|
|
|
May 11, 2000
Havemeiersigns withTwin CityVulcansBy JIM BASTIAN Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- Loren Havemeier will not have to wait for the May 17 junior hockey draft to see where he will be playing. Wednesday morning, Havemeier signed a tender with the Twin City Vulcans of the United States Hockey League. And the signing of "Bear" was something that came suddenly. "I was up to a Twin City Vulcan game about two weeks ago when they were in the playoff championships against Green Bay," said Havemeier. "After the game, I went up to the office to talk to some people. They told me that they had two more tenders left (each team has five tenders to give out). "They had offered those two to two other players but they (Vulcans) wanted to know from these two players if they wanted them of not. One must not have decided to take the tender because I got a call from the Vulcans. It didn't take me long to accept the tender." Havemeier said the Vulcans told him when they talked they were planning on drafting him in the first round. "This is awesome because this past week, the Vulcans won the national championship, so it is pretty neat going to a national championship team," he said. He said he will attend one week of a tryout camp in Omaha, Neb., in July, "but what they do is bring in the tendered players and just have them skate." He said his off-season will be busy. "In June, I will be up in the Twin Cities to play in the Twin City Olympic League," Havemeier said. "That is pretty much a summer league that plays at Mariucci Arena that plays once to twice a week." The Vulcans will play a 60-game schedule in the regular season. What about his future after junior hockey? "I heard from (University of) MInnesota and someone was talking to them and the Gophers said that if I have two months of progressing, they would offer me a scholarship. That would have to be early in the season." Would "Bear" become a Gopher? "I would say yes right away." HOUNDS REELING: New Ulm Cathedral baseball coach Bob Weier said he did not expect his team to have a sub. 500 record (7-8) at this point of the season. "I think that looking back at this season thus far, I can put my finger on three games that we had an opportunity to win and we didn't do it," Weier said. "Those three games are games to judge on whether or not your team has improved or not, and also if your team can handle certain situations. "Come playoff time, that (handling certain situations) is what is either going to keep you in the playoffs or knock you out of them." The three games Weier refers to are against McLeod West in Brownton, (where the Hounds had a 6-3 lead and lost), the second game of a doubleheader with Buffalo Lake-Hector (again Cathedral had a lead and lost it) and the first game of a doubleheader with Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop. "We had plenty of scoring opportunities, but did not capitalize and we let the bottom half of their batting order hurt us late in the game," Weier said. Weier added the combination of poor defense, weak pitching and a lack of getting key hits cost Cathedral potential wins. "You have to begin to round into a ballclub at this point of the season," Weier said. "And we are not quite doing that. We have about a week and a half left (in the regular season) to get it done. We can get it done but it is going to have to take some practice." Weier said he feels his team is not tired despite playing 10 games in the last 12 days. He said the team is heavily laden with junior an seniors, and that the Greyhounds are well aware they need to get proper rest when they are not playing with the playoffs upcoming. HOUNDS BREAK LOSING STREAK: When Cathedral won the second game of a doubleheader with GFW Tuesday, they broke a three-game losing streak. But to do that, they had to overcome a 10-3 deficit. The win, Weier believes, may be a springboard for more wins. "The (comeback) win was a high point," Weier said. "We talked about the comeback win with the kids after the game. They could have hung their heads, but a couple of critical things happened. "Jacob Mertz came into pitch and threw strikes, and we made a defensive change. Plus, we had some hits. Hitting is contagious. We needed a split (with GFW)." The defensive change that Weier made was moving Hans Biebl back to left field and sophomore John Knisley to third base. "Our season has been a revolving door at third base," Weier said. "We have looked at about four people there. At this point, we are not comfortable with any of them yet and they are not probably comfortable there either." The Hounds also lost pitcher Aaron Kiecker during a school activity. "He bruised his back and will probably be out the rest of this week. We hope that he will be back for the playoffs. He is our top pitcher and hitter. Plus, we lost another player due to problems off the field that kids are not taking care of. That also hurts the ballclub. It has played a critical role in our development." EAGLES RIDING WIN STREAK: The New Ulm High Eagles ran off their 11th straight win Tuesday and all but clinched another South Central Conference baseball title with the victory over St. Peter. "I expected to be a factor in (SCC) and we'll probably win it," said Eagle coach Jim Senske. "We have a goal to go unbeaten through the conference. And we would like to continue the winning streak." But that streak will get a test this weekend when they host Park Center at 7 p.m. Friday defending Class 2A champion Hastings at 1 p.m. Saturday. Both games are at Johnson Park. "The conference has not been overly powerful with pitching and we expect to see that good pitching this weekend. When we have seen strong pitching, we have just been average with our hitting," Senske said. Senske feels his team needs to rise to the occasion when they meet good pitching. "We will see that when we play our sectional," he said. "Marshall is 14-1, Willmar is 14-1 and Mankato East is always strong and I think that (East), with their pitching, is the favorite. "We hope to see good pitching when we play the Metro schools; we traditionally schedule the Metro schools to give us a better test." Senske said the defense has improved since the start of the season. "At times, we have played errorless ball," Senske said, "but at other times, we played games where the lid has come off. When you play strong teams, you cannot have those errors." Senske is pleased with the pitching of junior Andy Stolt who improved his record to 2-0. "He has come up through the program. He has composure on the mound. His fastball is sneaky quick and we are pleased with him and we will use him more," Senske said. He added southpaw Drew Waibel started throwing Wednesday "for about 40 pitches. The trainers think that he just has soreness in his throwing elbow. We will throw him in the bullpen (on Thursday) and we may throw him a little this weekend, but not more than two or three innings." This weekend will be a test to see how good the Eagle are in their games with Park Center and Hastings. "This will be a significant test for us," Senske said. "Park Center is strong and Hastings is the defending champion with a lot of good athletes on the team. "If we can compete well, that is going to be a true test of whether we have made progress or not." CHARGERS LOSE TWO CLOSE GAMES: Charger baseball coach Craig Morgan said his team "hit the ball well" in their two losses to Wabasso. In the first game, Minnesota Valley Lutheran had 10 hits and upped that to 13 hits in the second game. But once again, it was one big inning that doomed the Chargers. Against Cathedral last Friday, it was a nine-run inning that lost the game for the Chargers. Tuesday, Wabasso scored four runs in one inning in both the first and second game. Each of those outbursts came with two out. "We get rid of those bad innings and the outcome of those games may be different," Morgan said. One of the bright spots for MVL this year has been sophomore shortstop Aaron Madson. "He has done a nice job," Morgan said. "Tuesday, I saw him extend his range more for balls and hitting-wise, he was slow to start, but has picked that up." Also, Jason Meinzer at third base has gotten better. "He has been our steadiest ballplayer. He knocks everything down there. Offensively, he does what it takes to get on," Morgan said. Morgan thinks Tom Metzger has improved his overall game. "He has improved his pitching mechanics," Morgan said, "and he has widened his stance at the plate, which has helped his hitting. "We have a great group of kids who work hard in practice. We are improving. Small steps are improvements. This is going to be a fun time of the year for us." REMINDER TO VOTE: Just a reminder that when you vote on the referendum to please vote YES. Our children need to have programs and schools that allow them the best opportunity to succeed. Remember. vote YES and do it for the kids. WIELAND NAMED ALL-NCC ACADEMIC: St. Cloud State sophomore pitcher/infielder Jeremy Wieland was named to the NCC Honorable Mention All-Academic Team by the conference office Tuesday. In the 2000 season, Wieland pitched 35 1-3 innings with a 3-3 record for the Huskies and a 6.37 ERA. Wieland fanned 28 and issued just 16 walks. Wieland is a 1997 graduate of New Ulm High. MARTENS SIGNS WITH MINNESOTA WEST: New Ulm High's Gus Martens recently signed a National Letter of Intent with Minnesota West in Worthington. Martens was 36-6 at 189 pounds for the Eagles in 1999-2000 and placed second at 81 kilograms in the 2000 Junior Northern Plains Regional Tournament in the freestyle classification. Martens will compete at 197 pounds for Minnesota West this fall.
|