YA plays the Hampton Cardinals in round 1 of the 2010 State Tourney at 1:30pm on Saturday 8-21 in Bird Island.

There will be a bus for fans, possibly 2 depending on prelim head counts. Please let Billy or Faye Ernst know if you would like to join in the ride. About $15/person, includes rides to and from Bird Island and refreshments on the bus.

Norwood Times Article 8-18, Cardinals go to State!.........
http://www.waconiapatriot.com/articles/2010/08/19/norwood_young_america_times/sports/sports01.txt

State Tournament Brackets:
http://www.minnesotabaseball.org/images/stories/2010CLASSC.pdf

State Tournament website (field info, maps, etc):
http://www.mnstateamateurbaseball10.com/
or
State Board's State Tournament webpage:
http://www.minnesotabaseball.org/index.php/state-tourney.html

Hampton Cardinals website:
http://www.eteamz.com/HamptonCardinalsbaseball/

Cardinals to STATE!
For the 1st time since 1992, the Cardinals are going to the state tournament. It took 12 innings, but YA finally got the win over Watertown on Saturday and beat Glencoe in Sunday's game 1.

Hampton 7, YA 0   Cardinals (9-9 league, playoffs 9-3, 19-116 overall)
     The Cardinals met their maker on Saturday, in the 1st round of the State Tournament when the Hampton Cardinals beat them 7-0. The score of the game doesn't dictate the competitiveness of this contest, as it was 1-0 heading into the 7th. That is when the wheels fell off for YA and Hampton exploded for 6 runs.
      This game was advertised as the Billy Soule vs Keith Meyers showdown and fans that came to watch were treated with a fine pitchers duel.
       Soule and the Cardinals took the first shot across the bow when #3 batter Ryan Giefer took a hangin slider and put just enough behind it to get over the left field fence. Hampton took the 1-0 lead and that is where it would remain for quite a while after.
       After the homer off of Soule in the 1st, the 2 pitchers showed their masterly of the baseball, using fastballs, curves and sliders to get opposing batters to ground out weakly or pop up a can 'a corn fly ball. But their best tricks were the "swing and a miss" or the backwards K.
        YA put a small ralley together in the 5th, when Adam Ernst led off with a double. With Franck up and his bat hot as of late they chose to swing him away instead of bunting the runner over, which now can be looked on as mistake. Meyers threw 3 pitches, now where near the plate and Franck flung weakly at all 3 for the 1st out. Then a groundball to short by Maschke had Ernst out at 2nd in a rundown play, which may have plated him if he were sitting on 3rd instead of 2nd.
        The heat seemed to were on Soule in the 7th, as a walk and an error put runners on 2nd and 3rd to start the inning. Then a single up the guy and Billy's day was done. Enter State Tourney vet Mikey Mueller. Hampton got a bloop single, then mixed in another Cardinal error and a Joe Robinson double and pretty soon those Cardinals had a comfortable 7-0 lead.
          YA would get singles from Adam Esselmann and Adam Kostecka in the 9th when Hampton put in their ace, but it wasn't enough and as the fat lady had already began signing on the Cardinals season.
         Meyers finished with 12 k's on the day and it was agreed upon by Cardinals players that they haven't seen pitching like that in a while. Soule finished going 7 innings, which is what the Cardinals hoped for out of him, considering he didn't see more than 3 or 4 per game pitching out of the pen for the U of MN Gophers in the spring.
        The Cardinals year end with them winning as many games in the past month (9) as they had in the 3 months of the regular season combined, this past month being against a higher level of competition as well. The goal in the beginning of the season was a State Tournament appearance, which began to fade during the middle of a pretty frusterating 2010 season for YA, not reallly losing bad games, but never really winning games against superior competition and getting over that hump either. Pair that with a nearly season-ending injury to their human highlight reel, Jonny Werner, right before the season and it wasn't looking good for the Cardinals. In the end, it wasn't Indians or Hawks or Devils or Brewers that put the Cardinals in their grave, but another set of Cardinals.
        For some of the guys, this run to State was a gasp of air for them, although it was full of smog as they were rejected in their 1st round game. For the young kids, hopefully it was a learning experience and enstilled a sence of winning in them, which they can use to build a successful tradition in Young Ameica for the years to come.
         The Cardinals have done it a few times already but once again would like to thank their fans for the unbelievable support over the past few weeks. Many have said that they didn't know that many people still cared about the YA Cardinals. It was great to see and definately gave us a boost during the regional tournament. 
        YA now looks to 2011 with the promise of adding a few more Central High Schoolers into the mix and adding another State Tourney run to their resume. There will be offseason activities for board members and players, and we will be in contact with you about those.

YA 5, Glencoe 3   Cardinals (9-9 league, playoffs 9-2, 19-15 overall)
     Both YA and Glencoe had more runs than hits in a bit of an odd game that was owned by 2 very impressive pitching performances. Grams threw for Glencoe and Kohls for YA. 
     YA got on the board early and put up a 3 spot in the bottom of the 2nd. After Kohls and Grams did away with the top of the order in the 1st, YA got a rally going in the 2nd, thanks to some shakey D on the Brewers part. With 1 out, Kramer reached via an error. After a Franck single with Kraemer moving to third, Kraemer then scored on what could have been a inning ending double play, but was booted around by the Glencoe SS. Later, Franck and Cook scored when Kostecka doubled on a hit and run play. Cook was moving at 1st and ran all the way around the bases to give YA the 3-0 lead.
       Grams started to assert himself and started to set down the Cardinals with ease after that. I about the 5th, Kohls found trouble by issuing a couple of walks. A 2 run double brought in the 1st Glencoe runs, but Kohls left the bases loaded, escaping massive damage.
         YA took a 2 run lead in the 7th, when Franck doubled home Kraemer, who scored from 1st with 2 outs.
         Former Cardinal Mitch Lang got that one back the next inning, when he led off with solo blast to left.
         Kohls pitched 7 and 1/3 strong innings for YA, allowing the 3 runs and only 3 hits. After draftee Nic Haller doubled off of Troy in the 8th, Franck came in and got 2 ground ball out  to keep the Cardinals in the lead.
        YA added 1 huge insurance run in the 8th, and the Brew Crew went down mildly in the top of the 9th, as the Cards secured their spot in the 2010 State Tournament.

          In the seeding game, YA threw up a stinker getting 10 runned by Loretto, but the celebration was already on. Loretto took MP ace Adam Gregg with the #1 pick and their final draft spot. YA took Billy Soule with their final draft spot. Soule should contribute to the Cardinals cause, even though he probably never heard of the YA Cardinals and we never met the kid. But, either way, welcome aboard Billy, we look forward to meeting you on Thursday night!

YA 8, Watertown 5 (12 innings)
    Watertown got about the best 1st inning they could have hopped for in this game. They got to Mike Mueller for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st with a couple bloops, a Cardinal error and a big 2 run double.
    Devils starter and team ace Justin Kohls cruised threw the Cardinal order early. Mueller also found his happy place and started doing away with Watertown hitters in ease the rest of the way as well.
     In about th3 4th, YA finally chipped away with a run and a Clint Aretz solo homer into the wind towards the right center gap got the Cards to within 1 run. 
     It took a wiley old veteran in Eric Ernst to tie the game, finally in the 8th. Mueller was still dominated Watertown batters, as they scored narey a run since the 1st. After a Werner walked, Chet Maschke doubled in the 8th to start the inning. Franck struck out and Cook grounded out to the pitcher. Then Ernst stepped up and with 2 striked, floated a single over the SS's head and plated pinch runner Kohls to tie it up.
      Mueller and Kohls both worked scoreless 9th and 10th innings. YA finally had to put in a reliever, which happed to be their team ace in Tony Burt. Watertown also put in a reliever in Jesse Brokyl. Both went 1-2-3 in their 1st inning of work. Then YA got a big rally. The Cards scored 5 runs thanks to a strong combo of hits, walks and Devil errors.
      Watertown came back with a 2 run homer from Jared Duske in the bottom of the frame, but that was all and YA moved on to face Glencoe the last state qualifying game.

YA 5, Maple Plain 4
What a thriller, if you love baseball this was a game for you. Heavy underdog YA beat heavy favorite Maple Plain 5-4 with a run in the top of the 9th to walk away victorious on Sunday, keeping hopes of a state tourney birth alive.
       On Wed night, YA handled Jesse Brokyl and the Watertown baseball Red Devils easily 10-1, where the draftee Mikey Mueller shut down Watertown for only 4 hits in 8 innings. Then YA look a hard lump to Loretto on Saturday, score of 7-0. They got shutout by Pat Lenton, who was hyped up, however maybe a little overhyped, but still got the job accomplished, allowing only 5 Cardinal hits on the day.
       Sunday was even steamier and hotter than Saturday, and YA had to come back and play for their playoff lives, against a heavyweight in Maple Plain. Things didn't look good for YA from the get-go as starting pitcher Kohls suffered from extreme heat exhaustion before the game. Coach Kohls called on Kostecka, and Stacks delivered. He threw 7 innings, allowing 4 runs which is pretty good against the lineup he faced on Sunday, not to mention the nasty heat and humidity.
       Maple Plain started the scoring in the first with a double from the leadoff batter, who scored on an Adam Gregg SF. 1-0 MP after 1.
       Maple Plain took a 2-0 lead in the 4th, when TJ Allid singled in a run. YA hadn't scored now in 14 innings. But then the young guys got going.
       Maschke reached on an errant through where he made a good play to dive for 1st, avoiding the 1st basemans tag. Cook bunted him over to 2nd. After a walk and a WP, Ernst got Maschke home with a SF of his own, 2-1 MP.
        Then the dramatics unfolded in the top of 7. Stender singled and Willemsen pinch ran. Werner grounded out, moving runner to 2nd. Kraemer with a bloop single, runner had to hold at 2nd. After a WP with Franck batting runners on 2nd and 3rd. With a 3-1 count, Franck drove a hanging fork over the right field fence. 4-2 YA. 
       In the bottom half of the frame, Adam Gregg wouldn't be undone, driving a 2 run bomb over the left field fence, tying the game at 4.
       MP put in their 3rd reliever in the top of the 9th, Borchard from Albertville, who had been catching the whole game. Walked the first batter, and he was bunted to 2nd. Cook strikes out, relief pitcher La Plante drives a single to right, Ernest walks loading the bases for Clint. Clint HBP, and Joel Stender (pinch running for Franck) scores the go ahead run.
       In the bottom of 9, La Plante battling but allows 2 base runners and pulled with 2 outs in favor of JP, who walks the first guy, giving all of Cardinal Nation a heart attack, because that brought up top stud in  MP's order, Adam Gregg. Somehow, JP (who has been more than solid for YA all year) got Gregg to pop out to first with a 2-2 count, end of game. YA victorious.
       
         YA will now face Watertown on Sat 8-14 at 1. A loss and season over. A win and they play to go to state right after, vs loser of Glencoe/Loretto at 4pm in Cologne. Glencoe plays Loretto at 8pm on Friday in Norwood. Loser to play on Saturday, winner punches ticket to State Tourney.
         Refer to the CRVL or Cologne website for the region brackets.

2010 State Tournament
3A Hampton vs 7B Young America at Bird Island 1pm 8-21

 
7C Region Tournament (Night games 8pm)

#1 CRVS YA 10, #2 CRVN Watertown 1
#2 CRVS Brownton 7, #2 NSE Maple Plain 3 (top of the 9th comeback)

Loretto 7, YA 0
Glencoe 2, Brownton 0 (only 2 hits all game)

YA 5, Maple Plain 4
Watertown 4, Brownton 3 (10 innings)

YA 8, Watertown 5 (12 inn)
Loretto 4, Glencoe 3 ........LORETTO TO STATE
YA 5, Glencoe 3............YA TO STATE
Loretto 11, YA 0 (7 inn)........Loretto drafts Adam Gregg. YA drafts Billy Soule

2010 Crow Playoff (updated 7-22)
South.............................................
Round 1
#4 Col 7, #5 Carver 3......Col leads 1-0
#3 YA 6, #6 Nor 4.........YA leads 1-0
YA 8, Nor 5 (YA wins series)
Col 7, Carv 6, (Col wins series)

Round 2
#1 Brownton 5, #4 Cologne 1.......Btown leads 1-0
#3 YA 4, #2 Hamburg 1........YA leads 1-0
Cologne 5, Brownton 3.......series tied
YA 9, Hamburg 8 (11 inn).......YA advances to Regions!
Brownton 6, Cologne 1..........Brownton advances to regions

North...............................................
Round 1
Mayer 7, St Boni 3.......Mayer leads 1-0
St Boni 5, Mayer 1......Tied at 1
St Boni 13, Mayer 0.......St Boni wins series

Round 2
#1 Glencoe 10, #4 St Boni 4......Glencoe leads 1-0
#3 New Germany 4, #2 Watertown 1......New G leads 1-0
Glencoe 12, St Boni 0......Glencoe advances to regions
Watertown 12, New G 3.........series tied
Watertown over New G.........Watertown advances to regions