Co-manager Mark Kolbinger said the Buzzards were missing quite a few players and had six guys playing out of their natural positions.

 

Despite that, Kolbinger says his team had a chance to compete in the game if they could have found a couple of key hits. Brian Smith started on the mound for the visiting Buzzards and went two innings, giving up six runs.  Brian Kolbinger started the game behind the plate and then came in to pitch in the third inning and threw exceptionally the rest od the way.  Brian gave up just one earned run and showed a very good curve ball.  

 

Mark Kolbinger said Brian's action behind the plate was his first since the late 1980's, but as usual he was willing to do whatever he could to help the team.

 

Jason Pfingsten led the team at the plate with a pair of hits, including a towering home run that cleared left center field fence by a long ways.  

 

“Edina's park is huge,  it’s 341 feet down the left field line and Jason still put it out of the park,” said Kolbinger.  

Jeff Haus also collected his first hit as a Buzzard.  

 

“It's been well over 20 years since Jeff played baseball, but his natural ability was obvious as he took really good at bats for us,” said Mark.

 

Sunday, the Buzzards dropped a doubleheader, losing 3-2 to Rosemount in extra innings before falling to Cold Spring later on in the day, 10-0.  

 

Kolbinger noted it was a doubleheader against the defending Class A and Class AA state champions.

 

In the first game, Pfingsten was outstanding on the mound, going nine innings.  

 

“Jason deserved a much better fate than we gave him, as again our hitting with RISP (runners in scoring position) left a lot to be desired,” said the co-manager.  

 

Becker had the bases loaded a few times and just couldn't get the hit to break the game open.  One of the defensive highlights was Jason Baune's play in center field where he made several great catches in the two games, solidifying the defense.

 

In the nightcap against Cold Spring, Jim Hanson started on the mound and pitched well for 4-2/3 innings before Matt EIgen came on in relief.  The Buzzards were only outhit 9-8 against a very good team, but a few walks and some errors doomed them. “We actually did a pretty good job of putting the ball in play, but just didn't get the job done,” said Kolbinger.

 

Next up for the Buzzards will be a pair of home games June 21 and 22 as part of the Freedom Days weekend.  Both games will be at 3 p.m. at the  Becker Athletic Complex.