Baseball: Area players compete in over-50 state tournament

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Players from Alexandria, Menahga/Sebeka, Urbank, Nisswa and Ft. Ripley have joined together as the All-State Pioneers to take on teams from the Twin Cities and Shakopee in the first ever Over-50 tournament.

The tournament is being held as part of the 33rd annual Minnesota Senior Men’s Amateur Baseball Association (MSMABA) State Tournament in Jordan and Lonsdale.

This past Saturday, the Pioneers found themselves in a 5-0 hole in the first inning against the TC Twins. When Nisswa’s Ron Gilbert came on in relief, still in the bottom of the first inning, he was able to slow the bleeding enough to allow the Pioneers to start a comeback, which came up just short in an 11-8 loss.

Gilbert was followed on the mound by Ft. Ripley’s Neil Sather, who tossed two scoreless innings. The Urbank Goldtimers’ Joe Dorn (a double and two runs scored) and Alexandria Classic Clippers’ Mike Weber (3-for-3 plus a walk and three runs scored) paced the Pioneers’ attack.

Other members of the Pioneers included Gary Kern, Gene Kern, Dave Warmbold and Willie Davis from Menahga/Sebeka, and Al Woida, Terry Amundson and Paul Klimek from Urbank. Alexandria’s Roger Johnson is in his third season with the Minnesota Saints who will take on the TC Twins in Sunday’s championship game. The Pioneers will line up against the Shakopee Bandits in Saturday’s third place game.

The MSMABA’s mission is to encourage and offer a baseball program for persons 35 years of age and older, to establish and enforce special rules for league and state play, and to provide an annual state tournament to determine championships. The association was formed in 1979.

Tags: alexandria sports, area sports, sports, baseball, state, tournament, over, 50