The Blazers captures their first state title winning the ASA Minnesota State Championship July 10th-11th in Burnsville.

The Blazers received the #1 seed and a first round bye in the tournament after a great regular season and tournament record.

Saturdays 10:10 game featured the Blazers vs. Richfield Peters Billiards. Good defense kept Richfield in check all game and Burnsville was patient at the plate drawing several walks to push enough runs across the board leading to a 15-1 Blazers victory.

In Sunday’s semi final the Blazers faced the always tough Bloomington Cougars. Burnsville came ready to play and struck early with 5 runs in the top of the 1st. Bloomington came right back in the bottom half of the inning showing that they weren’t going to go away easily. Again, great defense got the Blazers out of a bases loaded jam and a 5-1 lead. Over the next few innings the teams traded runs and at the end of the 4th, it was a 9-8 Blazers lead. In the top of the 5th The Blazers scored three quick runs with aggressive base running and held the Cougars to just one run for the rest of the game. In the end the Blazers cam out on top 16-9 in a game that was much closer than the final score dictated. A true team victory!

The championship game was a bit of a surprise for the Blazers as they figured they would have to face Bloomington again to win it all. Instead, Andover beat Bloomington in the loser’s bracket with a late game rally and earned a spot in the final vs. Burnsville. The Blazers jumped out early and often hitting the ball all over the place and making every defensive play they could get a glove on. A one-sided 22-2 victory and a state title was their reward for all of their effort. A great tournament for all the teams involved.

The Burnsville U12 Blazers made their first out of state trip to Watertown SD a successful one collecting a hard fought 2nd place finish and having a lot of fun throughout the weekend!

Saturday’s 9am game vs. Redfield started out warm and sunny as the Blazers came out hitting scoring 11 runs in the first three innings. Michelle Stage & Kristina Hippe found the hot bats to kick start the tourney off for the Blazers leading them to a 14 -1 victory.

Game two was against Bullet Graphics and 14 again seemed to be the magic number as the blazers continued to hit and play solid defense. Miya Wawracz-Harms, and Journee Rogers led the way with one big hit after another. Blazers win in 4 innings 14-0

The rain came down in game 3 vs. Speigle Construction and cooled off the Blazers bats . Both offenses struggled to put anything together in-between downpours. The game was called after three innings with  Burnsville ahead 3-0. Rain continued throughout the day and play was halted until Sunday morning. A much needed rest!

Sunday came with warm weather and the Blazers bats heated up . Right off the bat Burnsville loaded the bases and Katherine Flack made the most of it with huge grand slam home run to deep left field. The Blazers put up 12 runs the next two innings to put away Spiegel Construction 15 -3 with Katrina Grass, and Flack doing most of the damage.

The semi- final game against Redfield was a hard fought win. The Blazers trailed 3-1 until the fourth inning when Alex Aune flexed her muscle hitting her 1st home run of the year to tie the game at 3-3 .Gaby Lo was a home run short of the cycle and played great defense at 1st base. Haley Diggan played great second base fielding everything that came her way.  Aune wasn’t done there as she led off the 6th inning with at solo shot to put the game away for the Blazers. Blazers win 11-5

The much anticipated game against Jurgen’s printing did not disappoint as both teams played at a high level. Jurgen’s led things off with a home run to left and an early 3 -0 lead. Burnsville scratched out a run in the 2nd to make it 3-1. Abbey Luckraft kept the Blazers in the game with 3 nice catches in left field including a running shoe string catch to keep the game close. Jurgen’s returned the favor to Luckraft her next time up with a great catch on a hard drive down the line. In the fifth inning the Burnsville pressed the Jurgen’s defense and scored four runs to take a 5-4 lead. Jurgen’s came right back to tie it at 5-5 in the bottom half of the inning. Jurgen’s scored 5 runs in the bottom half of the 6th on hard drives all over the field. Burnsville couldn’t find a way to battle back & lost a very fun game 10-5.

Wanting another shot at Jurgen’s Printing the Blazers first had to win a rematch against Spiegel Construction. Emily Olsen and Meg O’Brien provided the spark going three for three and scoring four runs. A much needed victory 18-0!
The rematch with Jurgen’s Printing for the championship was again a hard fought game by both teams. Makayla Ericksen played a great game and hit several hard shots off her bat. Unfortunately the ball seemed to find its way into the shortstops glove. After the third, the game was 3-1 Jurgen’s. The Blazers seemed to run out of gas and couldn’t string any hits together. Jurgen’s scored five in the 4th to take an 8-1 lead. The Blazers once again tried to press the play in the 7th and get back in the game, but had two runners thrown out at home and 3rd base. Blazers lose 11-4  Time to look for a new 3rd base coach! 

Lots of fun and a 2nd place trophy. Way to go! In addition to bringing home some hardware, the Blazer girls came away with some new friends and what we hope could become a long fought, friendly border state battle.

Congratulations to Jurgen’s Printing and Blazers for an outstanding job this weekend!!!

A great weekend by all the girls resulted in the U12 Blazers first place finish in the Richfield Summer Classic. Journee Rogers continues to pound the ball and carried the team throughout the weekend hitting eight home runs in six games. Emily Olsen showed her guts coming back from being hit in the eye with a ball and played great with timely hitting and clutch defense filling in wherever she was needed.

The Blazers breezed through their first three games on Saturday by playing tough defense and consistent hitting beating Glen Lake, Richfield and the Bloomington Aftershock by a combined score of 56-4.  Moving the Blazers into Sunday’s games as the #1 seed.
 
Sunday afternoon brought a familiar and always tough opponent in the Bloomington Cougars. The Blazers came to play jumping out to an early lead with Journee, Kathrine Flack, Makayla Ericksen and Gaby Lo leading the way to a 12-2 victory and into the semi – final match against a much improved Richfield team.

Down early the Blazers battled back with Alex Aune’s opposite field hitting jump starting the offense moving around Haley Diggan who seemed to be on base all weekend! Meg O’brien and Michelle Stage both made a nice running catch to keep the Richfield offense in check. In the end the Blazers prevailed against a very good Richfield team, moving the Blazers into the title game against Glen Lake.

Burnsville jumped out early to take the lead but could not put away a good Glen Lake team. Katrina Grass pitched great again throwing strikes and allowing her defense to play behind her holding Glen Lake to four runs. Several times the Blazers looked like they were going to break the game open, but great plays by the Glen Lake defense kept the game close late. Abbey Luckraft pounded the ball all weekend; unfortunately it seemed to be right at someone! Kristina Hippe was behind the plate all weekend and made a fantastic catch behind the plate to close out a Glen Lake threat  in the fifth inning .The Blazers offense finally broke through late scoring three runs in the sixth inning to secure a 9-4 victory to bring home the trophy!

Congratulations girls!!! Another stellar effort.

Another solid weekend in Champlin for the 12U Blazers who chose to play in the 14U division again, winning 3 of the 4 games they played.

The blazers started off hot with a big victory over the Diamond Bandits.  An early 2-0 lead after the 1st.  Meg Obrien used her speed to get things going in the 2nd and Journee Rogers added to that lead with a long homer to right to make it 5-0. Gaby Lo showing a solid performance at 1st base helping the Blazers defense hold the Diamond Bandits off the scoreboard throughout the game and an 11-0 victory.

Saturdays late vs. Golden Valley posted a tough challenge for the Blazers, spotting the Lightening an early lead of 4-0. Again the Blazers defense held tough as the offense tried to find its spark late cutting the lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the 5th.  Opportunity came late as the Blazers loaded the bases in the bottom of the 6th with a chance to pull one out & Katrina Grass at the plate. A long fly ball to center looked like it may make things interesting , but a nice running catch by the Golden Valley outfielder ended any hopes of a comeback. Blazers lose 7-4 

Sunday’s early morning match up found the Blazers once again facing the Burnsville Bandits. The Blazers got on the board 1st with some timely hitting by Makayla Erickson ripping one past 3rd followed up by Abbey Luckraft’s sharp double up the middle 2-0 after the 1st. The Blazers couldn’t get the Black Bandits off the field in the 2nd and the Bandits took advantage scoring 10 runs and a 10 -2 lead after 2. The Blazers slowly chipped away over the next two innings as Miya Wawracz-Harms continued to hit the ball all over the field. Down 10-7 after 4 the Blazers came out hot in the 5th scoring 7 times and limiting the Black bandits to just one  more run winning 14-11. The Blazers squeaked out another victory against tough opponent.

Game two on Sunday morning was Blazers vs. Sparks. Again, a defensive battle early for the girls and the Sparks held the Blazers bats quiet and if not for a great catch by Michelle Stage in center the Blazers may have found themselves in a big hole to climb out of. With the game tied 3 - 3 late the Blazers offense finally came alive and took charge of the game scoring 9 late runs in route to a 12-3 victory.

A few hits here and there & the Blazers could have found themselves playing in their 1st title game of the year. Another 3rd place finish and solid performance by EVERYONE!

With a lack of early season participation from other U12 programs the Blazers decided to get their season started by moving up to play in the U14 division in Andover.

A real test to start the season as the Blazers drew the always tough Burnsville Inferno team, that has won state championships the past two years. The girls came out to play and after giving up 5 runs in the top of the first, the Blazers responded by scoring 4 in bottom half of the inning. At the end of two, the game was still tight at 9-5 Inferno. In the end the U14 Inferno lineup proved too much to handle as the Blazers dropped the first game to a very good team. A great effort by everyone to begin the year!

The winds picked up for Saturday’s 2nd game against Champlin and Makayla Ericksen really showed up to play. Timely hitting, pitching, and several great fielding plays (including a throw from her knees to 1st) provided the spark the Blazers needed. Solid defense and timely hitting by all of the girls was the key to a 15-3 victory.

Sunday’s early morning matchup saw some familiar faces as the Blazers squared off against the Burnsville Bandits. Katrina Grass started on the mound and did a great job pitching. A back and forth battle by both teams made it very intense throughout the game. Solid defense by Alex Aune and Haley Diggan helped keep the Bandits in check.  Emily Olsen had a fantastic day at the plate with a hit that burned the left fielder and in the field, making two great catches, long fly balls to left center. The coaches didn’t breath until the final out and a 14-11 victory.

Again the winds picked up in the afternoon and made pitching and hitting a real challenge against RPI (Andover). Katrina once again pitched well in very tough conditions. Down early, the Blazers tried to battle back and get their bats going. Katherine Flack played outstanding defense at 3rd and had several big hits to keep us in the game. In the end the Blazers couldn’t get the timely hit they needed to get back in the game and lost 15-5.  A third place trophy, playing up in the 14s against some tough competition was a great way to start the season!

A special thank you to Amanda Dack who joined us this weekend, due to some scheduling conflicts with some of our players. She did a great job and we enjoyed having her, but we hope we didn’t mess up her timing for fastpitch.    :)

Check out our team and website here http://bactravelingsoftball.org/teams.asp