Although the blue team (alumni who graduated after 2008) soundly defeated their older white team counterparts (graduates before 2008), everyone had a great time and players posed for team photos afterwards. The White Team: (L-R, front) Kyle Ford ‘05, Ben Larson ‘05, Tryg Waterhouse ‘99, Craig Horak ‘99, organizer Arleigh Jorgenson. (L-R, back) Dennis Burton ‘74, Andy Borud ‘07, Travis Van Doren ‘00, Jeff Plahuta ‘07, Noah Waterhouse ‘99, Troy Berneking ‘00, Rick Tavernier ‘00, Jake Hammond ‘00, and Nick Hingos. The Blue Team: (L-R, front) James Groth ‘09, Taylor Baham ‘08, Jacob Rude ‘09, Owen Anderson ‘16, Joe Borud ‘07, Rory Bakke ‘16. (L-R, middle) Daniel Ditmanson ‘11 and Will Petty ‘11. (L-R, back) Colin Everson ‘13, Sammy Warren ‘08, Cody Everson ‘08, Jamie Wick ‘15, Casey Everson ‘08, Richie Furlong ‘15. (Not pictured: Stephen Hahn, ’06, Dylan Quaife ‘12, Brandon Donek ‘07, John Fagerman ‘08, Danny Ford ‘07.)
“I am convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile.” Tom Clark
Baseball, as Arleigh Jorgenson said, “is a young man’s game!” Yes, but the inverse of that is that every “old” man becomes young again when he wrestles on his baseball glove, dons his rumpled baseball cap, picks up his weathered baseball and slowly trots out onto the baseball field where in his dreams, he’s moving gracefully like a cheetah across the field.
And so it was for some of the older guys who participated in the first annual Cook County High School Alumni Baseball Game played on the appropriately named Arleigh Jorgenson baseball field on Friday, August 5.
“There was a lot of trash talking from the old timers,” Coach Jorgenson said. “But the younger guys were a little steadier. The final score was something like 15-8. A seventh inning rally made it respectable as the older guys scored seven times in the seventh inning.”
Throwing up a lot of dust, Casey Everson (No. 15) tried to slide under Travis VanDoren’s tag at home plate.
Not only was it a chance for former CCHS players to play, it was a chance to showcase a playing field that had been totally revamped over the last couple of years.
Coach Jorgenson said, “One player replied, ‘Wait, what, infield grass? This is disrupting my sleep, I am so excited!’”
Jorgenson said the game was the perfect occasion to celebrate the newly upgraded infield and dugouts and to thank the Minnesota Twins for Community Fund Grants of $10,000 in 2014 and $5,000 in 2000.
The classes of 1999 and 2000 were well represented. “They were the group that started it all,” Coach said. “It was back in the day when parents and players brought their shovels and wheelbarrows and a mound was built.
Jorgenson explained, “The county highway department brought in a grader and cut the infield back a little and the school, as part of their effort to enclose the campus, agreed to make their new enclosure into an outfield fence. Special thanks to many, but Dean Berneking, Don Noyes, Lyle Anderson, and Chuck Futterer were among the movers that made it happen.”
Taylor Baham fields a throw as Andy Borud slides head first into second. Borud was safe on the play but his uniform needed a good washing after the game.
In 2000, the Cook County Soccer Association received a grant to build an all-purpose field between the baseball and the football field. The highway department agreed to do more dirt work and created a new and separate athletic field, and a full sized right field.
“The Minnesota Twins came through with their first grant of $5,000, which was spent on topsoil, something of a rare commodity in these parts,” said Jorgenson.
Another dream to be fulfilled was for infield grass. A fundraising effort in 2007 raised $7,000, but everything was put on hold as the location of the YMCA was debated. The money was placed in an “Infield Upgrade Account.”
In 2014, Rick Crawford put forth a budget that included a considerable amount of “in kind” resources, and an application to the Minnesota Twins for $10,000 was accepted.
Glove on his knee, Sammy Warren seems to be daring Troy Berneking to take a lead off of first base. Berneking played on the first CCHS baseball team.
Just as the Fisherman’s Picnic of 2014 ended, Crawford and his crew got started.
Home plate was raised 18 inches, as was all the foul territory surrounding the infield.
The dugouts became dugouts, and safety fencing was installed in front of each.
Jorgenson said, “There were many significant financial contributions from many families, and once again, as they have so many times, the Booster Club came through as well. Hours and hours of volunteers finished the project.
“Special thanks have to go out to Steve Wick, Bob Baker, Dave Furcht, and Tom Nelson. There are many, many others to thank as well, too many to name, but thank you to everyone who made this happen.
“And, finally, last fall, when our infield grass had three low spots creating ponds when it rained, Superior National offered us some beautiful sod from a T-box that they had to remove, and our ponds were eliminated.
“The timing was perfect for an alumni baseball game,” Jorgenson said. “It was a great reunion, and introductions between players of different eras. This field can rightfully be claimed by this entire group of players and their parents. It belongs to all, alumni players, present players, and most of all, to the players of the future,” said Jorgenson.
“It is rather humbling to witness how quickly time moves on.”
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