baseball

Owatonna's baseball and boys lacrosse teams each stayed perfect in Big Nine play with wins on Wednesday. At least a couple of other teams are also conference title contenders this spring.

Owatonna baseball had one of their closer calls of the season, winning 9-5 at Austin Thursday in a game shortened to six innings due to rain and wet field conditions

Long ball. Small ball. Owatonna baseball is off to a 5-0 start on the season with an offense they hope can carry them a long way this spring. All the time in the batting cage during the extended winter seems to be paying dividends.

Teams gleefully took the field Tuesday across southern Minnesota in what was the opener for many. NRHEG beat Blooming Prairie 12-3 in the Panthers season opener. Owatonna swept a doubleheader 11-3 and 8-3 to open their campaign. The Panthers and Huskies each had a home run as part of their offensive attack.

Several local high school teams played their season openers Friday. At least a couple more will get their seasons underway Saturday. Outdoor baseball and softball should start soon. Many teams have had events and games canceled that won't be made up.

Outfielders, infielders and pitchers were all trying to throw strikes Thursday as Gopher Conference baseball teams gathered in Waterville for a bowling tournament. Host school Waterville-Elysian-Morristown won the event, edging Blooming Prairie. Medford, Maple River and NRHEG tied for third.

The impact the continued winter weather is having on local sports teams and facilities is reaching the absurd stage. The wind from the weekend blizzard knocked down the first base dugout at Jeff Reese Field in New Richland, the baseball home for NRHEG.

This is getting old for high school spring sports athletes. They have been cooped up in gyms since practice began, which was March 12 in some cases. In addition to working on drills and conditioning, some have gotten creative to pass the time and stay excited about coming to practice.

The Minnesota Twins scored a 4-2 come-from-behind victory over Seattle Thursday in one of the coldest home openers in franchise history. A sold-out crowd shivered together with a game-time temperature of 38 degrees at Target Field.

Thursday was to be opening day for Owatonna High School baseball, softball and track and field. It was supposed to be the second match for the Huskies' boys' tennis team. None of those events occurred and when the spring sports season will begin remains anyone's guess.