. Mr. Lavigne, a gentleman new to our club and a man of much height and strength, struck the ball with might and fielded his position with elegance and this seemed to inspire the men from Washington County to perform in a fine manner. When all was said and done, the St. Croix’s were victorious ten aces to three.

The second match was versus the Apple Jacks and included many well-placed daisy cutters and sky balls by our club. The weather was cool that day so the men legged their bases with ease eleven times, while the Apple Jacks had none.

“Slow Trot” hurled the sphere with accuracy and deception and is to be commended for his fine play. Tallies were kept by Mrs. Ohm, but the captain failed to recollect the number of aces recorded by each individual. What was etched into memory was the breaking of two St. Croix bats (one of which was owned by Mr. Cagley) by the young Mr. Foss on two separate occasions.

We enjoyed the fellowship of our opponents and look forward to an engagement with them later in the year in Rochester.

St. Croix’s and Baltics hold a fine exhibition of ball at Midway Stadium

The St. Croix Base Ball Club played on the grass of Midway Stadium for the first time on Monday, May 23rd. The St. Croix’s have played at Midway before, but both times the field was covered in snow and the temperatures hovered around zero degrees.

The St. Croix’s showed some fine hitting and base running, and at the end of their lineup Mr. Rich “Aces” Arpi provided the bases loaded triple that scored three for the St. Croix’s which gave them four aces in their inning. The Baltics had some strong hits right at the St. Croix fielders, but also placed a few where the St. Croix defense could not get to. The Baltics tallied three times in their inning, giving the St. Croix’s the victory for the exhibition.

The match was held before the St. Paul Saints and Fort Worth Cats match of the Northern League. The St. Croix’s and Baltic’s will meet again on August 7th at the Washington County Fair in Baytown Township.

The four aces that were tallied for the St. Croix’s were scored by Mr. Jurek, Mr. Robinson Jr., Mr. Peterson and Mr. Nelson.

St. Croix’s edged by Afton in Season Opener

On a beautiful, but windy spring afternoon, the St. Croix Base Ball Club played a match game against the Afton Red Socks.

The clubs called the “Striker to the Line” and the match began before several scores of citizens from that area. The St. Croix’s were first to be at the bat and with several mighty swings tallied the first two aces of the game, with Mr. Pfundstein and Mr. Ebnet scoring after some heavy hitting by the St. Croix’s.

The Afton Club tied the score with two aces of their own in the bottom of the inning making sure to let the St. Croix’s know this was going to be a close match until the final inning.

The score remained the same until the fourth inning when Mr. Robinson for the St. Croix’s tallied an ace giving the St. Croix’s a one run lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning the Afton boys tallied three times to take the lead 5-3.

In Afton’s fifth inning, they made some hits that found cracks in the St. Croix’s defense and several miscues by the St. Croix’s defenders led to six aces for the Red Socks. The Afton Club added another ace in their sixth and eighth finishing the match with 13 aces.

Although down by nine aces, the St. Croix’s fought back with three aces in their eighth, and in their ninth, had another rally going with another three aces until the Afton defense stiffened and got three hands out to end the match. The final score being Afton 13, St. Croix’s 9.

For the St. Croix’s, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Pfundstein and Mr. Ebnet all tallied two aces while Mr. Smith, Mr. Sjogren and Mr. Peterson all had one ace each. Another match at the same field will be held later in the summer.

The St. Croix Base Ball Club played the Afton Red Socks at Pettit Park in Lake St. Croix Beach on Saturday, May 2nd before an enthusiastic crowd.

Umpire Jody “Sidewinder” Ebnet called the two captains to home base where the toss of the stone was done to decide which club will strike first. The visiting captain of the St. Croix Club called the toss correctly and Captain Brent “Skinny” Peterson elected to have his club strike first.

The excitement of a new season brought out the best for the St. Croix strikers. Strong hitting in the first inning led to the St. Croixs scoring 6 aces and each man on the club had an at bat. The St. Croixs also proved worthy in the field with second baseman Patrick “Portsider” Pfundstein making two fine fielding plays for outs during the Afton half of the first inning. Afton was not able to tally a single ace during their at bats.

The St. Croixs continued the hard hitting in their second tallying another seven aces, while the Afton club struggled to find their hitting shoes and again were shutout in their half of the inning.

The visiting St. Croix Club would tally at least once in every inning and the Afton Club finally found their stride in the eighth and ninth innings when they tallied once in each inning.

Some of the fielding highlights for both clubs were when Ollie “Catfish” Wier made a leaping one handed catch at third base and then stepped on the base forcing another St. Croix base runner making two outs on one play. For the St. Croixs center fielder Marty “Squirrel” Jurek made some exciting running one handed put outs of the Afton strikers.

The hitting honors go to St. Croix player Leon “French Revolution” Lelign who crushed the ball several times sending the sphere over the fence and into the adjoining property. He also tallied five aces for the club. Dan “Basher” Cagley tallied five aces and Mr. Jurek and Adam “Meister” Smith tallied four times each.

The final score of the match was the St. Croix BBC 28 and the Afton BBC 2.

Quentin “Rock” Wittrock leads off the match for the St. Croix BBC

Marty “Squirrel” Jurek stands at Second base after a well struck ball.

Erik “Sugar” Sjogren takes a mighty swing.

Mr. Wittrock plays at the third base as Dan “Basher” Cagley plays shortstop for the St. Croix BBC

“Kid” Liberty pitching for the St. Croix nine.

The Saint Croix Base Ball Club began their 2009 season at Midway Stadium in St. Paul against a combined St. Paul Saints and celebrity contingent on February 28th.

The match began with the sound of the St. Croix player Liberty singing the Star Spangled Banner which is the custom of the home club. The umpire for the match was Mr. Tholkes and with a tossing of the stone at home base to determine who would strike first, the Captain of the St. Croix’s, Mr. Peterson, correctly called the toss and elected to have his club strike first.

The first inning saw both clubs getting used to the footing and striking conditions that several inches of powder snow makes on the playing field. No aces were made by either club.

The second inning had the St. Croix’s again scoring with no aces in their half of the inning but the strong hitters of the Saints came to strike and were able to tally twice in the inning. In the third, the St. Croix’s countered with two aces of their own with strong hitting and some fancy base running, with Mr. LaVigne and Mr. Sjogren tallying for the St. Croix’s.

The St. Paul club tallied two more runs in their third, again taking the lead in the match by the score of 4 to 2. The St. Croix’s again had some fine base hits and were able to take advantage of several miscues by the fielders and had Mr. Robinson and Mr. Maurer tally to tie the score at four each.

The rest of the match featured several fine outs on the fly by both clubs. In the final inning the St. Paul club had a man on every base and there were two hands down. One of the Saints strongest hitters was at the bat but lofted a soft fly to the left field where it was securely caught.

The match was ended after the fifth inning as previously agreed upon by the captains of both clubs.

The several thousand cranks that were on hand to witness the spectacle believed it to be one of the finest matches of ball they had witnessed this season and it is hoped by all that another match will take place in the future.

The final score was 4 aces for the St. Paul Saints and 4 aces for the St. Croix Base Ball Club.

Members of the St. Croix and Quicksteps Base Ball Club pose with the Twins Mascot, TC Bear.

Clubs line up before the start of the match

Marty “Squirrel” Jurek starts out the match for the St. Croix BBC

St. Paul Saints honorary captain for the match, Lee Valsvik, at the line to strike.

St. Croix BBC in the field.  Erik “Sugar” Sjogren at the first base.

Minnesota Twins mascot T.C. Bear at the line to strike.