ALL ABOARD!! NEXT STOP, WATKINS & REGION 10C PLAY

August 4, 2004

Saturday’s 9-6 win in Luxemburg against the Brewers gives the Kimball Express the number one seed out of the CVL South going into Region 10C play which begins next weekend in Watkins.

Scott Marquardt went 4-5 scoring two runs, brother Brooks was 2-2 scoring three runs to lead the Kimball offense. Jeremy Kuechle, Nate Turck and Tom Marquardt all collected two hits a piece to aid in the effort Saturday.

Kimball held a 9-4 advantage going into the ninth inning before the Brewers mounted a mini rally scoring two runs before Jeremy Kuechle struck out Tom Harren to close the door on any comeback hopes by the Brewers.

The Express took advantage of four first inning walks to take an early 2-0 lead. Brewers starting pitcher Adam Holheisel was chased after two thirds of an inning due to control problems.

The Brewers came right back at the Express tying it up in the bottom half of the first inning with two run single off the bat of Eric Schepers.

Kimball went up 7-2 after scoring two runs in the third and three more in the fourth, the big hit coming off the bat of Jeremy Kuechle as he smoked a two run single up the middle in the fourth. Luxemburg cut it to 7-4 after a two run fifth. Scoring a run on a wild pitch and an rbi single by Brian Iten. Kimball tallied a single run in the sixth on an rbi single by Pat Arnold and added another in the seventh inning on a Scott Marquardt single scoring brother Brooks to make it 9-4. It stayed that way until the ninth inning when Lux mounted their threat.

Express starting pitcher Pat Arnold was effectively wild in his seven innings pitched as he struck out eight, walked none, gave up eight hits and four runs. He did have control issues as he threw four wild pitches on the day leading to two Brewers runs. He was relieved by Brooks Marquardt who pitched a scoreless eighth and Jeremy Kuechle came on in the ninth inning to finish it off for the Express.

Rail Report

The win improves the Express record to 22-10 overall. They wound up 3-0 in the CVL South playoffs taking the number one seed along with winning the regular season CVL South division title.

They now enter Region 10C tournament action in Watkins. The Express will play Friday night at 8:30 against the Lakewood League West number two seed, the Sauk Centre Titans. The last time these two teams met was in Watkins three years ago in region play with the Titans winning.

The region tournament is an eight team, double elimination format and takes place from Aug 6-15. Four teams from the Central Valley League and four teams from the Lakewood League have advanced.

Coming out of the Lakewood League West is the #1 Melrose Black Sox and the #2 Sauk Centre Titans. From the Lakewood League Central the #1 St. Cloud Orthopedics Ice and #2 O’Hara’s. Joining them out of the Central Valley League are the #1 Cold Spring Rockies and #2 Watkins Clippers from the CVL North and #1 Kimball and the #2 Luxemburg Brewers out of the CVL South.

The top two teams will advance to the 2004 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament held in Jordan and Belle Plain Aug 22-Sept 5.

After the league playoffs are over each team is allowed to draft two players from other teams in the league not advancing to region play. The players drafted can only be used as a pitcher or a catcher and they must play at least one out defensively before officially making a plate appearance.       

The Express decided to draft pitching as they welcome southpaw Danny Hansen and right hander Joel “Joby” McCann from the Eden Valley Hawks to round out their playoff roster. Hansen a left hander, pitches for St. Olaf College and has had a good year for the Hawks. McCann has had a solid year himself on the mound for the Hawks. Both will be looked upon to throw some key innings for the Express in playoff action. The Express are excited to have them and hope to bring them on a wild ride all the way to the 2004 state tournament as they seek back to back appearances.