The Winsted Wildcats traveled to Gaylord on Saturday, to take on the Lonsdale Aces in the first round of the 2009 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tourney. It was a great day for Wildcats fans!

The Wildcats absolutely pounded the Aces, 10-1. Stellar pitching and HOT, HOT bats proved to be way too much for the Aces to handle.

Lonsdale started off the scoring in the 1st by notching a lead off base hit, followed by a couple of bunts/errors. The errors occurred when Wildcats starting pitcher Josh Anthony (Watertown Red Devils draftee) cleanly fielded the bunts, but decided to throw the ball hard at the runner instead of at the base (apparently that technique is taught in Watertown). Coach Schultz took a brief moment to instruct Anthony, and after that, it was "lights out" for the Aces.

Anthony pitched 8 killer innings, striking out 11 and only allowing 3 hits (he's good). Mike Mueller (Hamburg Hawks draftee) finished off the 9th by hitting the first batter with a 42mph curve ball (you know, to send a message) and then notching a couple of strikeouts. It's always nice when 13 out of the 27 outs come by way of strikeouts.

In regards to the Wildcats hitting....Wow! What more can you say? Once again, the Wildcats potent offense overwhelmed their opponent's pitching. It took the Wildcats a couple of innings to get the bats going, but once they got through lineup once, it was game on. Wildcats RF Greggy Kohler led the hitting attack by going 3 for 4, including a rocket, line-drive homer to LF. Kohler also showed his speed on the base paths by picking up a stolen base. Josh Anthony contributed to his cause by going 3 for 5 with a couple of long doubles and 2 RBI's. Joe Kley chipped in 3 RBI's as well. Every Wildcat hitter picked up a hit with the exception of catcher Nic Haller (Mayer Blazer draftee). Haller hit the ball hard, but each time, was at an Aces fielder. He did manage to get on-base by getting hit by a pitch right in the head. The ball almost landed in fair territory (would that have counted as a hit?). Anyway, I'll talk more about Haller's punishment for not picking up a hit later.

And now, (drum roll please).....The Game Awards

The "Un-Sportsmanship State Tourney Award": Although the State Tourney isn't over, I'd like to prematurely award this to Chauncey Herbolscheimer. Carlos said he's "sick of hearing about the best sportsmanship award" and has vowed to spew nasty rhetoric to opposing players going forward.

The "Quote of the Game Award" goes to: Who else? Greggy Kohler....History will show that one of the Kohler Brother's wins it almost every single game. I made the statement during the game that "both Kohler Brother's had picked up a stolen base by the 6th inning." Greggy's response: "Yeah, that's cuz we're *#&#$% fast!"

The "Best Hazing of a Draftee Player Award" goes to Matt Klitzke. As I mentioned earlier, Mayer Blazer's draftee Nic Haller was the only starting player to not record a hit in today's game. After the big win, I was coerced to stay out and celebrate with the fellas instead of going home, but I needed a ride home. Haller offered but needed directions on getting from Gaylord to Arlington. There was my opening! I decided to have Haller drive from Gaylord to HWY 212 to Glencoe then to Arlington. Having him drive 20 miles out of his way should "learn him."

ESPN's "Play of the Game Award" goes to pitcher Josh Anthony. Seriously, bare-handing a liner, then turning a double play with it all from the mound? The crowd oooo'd and awwwd over that one!

"Best Bar Special After a Big Win Award" goes to New Germany's "Down South" bar. $1 domestic bottles of beer? And no limit on how many you purchase at a time (Haller grabbed 3)? I swear, when we walked in there and saw the special, it was like hearing angelic church music and asking, "is this heaven?"

Alright I'm done....Big game Friday night...Let's keep this train a rollin'!

- Wildcats28Guy

PS...Check out the Wildcats "Twitter" page (http://twitter.com/WinstedWildcats). Since it is 2009 and technology is readily available, and the fact that I have plenty of free time sitting on the bench, I decided to provide "tweet updates" during the games. It's probably a bit much, but I received quite a few positive messages regarding the updates. Spread the word and get signed up on Twitter...