Unke out indefinitely;

Schimmele to nationals

NEW ULM -- The Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers boy's basketball team will be without starting guard Dan Unke until at least Christmas due to an infection in is right elbow that required surgery.

"He had surgery last week," said his father, Jim. "And the doctors feel confident that they have found what the trouble was. He had a staph infection in the bursa sac, and the staph infection really scared the doctors."

Unke, a senior who is nearing Steph Klaviter's City of New Ulm scoring record (1,694 for Klaviter to 1,369 for Unke) will have at least two more weeks of IV care at the hospital emergency room from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Best-case scenario is that Unke will be back on the basketball court by Christmas time.

"But if the infection is in his bone, that could be bad news. The doctors are confident that they caught it in time."

SCHIMMELE TO NATIONALS: Marty Schimmele of New Ulm is reaching for a dream and is getting closer to achieving it.

While New Ulm has always been known as a great baseball town, Schimmele is putting New Ulm on the map in fastpitch softball.

"Last year, I sent in an application to try out for the men's 18-and-under National Softball Team," said the senior at New Ulm High School. "They (the committee) came down to watch our team (Schell's/Radio One) play in Sioux City, Iowa in the national softball tournament. They selected me (one of only 26 picked in the country to be chosen to try out)," he said.

Schimmele, a catcher, is working out now with pitcher Matt Sparlin at MLC. "We work out 1 1/2 hours a day, three days a week."

Schimmele will leave for San Diego on Dec. 27 for the four-day tryout. "If I am selected to the team, I will be playing in Australia. I would leave April 16. That would be three weeks down there."'

He does not know how many catchers that he will be going against. "I am working hard. I am running five miles a week and lift weights, I also run sprints. Last year, I had 15 runners try to steal -- I threw out 14 of them. Plus, I feel that I am very fast."

Schimmele, who also plays baseball, feels that fastpitch softball helps his baseball skills. "I helps because of the speed (of the pitches). I batted .525 in the nationals."

VASOLD FROM PLAYING TO COACHING: Last year at this time, Steve Vasold was playing college basketball for the Martin Luther Knights.

Now, less than a year later, Vasold is coaching the MVL girls B-squad team.

"I think that the adjustment (from playing to coaching) has been a lot of fun," said Vasold, who totaled 1,182 points in his career at MLC. "I am enjoying coaching but I miss playing basketball; I am not going to lie to you about that. But I really enjoy coaching the girls. They have been working hard and that makes it fun when you have a lot of players on the same page doing their job."

Vasold said that the change from player to coach was a pretty easy change to make.

"I have worked (basketball) camps before and I have always enjoyed coaching. I have helped out my dad (Terry) who is a (high school) coach. But there is a lot more preparation time involved like getting ready for practices and games and all the nit-picky work. That has been a challenge for me."

Vasold's father Terry coaches high school girl's basketball in Saginaw, Mich. "He has coached there since 1986 and I have helped him with boy's and girl's basketball camps. When I was in high school, the girl's basketball season is played in the fall and I didn't play a fall sport so I helped him out."

Vasold said that he learned to "teach the players the basics first and then go from there. I can remember growing up and watching (basketball) games with my dad and analyzing what we would go in certain situations; go for two, go for three or foul right away. I have always had a good relationship with my dad in that respect. We have always enjoyed that."

Vasold likes the quick tempo game, "and I feel that we can do that with this team."

Five years from now, Vasold wants to be teaching and coaching. At MVL, he teaches 11th grade religion doctrine course and ninth grade physical science. "I really want to keep teaching the Lord's Word and make an impact on students. I am an emergency teacher here and I am a fifth-year senior at MLC. But I do want to coach as well as teach."

RIEGER, SPAETH RECEIVE ACCOLADES: Angie Rieger from Courtland, a 1997 graduate of New Ulm High School, was a member of the Augsburg College volleyball team that finished 11-16. Rieger finished with 323 kills, 222 digs, 88 blocks and 10 ace serves this season.

Rieger, an International Business major with a 3.791 GPA, was named to the Verizon Academic All-District first team. ... John Spaeth of New Ulm, a graduate of New Ulm Cathedral and a student at Winona State University, has received the Midtown Foods IGA Scholarship. To receive the award, the person must be a full-time student, a member of the baseball team and a good academic standing with a GPA of 2.5 or above.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer