Cubs finished roller coaster season on positive note

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BROOKINGS – Having just wrapped up my seventh season as the behind-the-scenes person for the Brookings Cubs, this season was by far the most up-and-down, chaotic, weird year of all of them, even outpacing 2020 and the Covid season and all the do’s and don’ts’s that came with it.

I think our team knew it was going to be a strange year somewhat early in the season. The Cubs started 3-0, but then were 10-runned by Volga who is by no means a slouch of a squad and were far and away the better team on Bob Shelden Field that night. And while our team was doing everything it could to have enough pitching for the Cubs Invitational that started the next day, seeing a 19-9 loss on the schedule in front of a three-game tournament wasn’t exactly setting the table for success in that tournament.

And then we won the tournament. Go figure.

Coming up to the midpoint of the regular season, the number of games being moved around, postponed, or outright cancelled was starting to add up, and believe me, that is far and away the most frustrating and embarrassing thing about being in my role with the team. Having to call the opposing manager and say we’re not playing that night, or not coming to their park because we can’t field a team despite having a roster of two dozen, it’s not a fun phone call to make. Making that call once is bad enough; I had that duty multiple times this year.

All the postponements and cancellations made a mess of our schedule, so much so that, adding in holidays as well, we had four separate instances of six or more days off between games. And when you’re trying to stay sharp on the field without the benefit of being able to hold practice when wanted for one reason or another, being successful when the team takes the field after a long break is tough.

And it showed in the Cubs’ record as the team lost their final five games of the regular season, six if you count the game we didn’t play to close the regular season. Not exactly the best way to enter the postseason.

Starting district play Brookings sat with a record of 9-7, having only played 16 games the entire regular season. Of the seven years I’ve been involved, four of those years we won more than 16 games, the outliers being 2016 when the team was still in rebuild mode from returning to the field a year prior, and 2019 when we finished 15-12.

Throw in another wrench, too, with districts moving up a week as it was a best two-of-three against the Castlewood Ravens. It’s no lie that talks of not making it out of districts were happening, but the team came together that sweltering afternoon in Castlewood to win twice and punch a ticket to the state tournament.

But, with districts moving up a week it meant that, for the fifth time this season, we had a big gap between games, not playing from July 25 through Aug. 4. When we took to the field on Aug. 5 in Aberdeen against Yankton, apparently Mother Nature decided we needed to take another break.

With lightning flashing all around for a solid hour it’s a minor miracle the game even got to the eighth inning, and when the Fossum Field grounds crew finally told the umpires either suspend the game or we’re suspending it for you as the wind blew dirt across the field and a wall of rain and wind roared across the parking lot, we got to sit in our dugout and ride out a two-hour storm delay before finishing up our 13-6 win as the 11 o’clock hour crept up after starting at 5:30 p.m.

The next day we got to square off against the defending state champions, the Augustana (Renner) Monarchs. We won’t get into many details of that particular game (we lost), but with our win from the previous day we still qualified for the second weekend of state in Mitchell.

And this is where things took an unexpected turn.

Knowing that we had to win three games in just over 24 hours to get to Sunday’s championship game, pitching was at an all-time premium. And it’s no secret that pitching is where this team struggled all season, but that Friday afternoon against Aberdeen and Saturday morning against the Black Hills A’s, it showed that our future has some bright spots.

Against Aberdeen we called on Bandits’ grad Jake Ammann to toe the rubber, giving us four strong innings against a pretty solid-hitting lineup. We won 8-4 to advance.

Saturday, senior-to-be Nathan Lease would have thrown a complete game had it not been for American Legion pitching rules. We won 3-1 to advance.

That set up a second meeting with Renner who scored 11 times on us a week prior, but our guy who tossed the most innings for us this season, Craig Lasley, limited the Monarchs to five hits and zero walks in a complete game effort. We won 3-0.

From the brink of elimination to another shot at a drought-breaking state title, for us to be playing Sunday was not something we expected. And through five innings we were just 12 defensive outs away from ending that drought, but unfortunately the ball bounced in favor of the Sioux Falls Flying Squirrels who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in their first appearance in the state title game. We can do nothing but tip our caps to those guys.

But, just getting to that championship game shows the resiliency of this Cubs’ team. Veterans like on-field manager JaColby Anderson and his decade-plus of amateur baseball experience. A calming presence like Austin Koenig behind the plate, catching 36 innings worth of baseball in just over 48 hours. Jeff Fish, whose determination to get back on the field this season after missing most of the previous year with injury should be an inspiration to us all. A player like Evan Miller, who had it not been for Monday night softball with some of the Cubs’ players wouldn’t even be on a baseball field, but graces our team with leadership and timely hitting. Younger guys like Jared Tschetter, Sam McMacken, Tyler Kreutner, Chase McDaniel, and Jackson Krogman all doing their part in the lineup, in the field, and on the mound. Not to mention Justin Cofell, another future Cub, who delivered three hits in our first state tournament game the previous weekend. And countless others, both young and old, doing their part to put a product on the field this city can be proud of.

So what does 2023 hold for this Cubs team? We really don’t know yet. The core wants to give it another go, but like all of us, that core isn’t getting any younger.

What we do know is that with some younger guys coming into the program next year and years down the road, and hopefully our success this year showing others that we have what it takes and draws their interest in spending the summer with the Cubs as we do some off-season recruiting, we’re hoping that the 2023 season is when we can finally break the ice and bring home a title to Brookings and our families, fans, and gracious sponsors.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and we hope to see your faces in the stands when the 2023 amateur baseball season gets underway the early part of May.