Knight’s offense wakes up with win over SW United

By Jim Kopel

Tribute Sports

The RTR Baseball Team, in a tough hitting slump for the past couple of games, got the bats going last Fri­day against Southwestern United inHeronLake. The Knights collected 15 hits on their way to a non-con­ference victory.

The game started on the rough side for the Knights as the home team built a 6-1 lead after three in­nings of play. The team got things rolling in the fifth inning with three runs and put the game away with a big five-run sixth inning to have a 10-8 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Shay Wabeke put the clamps on the home team’s offense in the final two in­nings by allowing no runs. For the game, Wabeke al­lowed eight hits, walked four batters and struck out five hitters. In the com­plete game victory Wabeke allowed only four earned runs, as the Knights com­mitted three errors.

The hitting star for the Knights was Philip Mad­sen, as he had three hits and two RBIs in the game. Luke Wiering added two hits and two RBIs. Abel Ro­mandia and Nick Moberg each had one hit, but each hit was very big as they both drove in two runs.

When a team bunches runs in a big inning other batters need to get on base. Shay Wabeke and Brent Wiering were two of these table-setters as both of these boys collected two hits for the offense.

Earlier in the week the Knights traveled to Ray­mond to battle the MAC­CRAY Wolverines in a Camden Conference affair. This game went extra in­nings as the Wolverines would score a single run in the bottom of the eighth inning to win by a score of 3-2.

The home team would score single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to have a 2-0 lead going into the final inning. However, the Knights, who were in a 22-inning scoring drought, got two big runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 2.

Abel Romandia would come through as he would smack a two-run single for the big hit. Bubba Good had two hits in the game for the Knights. Mitch Hurst and Shay Wabeke also collected hits for the Knights. The Knights out­hit the Wolverines 6 to 4 for the game.

Philip Madsen did an­other fine job on the mound for the Knights as he hurled a complete game, allowing the four hits, striking out nine bat­ters while issuing only one walk. The Wolverines scored their winning run on a passed ball plus the only error by the Knights. It was a very well-played game as both teams com­mitted one error.

The Knights now have a record of two wins and four losses. On Thursday they will travel to Renville to battle RCW. On Mon­day, May 7 the Lakeview Lakers come toTylerfor a 4:30 p.m. contest. On Tuesday the team goes to Pipestone. (GO TEAM)

RTR girls win first-ever softball game against M/C/L

Tribute Sports

The wait is finally over! The RTR softball girls fi­nally saw victory for the first time ever as they would score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win by a score of 8-7 over the Minneota/Canby/Lincoln HI team.

Coach Steinbach was very happy for the girls, “After the key hit, the girls really didn’t know what to do. They had never experi­enced a close game before this. It was really a team win. Many girls did some positive things to help with this first win.”

The key hit was deliv­ered by Alicia Synder with the bases loaded and two outs. It was a mighty blast up the middle that fell in front of the centerfielder.

Ashlyn Wabeke got the inning started with a walk. Kaylie Nielsen followed with a single to left. An er­ror by the visitors loaded the bases. Nicole Enemark hit a roller to the third basemen who came home with the ball. The catcher failed to find the plate or tag the runner. The game was tied. The key hit by Snyder was next.

Before the Lady Knights could get in the position to win this game, they had to do some other scoring. Winning pitcher Anna Madsen provided plenty of help in the offensive area, going three for four at the plate. One of her hits was a homerun. Brittany McWil­liams was two for four, in­cluding a double. Ashlyn Wabeke, Destinee Strand and Maria Veldez also had hits in the game.

The Lady Knights out hit M/C/L 10 to four. The team did hurt themselves in the field by committing five errors to none for the visitors.

The two teams did play a second game on this night. Minneota/Canby/Lincoln HI was the home team for this game. The Lady Knights did not fare as well in the second game as the acting home team won the game by a score of 13-3.

The Lady Knights only collected five hits in this game while M/C/L had sev­en knocks. Ashlyn Wabeke was the hitting star for the Knights, getting two hits. Kaylie Nielsen had a dou­ble while Nicole Enemark and Anna Madsen each collected one hit.

This game was a close one until the bottom of the fifth inning when the home team M/C/L scored five runs to end the game by the 10-run rule.

We congratulate the team for their first win and hope for many more wins in future games. Keep up the effort, Lady Knights!

RTR track teams place in the Fulda Invitational

The RTR track teams participated in the Fulda Invitational on Tuesday, April 17 in Slayton at 4 p.m.

The RTR mens team placed eighth with 28 points and the women’s team placed ninth with 43 points. The eight other teams participating were Worthington, MCC, Fulda, Mountain Lake, TMB, HB-C, SMC and Adrian.

Men’s 100 meters: 15th Creston Dalle 13.23; 22nd Moises Reyes 14.06; 25th Jorge Flores 19.33

Men’s 200 meters: 6th Ty Thooft 25.10; 8th Tay­lor Thooft 25.63; 19th Moises Reyes 27.79

Men’s 400 meters: 2nd Taylor Thooft 56.46; 8th Creston Dalle 1:02.38

Men’s 800 meters: 12th Newt Dunblazer 2:31.94; 18th Jayden Strand 3:01.59; 19th Landon Buse 3:10.64

Men’s 1600 meters: 17th Grant Barron 6:12.52

Men’s 4×100 relay: 8th Creston Dalle, Moises Reyes, Newt Dunblazier, Jayden Strand 59.38

Men’s 4×200 relay: 5th Nathan Condelli, Philip Madsen, Taylor Thooft, Ty Thooft 1:43.02

Men’s 4×800 relay: 4th Grant Barron, Jayden Strand, Newt Dunblazier, Tate Thooft 13:14.74

Men’s Shot Put: 22nd Es­tevan Velasquez 20-09.00

Men’s Long Jump: 4th Nathan Condelli 17-09.50; 14th Ty Thooft 16-07.25; 25th Jayden Strand 14- 02.50

Men’s Triple Jump: 14th Ty Thooft 33-04.50

Women’s 100 meters: 7th Shayna Possail 14.34; 17th Ashley Hankins 15.59; 27th Lydia Ve­lasquez 18.04

Women’s 200 meters: 1st Jada Carr 27.64; 25th Lydia Velasquez 37.28; 26th Katie Petersen 37.33

Women’s 800 meters: 5th Breanna Olson 2:37.07; 10th Sam Brust 2:46.35; 15th Maria Weber 2:49.36

Women’s 100m hurdles: 12th Cheyenne Kaffen­barger 21.55

Women’s 4×100 relay: 7th Sam Brust, Cheyenne Kaffenbarger, Shelby Kern, Shayna Possail 58.57

Women’s 4×200 relay: 8th Cheyenne Kaffenbarg­er, Shayna Possail, Shel­by Kern, Breanna Olson 2:03.20

Women’s 4×800 relay: 3rd Sam Brust, Breanna Olson, Shelby Kern, Maria Weber 11:17.27

Women’s Shot Put: 16th Ashley Hankins 22-09.75; 23rd Kay Finzen 10-07.00

Women’s Discus: 14th Ashley Hankins 61-01; 22nd Kay Finzen 29-11

Women’s Long jump: 2nd Jada Carr 14-10.00; 9th Shayna Possail 13- 00.00; 12th Cheyenne Kaffenbarger 12-09.25

Women’s Triple jump: 1st Jada Carr 32-02.00; 11th Shelby Kern 27- 02.00

RTR Junior High track competes at TMB and Fulda

TMB Jr. High Track Meet April 20

Girls: Breanna Olson – 1st 400m, 3rd 200m, 4th high jump, 5th 100m.

Boys: Jayden Strand – 1st 100m, 2nd long jump, 2nd 800m.

Tate Thooft – 1st long jump, 1st triple jump, 2nd 200m. 6th 400m.

Fulda Jr. High Track In­vitational April 23

Girls: Breanna Olson – 1st 800m, 1st high jump, 3rd 400m.

Shelby Kern – 2nd long jump, 4th triple jump

Boys: Tate Thooft – 1st triple jump, 2nd long jump, 4th medley relay, 6th 4×100 relay

Kevin Andersen – 1st 400m, 2nd 100m, 4th medley relay, 6th shot put

Creston Dalle – 1st high jump, 2nd 400m, 4th med­ley relay, 5th 100m

Jayden Strand – 3rd long jump, 4th 800m, 4th high jump, 4th medley relay

Stevan Velaquez – 6th 4×100 relay

Landon Buse – 6th 4×100 relay

Cameron Jorgensen – 6th 4×100 relay

Middle school baseball wins thriller against Adrian

Ryan Fischer was the starting pitcher for the Knights and recorded three strikeouts. Dain LaRock also pitched and struck out two batters.

The Knights gave up four runs through five innings of play but saved their best for last.

In the top of the sixth inning, Dain LaRock and Jacob Petersen both drew walks and the Knights had some base runners. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position.

Ryan Fischer got a hit to drive in a run. With two of the Knight batters going down swinging after that, things did not look like they would turn in RTR’s favor.

However, Jed Swanson and Jaden Cowell both drew walks to load the bases and score another run. Big slugger Fernando Vargas came up to the plate with two outs and smashed a ball into center field to drive in two more runs. The Knights weren’t finished yet as Sam Schar­din drew a walk and Dain LaRock hit the rest of the runners in.

Levi Hurst shut the Drag­ons out in the bottom of the sixth with three strike­outs to secure the win for the Knights, 6-4.

Eighth grade baseball team wins close one

The RTR Middle School Knights hosted the TMB Panthers in Tyler on April 17.

Adrian Escher and Jaden Cowell once again pitched for the seventh grade Knights. Cowell recorded two strikeouts. Sam Schar­din drew a walk and the Knights had their first base runner, but could not get him in. The seventh grad­ers dropped 0-9.

The eighth graders fared much better in their game with pitching ace Levi Hurst on the mound. Jacob Petersen sprinted his way to first base on a dropped third strike situation and beat out the throw. Fer­nando Vargas drew a walk and the Knights had two on base but failed to get them in.

However, in the bottom of the seventh inning the Knights’ bats came alive. Dain LaRock, Ryan Fischer, Levi Hurst and Jacob Pe­tersen all produced hits to drive in a run.

Knights Pitcher Levi Hurst threw 11 strikeouts.

Coach Heerdt is pon­dering calling the major league scouts. The eighth graders won 1-0.

Baseball Knights lose tough one to CMCS 5-4

Bryce Weets was on second for the Knights during this play as a CMCS runner slides into second.

By Jim Kopel

Tribute Sports

The Central Minnesota Christian School from Prinsburg came to Tyler last Thursday to play the Knights in a Camden Con­ference game. The visitors, with the score tied at 4 in the seventh inning, got a tie-breaking homerun to win the game.

The Knights got the quick start in this game that was started in rainy conditions. With Luke Wiering on first in the first inning, Abel Ro­mania blasted a two-run homer to get the team roll­ing. Philip Madsen walked and came around to score on a double by Brandon Kerr. The visitors would score two runs in the sec­ond inning to narrow their deficit.

The Knights added their fourth run in the fourth inning as Brent Wiering reached base on an error. He was bunted to second by Mitch Hurst. Cousin Luke Wiering drove him in with a sharp single. Abel Romania drove a ball to the wall for a long single, but the Knights tried a double steal that backfired, so no more runs were scored that inning.

CMCS tied things up in the fifth inning. An RTR er­ror plus two walks loaded the bases with one out. The visitors would score two runs on a force out at second. Both runs were unearned.

The Knights made an effort to score in the sixth inning. A walk by Madsen and a sharp single by Shay Wabeke put two runners on, but a fly out ended the inning.

After the homerun by CMCS the Knights made a valiant effort to tie or win the game. Bubba Good started the seventh inning with a single to center. Nick Moberg laid down a punt to get the pinch runner to second. Brent Wiering got himself a walk. Mitch Hurst hit a soft fly ball to right that fell between the right fielder, second base­man and the first baseman. However, the right fielder picked up the ball and threw the thing to second base, where Wiering was forced out. A fly out ended the game for the Knights.

Shay Wabeke did a very nice job on the mound for the Knights as he allowed only two earned runs. He did walk a couple of bat­ters, but also struck out six batters in the tough-luck loss. Wabeke went the dis­tance for the team.

The team travels to KMS this Thursday. This is a conference battle for the Knights. The game will be in Sunburg with a starting time of 4:30 p.m.

RTR golfers participate in Marshall Invitational

By Jim Kopel

Tribute Sports

The RTR Golf Teams took part in the annual Marshall Invitational this past Monday and Tuesday. There were 10 teams on Monday that participated in the girls portion of the tournament while there were 17 teams that were involved in action on Tues­day for the boys.

The Lincoln HI Reb­els, who went to the state tournament last year, won the team title on Monday with a score of 393, beat­ing Ortonville, who shot a 396. The RTR team didn’t have four golfers, so they didn’t have a team score.

Hannah Kruger of the Knights finished third in the individual competition with a score of 94. Kelsey Stanek of the Knights shot a 109 while Lindsay Moberg nailed a 143. The top score for the day was shot by Rikki Roscoe of Ortonville with a 92. Kyra Gores of Lincoln HI was second with a 94.

The RTR boys, playing with a full deck of players, finished seventh out of the 17 teams that took part in the boys tournament on Tuesday. TheMarshallboys were the top team with a score of 318. Ben­son was second as a team with a score of 326 while Monte finished third with a 327. The RTR boys shot a 354, one point from Daw­son-Boyd.

Hudsen VanDrunen of the Knights shot a 76 for third place for the boys. Matt Bennett ofMarshallwas medalist with a 74 while Sam Peterson of Ben­son nailed a 75 for second place. Other RTR scores were Nate Christensen, Nathan VanDrunen, Hunt­er Burns, William Dun­blazier and Andrew Miller with scores of 88, 94, 96, 108 and 121, respectively.

VanDrunen had these thoughts on his round, “My drives were good. My irons were a bit shaky, but what helped is I chipped and putted real well. I chipped in at hole six for birdie. The front nine was a very good nine for me.”

The RTR golfers contin­ue their work as they will travel toCottonwoodon April 23 to participate in a triangular meet with RCW and the host team, the Lakeview Lakers. It might be good to know that any­one can follow a golfer or group of golfers around the course while they are playing. Of course, a fol­lower must use proper eti­quette in doing this. (Con­tinue the improvement, golfers.)

RTR track teams participate in MCC Early Bird April 3

The RTR track teams par­ticipated in the MCC Early Bird Invitational held at Slayton on Tuesday, April 3. The men’s team came in sixth with 19 points and the women’s team came in fifth with 60 points. Other teams participating wereWorthington, MCC,Fulda, Canby, Windom Area and Ellsworth.

Men’s 100 meters: 10th Ty Thooft 12.57; 16th Creston Dalle 13.48; 18th Jayden Strand 13.75

Men’s 200 meters: 7th Tyl Thooft, 26.44; 9th Taylor Thooft 26.69; 12th Moises Reyes 28.85

Men’s 400 meters: 2nd Taylor Thooft 58.21; 10th Creston Dalle, 1:05.09; 13th Shane Vogt 1:08.10

Men’s 800 meters: 12th Newt Dunblazier 2:14.88; 14th Tate Thooft 2:57.88; 16th Landon Buse 3:14.04

Men’s 1600 meters: 12th Grant Barron 6:34.06

Men’s 4×100 relay: 6th Shane Vogt, Moises Ryes, Creston Dalle, Kevin An­dersen, 53.94; Landon Buse, Tate Thooft, Camer­on Jorgensen, Jorge Flores 1:06.66

Men’s 4×200 relay: 4th Moises Reyes, Taylor Thooft, Kevin Andersen, Shane Vogt 1:48.80

Men’s 4×800 Relay: 6th Kevin Andersen, Newt Dunblazier, Jayden Strand, Grant Barron 10:47.37

Men’s Shot Put: 14th Kevin Andersen 28-05.00; 21st Estevan Velasquez 22-06.00

Men’s Discus: 19th Este­van Velasquez

Men’s Long jump: 10th Nathan Condelli 16-00.00; 12th Ty Thooft 15-06.00

Men’s Triple jump: 14th Shane Vogt 30-09.00

Women’s 100 meters: 5th Shayna Possail 14.27; 7th Jasi Borman 14.67; 12th Ashley Hankins 15.49

Women’s 200 meters: 1st Jada Carr 27.4

Women’s 400 me­ters: 6th Breanna Olson 1:11.40

Women’s 800 me­ters: 2nd Breanna Olson 2:43.48; 6th Sam Brust 2:49.22; 7th Maria Weber 2:50.32

Women’s 100m hurdles: 7th Cheyenne Kaffenbarg­er 21.94

Women’s 4×100 relay: Cheyenne Kaffenbarger, Shayna Possail, Sam Brust, Jasi Borman, 1:00.00; Katie Petersen, Lydia Velasquez, Maria Weber, Ashley Han­kins 1:08.39

Women’s 4×200 relay: 3rd Shayna Possail, Bre­anna Olson, Cheyenne Kaffenbarger, Jasi Borman 2:04.67

Women’s Shot Put: 15th Ashley Hankins 19-11.00

Women’s Discus: 7th Ashley Hankins 60-04

Women’s Long jump: 1st Jada Carr 15-00.50; 5th Shayna Possail 13-06.00; 11th Cheyenne Kaffen­barger 12-00.00

Women’s Triple jump: 1st Jada Carr 32-06.25

Carr takes 1st in long and triple jump at Pipestone Invitational

The RTR Track teams participated in the Pip­estone Invitational on Sat­urday, April 14 with events beginning at 11 a.m.

Other teams also partici­pating were Canby,Fulda, H-BC, Luverne, MCC, Pil­lager, SMC, TMB, and Win­dom.

Men’s 100 meters: 17th Creston Dalle 13.36; 26th Cameron Jorgensen 16.56

Men’s 200 meters: 10th Ty Thooft 25.10; 15th Tay­lor Thooft 26.07

Men’s 400 meters: 6th Taylor Thooft 56.22; 9th Creston Dalle 58.05

Men’s 800 meters: 5th Newt Dunblazier 2:17.59; 18th Jayden Strand 2:35.92; 23rd Landon Buse 3:02.05

Men’s 1600 meters: 19th Grant Barron 6:10.35

Men’s 4×100 relay: 8th Creston Dalle, Jayden Strand, Tate Thooft, Newt Dunblazier, 53.18

Men’s 4×200 relay: 5th Nathan Condelli, Philip Madsen, Ty Thooft, Taylor Thooft, 1:40.8

Men’s 4×800 relay: 6th Grant Barron, Newt Dun­blazier, Jayden Strand, Tate Thooft, 11:09.60

Men’s Long jump: 6th Nathan Condelli 17-06.75; 8th Ty Thooft 17-03.00; 19th Jayden Strand 14-06.00

Men’s Triple jump: 11th Ty Thooft 34-07.50; 19th Tate Thooft 27-11.50

Women’s 100 me­ters: 3rd Shayna Possail 14.26; 18th Ashley Han­kins 15.59; 31st Lydia Ve­lasquez 18.47

Women’s 200 meters: 2nd Jada Carr 28.02; 27th Katie Petersen 38.09; 28th Lydia Velasquez 38.57

Women’s 800 meters: 5th Breanna Olson 2:40.29; 9th Maria Weber 2:49.50; 14th Sam Brust 2:55.30

Women’s 4×100 relay: 6th Cheyenne Kaffenbarg­er, Shayna Possail, Sam Brust, Shelby Kern, 58.41

Women’s 4×200 relay: 7th Shelby Kern, Breanna Olson, Shayna Possail, Cheyenne Kaffenbarger, 2:00.84

Women’s 4×800 relay: 5th Sam Brust, Maria We­ber, Breanna Olson, Shelby Kern, 11:27.60

Women’s Shot Put: 22nd Ashley Hankins 21-07.00; 27th Rebecca Hankins 16-10.50; 28th Kay Finzen 11-00.00

Women’s Discus: 24th Ashley Hankins 61-05, 27th Rebecca Hankins 51-00; 30th Kay Finzen 29-05

Women’s Long Jump: 1st Jada Carr 16-00.50; 8th Shayna Possail 13-08.75; 19th Cheyenne Kaffen­barger 12-01.50

Women’s Triple Jump: 1st Jada Carr 33-10.00