The No. 8 story
on my personal Top 10 list from the last school year happened because of the weather
… bad weather. As snow and cold hung on long into the spring in Minnesota,
sports schedules were upended and creativity came into play. This story is a
fine example of that, with a baseball team from northern Minnesota spending many
hours on a bus in order to play a doubleheader in southern Minnesota. The story
was originally posted on April 19.
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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