Sports from the week of May 22, 2002

TMB baseball begins new season Saturday

The Panther baseball team has been seeded 11th out of 14 teams in Section 3AA. Jackson County Central has the first seed, BOLD is #2, Luverne #3, Renville County West #4, Redwood Valley #5, Windom #6, Lac Qui Parle Valley #7, MACCRAY #8, Benson #9, RRC/W/WG #10, T-M-B #11, Pipestone #12, Montevideo, #13 and Yellow Medicine East #14.

The Panthers, 9-10 on the season, open Section play at 2:30 p.m. against Windom at Luverne Saturday, May 25. The tournament is double elimination with all games after the opening round played at the site of the higher seed until the semi-finals are reached. The championship games will be played at a site to be determined.

The Panther's Scott LaVoy is leading the conference in hitting with a .545 average and Clay Caron is fifth place at .421. LaVoy is in second place in home runs with 4 while Adam Schmidt has 3. In pitching the Panther's Erik Kathman is seventh in earned run average with 2.04 and is in fourth place in strikeouts with 1.49 per inning.

Last season, the Panthers were the Section 3AA runner-ups, losing to Luverne.

Everything clicks in 3-2 win over Marshall

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton topped Marshall 3-2 Saturday on the Southwest State University field.

The win was a confidence builder for the Panthers, because Marshall came into the game as the Southwest Conference leaders.

"We played probably the best game we have played all season," said Coach Bill Tauer. "We fielded well, got excellent pitching from Adam (Schmidt) and got some timely hits. I had planned to let several players pitch but Adam was going so well and we badly needed to get the win and to restore some of our confidence going into the sections."

Female tracksters earn True Team silver medals

The Panther girls' track team came close to a State True Team Class A championship Saturday.

The Panthers finished 7 points behind Mayer Lutheran.

The team scores were: Mayer Lutheran, 413.5; T-M-B, 406.5; New Richland-Heartland-Geneva, 379.5; Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, 369; Byron, 348; Warren/Alvarado/Oslo, 302; Lake of the Woods, 242.5; Pierz, 235; H-U-H, 231.

"This is a big accomplishment by the girls track team," said Panther Coach Steve Jones. "Getting to the state in the True Team was the No. 1 goal set by the girls early this spring. This is the fourth time we have participated in this meet and the girls wanted badly to do well. We think we did very well by coming within 8 points of winning the meet.”

In 1994 the Panthers finished sixth and in both 1995 and in 2001 the team finished fifth in 2001 in True Team competition.

TMB finished 12 points behind Mayer Lutheran last year and closed to only 7 points this year.

"I think they were stronger than we are in the field events and we were stronger in the races," said Jones. "They only won 2 events while we won 5 but they got 6 seconds and that is why the true team concept is a good one. "

The True Team meet recognizes teams on the basis of overall depth and quality. Teams can enter two athletes in each category, with every finisher earning points for the team.

TMB softball ends regular season on winning note

The Panther softball team finished their regular season schedule Monday with a split with KMS at Tracy. The Fighting Saints won the first game 9-2, with Tracy/Milroy/Balaton winning the second 3-2.

The Panthers finished the season with a 4-13 record, 3-11 in the 212 Conference.

Megan Anderson pitched both games for the Panthers. Anderson gave up 9 runs on 9 hits in the first game and held KMS to only 5 hits and 2 runs in the second. Lindsay Erickson got a triple in the first game and doubled in the winning run in the second.

Softball team begins playoffs Saturday

Tracy/Milroy/Balaton is seeded seventh in the south half of the Section 3AA softball tournament. Jackson County Central got the top seed, Pipestone-Jasper was 2, Red Rock Central/Walnut Grove-Westbrook 3, Luverne 4, Redwood Valley 5, Windom 6 and TMB 7.

The Panthers open tournament play against Pipestone-Jasper Saturday, May 25 at 11:30 a.m. at Windom. The tournament is double-elimination. All games after the first round will be played at Redwood Falls

"Pipestone-Jasper has very good pitching," said Panther Coach Dave Sogge. "They will be a very tough opponent. We should be at full strength for the tournament, at least close to full strength. It's been a bad year for injuries, losing three starters, Kristina Anderson, Marcia Ankrum and Ashley Julien."