Left: Rio Tersteeg gets set to deliver a blinding fastball in a recent game against the Twins. Above: Taking a mighty swing was Bear Foster. Little League games are played every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Pappy Wright Little League field. Staff photos/Laurie Johnson
Baseballs and softballs were flying over the fence at the second annual Home Run Derby at Pappy Wright Field held July 5th. Kids and adults of all ages took their shot at 10 swings for the championship.
Winners as follows: Nico Tersteeg – Parent Pitch; Hunter Rex – Little League; Kole Anderson – Babe Ruth; Derrick Siedel Jr. – High School Boys baseball; Abbie Crawford -High School Girls softball; Jessie Anderson – Adult Women softball; Bryan Carpenter – Adult Men’s softball.
Refreshments and games were for sale with all proceeds going towards the purchase of a scoreboard and other improvements to the Little League field.
Home Run Derby
The Home Run Derby (like the pros) signifies the halfway point of the season for both Parent Pitch and Little League.
The Lions lead the Parent Pitch standings at 1-0-1 after winning 30-16 in the June 11 opener and tying the Lumberjacks 25-25 on June 25.
Gary Thompson anchors the Lions with 3 home runs and 3 caught pop flies as well as numerous other plays in the field.
The Wildfire are 1-1 after falling to the Lions in the opener and rebounding with a 24-19 win over the Lumberjack on June 18. The Wildfire feature five first year players who are helped along by the solid hitting veterans Eli Anderson, Lucas Peters, Nico Tersteeg, and Elliot Zimmer.
The Lumberjacks round out the teams at 0-1-1. Dwight Likiaksa led the Lumberjacks with two home runs in the June 18 game and although they lost, every Lumberjack got a hit. At this point any team could end up taking home the title. Games are played at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Little League
In Little League the Dodgers are on top at 4-2. They started the season fast with a 14-3 win over the Twins in the June 1 opener. Hunter Gomez led the way for the Dodgers with two triples. They dropped their second game to the Cubs 7-4 on June 16. The hard throwing combo of Ethan Tate and Amos Falter held the Dodgers’ big bats in check, each only allowing 2 runs for a combined one hitter, a Gomez home run in the sixth.
Next, the Dodgers picked up two more victories, starting with an extra inning 9-8 win over the Twins on July 25. Jacob Carpenter tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a two out double with Hunter Rex stealing home in the bottom of the seventh to seal the game. The Dodgers also won the July 2 rematch with the Cubs 12-5.
The Twins are in second place with a 3-2 record. The Twins first win was a June 10 nail biter against the Cubs won on Recko Skildums’ walk off double. The Twins trailed by a run in the bottom of the sixth but loaded up the bases for their cleanup man who did his job, smashing a pitch to the fence to end the game. They also took the rematch on June 18, 10-7.
The Cubs round out the standings at 1-4. With lots of baseball left to play these evenly matched teams will surely make the second half of the season interesting. The Little League plays Sunday and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
All-Stars
Finally the Cook County Vikings 12U All-Stars (a combo of Little League Stars from all local teams) headed to Superior, Wis. for the Superior Showdown the weekend of June 22-23.
The team played three games on the 22nd, starting the two-day tournament with a 17-17 tie versus Duluth 709. Gomez pitched well but too many errors by both clubs made for an interesting and high-scoring affair.
The Vikings followed that with a 13-3 route of Duluth Central/East with the big bats of Gomez, Carpenter, Falter, and Rex coming to life. They finished the day with a 13-5 loss to Rice Lake that set the table for the Sunday, June 23 playoff.
The team awoke to a gray morning hoping to sneak the games in before the coming storm. Falter pitched heroically as the rain started to fall and the Vikings were able to grab a 10-3 lead over Duluth 709 in the third before the downpour ended the weekend. They were granted second place but knew they had a good chance to take it all with ace Carpenter ready to pitch the final game.
This just in
On Sunday, July 7 the Twins vs. the Dodgers ended 14-13. The Twins led 10-7 in the top of the sixth but surrendered 6 runs to make the score 13-10 heading into the bottom of the inning. The Twins rallied when they loaded the bases and Skildum drove in two runs before racing home on a Macoy Fairbanks grounder that gave the Twins the victory.
The Dodgers then went on to beat the Cubs 18-1 in the second half of the doubleheader. Carpenter played the game of the season with 11 strikeouts and was one out away from a no hitter in the bottom of the sixth when Rio Tersteeg lined one to center. Carpenter also managed two over the fence home runs (one grand slam) to end the holiday weekend that started and ended with dingers.
See you at the field!
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