On the original schedule for the baseball team from
Cromwell-Wright, a game was planned for Tuesday vs. Floodwood, which is barely
18 miles from Cromwell. The Cardinals – who are located 40 miles west of Duluth
-- ended up traveling a lot farther than that in order to not only play their
first game, but to actually get on grass and dirt for the first time in the
midst of ugly spring weather that has upended sports of all kinds across the
state.
They played a doubleheader on the road Tuesday, with “the
road” being a key part of their day. The Cardinals boarded Cromwell-Wright school
bus Number 7 at 10:30 a.m. and drove south for three and a half hours – with a
lunch stop in Hinckley -- before arriving in Janesville to meet the Bulldogs of
Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. By the time they arrived home late Tuesday night,
they had been gone for more than 12 hours.
All that time, all those miles -- 420 round-trip miles,
to be exact … was it all worth it?
“Oh
yeah, it was worth it,” said Cardinals
sophomore Brady Dahl, who played shortstop and pitcher Tuesday. “It was
worth it to finally play on grass.”
The Cardinals had spent most of this snowy and cold spring
throwing, catching and hitting inside their gym. They had been outdoors only three
times, working out on a school parking lot.
“We've got snow on our field and just
tough conditions,” coach Dean Levinski
said after the doubleheader in Janesville. “We’d do anything to
get outside and this was a great experience for us.”
The doubleheader came together in a hurry. In fact, it
wasn’t locked down until Monday … about 24 hours before the first pitch. There is a section on the MSHSL website
called Games Wanted, and Cromwell had posted a note that it was looking for
games. When Janesville activities director Paul Brunner saw that post on Monday,
he called Cromwell-Wright A.D. Dave Foster and before long everything was set.
Before
Monday’s practice, Levinski told the
players that they would be heading to a town that most of them had never heard
of; it’s also safe to say that few if any players from Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton
knew anything about Cromwell.
“We were looking
for a game down south and I really assumed it would be a weekend deal, but
these people called and we're more than happy to get out of there,” Levinski
said of the conditions in northern Minnesota.
As in much
of the state, but especially up north, the never-ending poor weather conditions
have been frustrating for everyone.
“It was really cold in the beginning
and then it let up and it was getting nice,” said Cromwell-Wright junior
catcher Andrew Kachinske. “And then right as we were about to probably have a
game, it snowed again. It’s just disappointing to not be able to play.
“Yesterday, right before practice our
coach told us, ‘We’re going to have a game.’ None of us expected it. But we were
all pretty happy about that.”
Because of low numbers, Cromwell-Wright
didn’t field a baseball team from 2010 through 2021. But the program came back
to life last spring.
“There has always been really good
Little League in the Cromwell-Wright area but we didn't have any opportunities
for the kids after that,” Levinski. “So four or five years ago, my coaches here
and myself, we took the seventh-graders and started just playing junior high
games, and last year was our first year (of varsity games).”
The Cardinals are a young team, which
was evident as the more experienced Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs swept
the doubleheader. They won the first game 10-0 in six innings, with freshman
pitcher Chase Gerdts throwing a nine-strikeout no-hitter – and donning a crown,
cape and scepter after being named “King of the Game” -- and Kelton Erler
driving in three runs. In the second game, a five-inning affair, JWP won 8-3.
“The bulk of our players are freshmen
and sophomores,” Levinski said. “We finished today with seventh grade, eighth
grade and seventh grade in the outfield. It's not ideal, our depth is not where
we need to be. To be honest with you, that's what shut down the program in the
first place.”
After the second game ended, the
Cardinals and Bulldogs exchanged handshakes and gathered together at home plate
for a dual-team photo, with Cromwell red and Janesville blue mixing nicely.
The Cardinals left their dugout
spotless, with not one gum wrapper or empty water bottle left behind. The
Bulldogs provided their visitors with a case of water and a stack of pizzas
from the local Casey’s convenience store for the ride home, which was much
appreciated.
Levinski and JWP coach Cory Jewison talked
about the possibility of making this an annual rivalry, which would be something
special.
Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton had
played two games before Tuesday, defeating Blooming Prairie (44 miles away) and
St. Clair (10). As the bus from Cromwell-Wright pulled away on its 210-mile trip
north, one of the JWP players said to his teammates, “Hey! Let’s say goodbye to
our friends!”
They waved and hollered as the
Cardinals waved back from inside the bus. It had been a fine day of baseball,
new friendships and memories.
“I’ve always felt that at every
school, every kid should have a chance to play baseball,” Levinski said. “It's too
good of a game to not give them a chance at least.”
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of
Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn
and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts.
Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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