On the Bench with Byron Higgin

It was a terrible disappointment for the Minneota Mudhens to lose their first game of the tournament, 3-2 to Dumont.

It forced them into this weekend’s loser’s bracket against Hancock and now they have to come back the hard way. They gave it all they had, got good performances, but just not good enough.

But then, that’s baseball. You have no choice but to accept the outcome. No matter what happens on Saturday, the worst they can finish is one game under .500. Hey, the Twins are having trouble getting to that mark.

The best scenario is to win a couple games and work your way back into the finals. As bad as it seems, look at the Morris Eagles. They went through the league season without a loss.

Then, they lose their second game and now must come back like the rest of us. What has been impressive is the way player-manager Tyson Sonnenburg and assistant manager-player Beau Buysse have run the ball team this year.

The ideal is to have a manager who isn’t a player — and one who isn’t friends with all the players.

But that just isn’t the case in Minneota right now and Sonnenburg and Buysse have done a tremendous job of getting in practices, organizing the team, attending league meetings and scheduling games.

Also helping out with schedule and other matters was third baseman Austin Buysse. All three of these fellows should be commended for taking the ball and running with it.

Behind the scenes, treasurer Michelle Buysse has done not only a great taking care of the money but she organized the selling of signs to sponsors, something that wouldn’t have gotten done without her.

Then there is Brad Hennen, the singing concession manager who keeps the team concession stand stocked and running. And in between grilling burgers, he sings the National Anthem. Ross Eischens is an excellent announcer who lends his football and wrestling announcing to the Mudhens.

And there are a host of volunteers who helped in the concession stand this year. It takes a big group of talented people to give the team a chance to play.

You all did a GREAT JOB! Well Done Folks!