We can hold out hope that the Minnesota Twins will make something out of this season after all, now that their high-priced starting pitchers have started to show some potential. And we can commiserate with UMD’s baseball team for romping to a pair of doubleheader sweeps in routs to end the season, because the homeless Bulldogs didn’t qualify for the Northern Sun playoff tournament.
But our sympathies can only go to the women’s fast-pitch softball teams that have to go up against St. Scholastica in the UMAC all season, and then in the UMAC tournament. The league champ gets to be host to the tournament, which means the Saints pretty well are hosts every year. The top four teams play a double-elimination event, and the Saints jumped to an 8-0 lead and opened with an 11-2 victory over Northland College of Ashland, while Minnesota-Morris beat Northwestern College of Roseville 4-3.
Chrisi Mizera was as durable as she was dominant with her pitching in Friday’s opener, and she came back to beat Morris 5-3 in a tough game on Saturday. Catcher Kara Warren, from Denfeld, erased a 1-0 Morris lead with a 3-run home run, and Tiff Hudack and Kasandra McCabe each drove in later runs for a 5-1 lead until Morris tightened it up. It appeared then that Morris would be destined to come back and take another crack at the Saints in the double-elim format.
But Northland shrugged off the lopsided opening loss to St. Scholastica and hammered Northwestern of Roseville 11-2, then rode that momentum to a surprising 8-0 romp over Morris. That allowed Northland to come back for a run at the final against St. Scholastica on Sunday. If the Lumberjills - great name, by the way - could upset the Saints, they’d earn the right to try to do it again.
Not necessary. St. Scholastica sailed away to a 16-1 victory over Northland to seal up the victory.
The rest of the UMAC seems very competitive, but none of the teams can challenge coach Jen Walters’ superbly prepared St. Scholastica team. The best thing the Saints have done for the UMAC is that the league was regarded so lightly that even the champion didn’t get invited to the NCAA Division III action. But now that the rule calls for the league playoff champion to get a bid, St. Scholastica is off to take on Ripon in a D-III regional game Friday. This might be the year, and the team, that carries the Saints to their proper prominence.

Twins Keep Rising

At the start of the season, the Twins investment in starting pitchers looked bogus. But finally those starting hurlers are throwing more strikes, lasting longer into games, and giving the Twins a chance.
When Eduardo Escobar hit a 10th-inning home run for a 1-0 victory in Cleveland, it was the first time the Twins had won the first game of any series this season. It also lifted the Twins to 15-15 - sea level - for second place behind high-flying Detroit. Yeah, the Twins lost the second game to dip below .500 again, but there’s hope.
Unfortunate that Joe Mauer went out with a sore back, because he had gotten his batting eye back and hit .490 in the five games before he went out. But Brian Dozier continues to play like an all-star, making brilliant plays in the field and leading the major leagues in runs scored and leading the league in stolen bases.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers keep winning atop the Central Division, and once again, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander look like they could turn this year’s Cy Young competition into an all-Tigers 1-2.
The Twins could make it an exciting summer, but we have to wonder why they’re playing when it’s still hockey season?