On the Bench with Byron Higgin
All season long the Minneota Mudhens have been having a “love fest”— both home and away. It’s doubtful they’ve had as much fun as they’ve had this year — as they’ve posted their best record in the 10 years of their existence at 19-5 going into the playoffs.
This now becomes the moment they’ve all waited for— a chance to place one or two and advance to the Class C State Amateur Baseball Tournament. It all starts at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when they take on the Dawson Drakes.
Dawson gave Minneota a scare earlier, before the Mudhens won in extra innings, 6-3. Minneota has run into some tough games this year so it’s not likely they will have an easy time. In the past two years, they’ve lost their opening game by a run— so it’s been very disappointing.
A win over the Drakes will send Minneota into the second game at 1 p.m. Sunday at Madison against the winner of the Morris/Hancock game. Two wins this weekend could signal a drive to the state tournament.
However, this is a tough tournament and season records don’t mean much.
Yet, the Mudhens are at their peak and good showings this weekend could put them on a path they’ve never traveled before — and that path leads to the state tournament at Delano and Maple Lake. Going into this weekend’s games, the Mudhens have some pretty impressive statistics. Here’s the team leaders as they begin the most important part of their season.
Player Average Hits RBI’s
Tyson Sonnenburg .451 25 22; Jake Leighton .432 17 27; Austin Buysse .365 19 19; Alex Pohlen .356 17 12; Austin DeVlaeminck .338 17 8; Preston Nuy .302 14 10; Beau Buysse .296 24 5; Danny Hennen .289 17 16; Jesse Drager .276 7 8; Peyton Nuy .200 0 2; Noah Scott .179 3 3 (Notes: Beau Buysse leads the team in walks with 21 and stolen bases with 14. Sonnenburg is the team leader in home runs with three. Buysse, Drager and Hennen all have four sacrifices this year).
Pitching W-L IP R ER H BB K ERA
Danny Hennen 9-1 85 30 22 73 18 47 2.33; Peyton Nuy 5-1 41 21 14 30 12 34 3.07; Zach Nuy 2-1 34 18 11 31 12 39 2.91; Beau Buysse 2-0 17 6 6 18 11 22 3.29; Bryce Gorder 1-1 15 14 13 9 11 22 8.67
Note: Jamison Hunt was 0-1 and is no longer with the team.