Month: April 2023

CRBL Spring Showcase Tournament Team

The first annual CRBL Spring Showcase, hosted by the Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks, was cut short to just one day due to weather. However, four teams were able to play a round robin tournament with Chippewa Falls defeating the Jim Falls Sturgeons 5-0 in the Championship game.

Player Team
Kyle MaugBeef River Bullfrogs
Storm StandifordBeef River Bullfrogs
Austin BakerBeef River Bullfrogs
Austin SykoraJim Falls Sturgeons
AJ SchemenauerJim Falls Sturgeons
Ryan KrumenauerJim Falls Sturgeons
Cole SchwabBloomer Woodticks
Matt MartineauChippewa Falls LumberJacks
Nate HayesChippewa Falls LumberJacks
Cole BoweChippewa Falls LumberJacks
Nolan HutzlerChippewa Falls LumberJacks
Tournament Most Valuable Player
Blake Trippler – Chippewa Falls LumberJacks
Tournament Most Valuable Pitcher
Dylan Waters – Chippewa Falls LumberJacks

2023 Team Previews / Rosters

The Augusta Athletics, Powered by Stensen Excavating and Transport, are back in the CRBL and the Athletics are excited to bring baseball back to the newly renovated Jan Krueger Diamond at Memorial Field.

The A’s lineup will be filled with some familiar faces and a few ones. The lineup will include members of the former A’s, JJ and Cody Breaker; along with Brice Shimon and Parker Gehrmann who previously suited up for the Merchants. In addition, some recent graduates from Augusta, Fall Creek, Eau Claire and Thorp will fill out the roster. The A’s have also identified some hidden talent that will be joining the team after their high school season concludes.

The Athletics will be managed by Duane Ives and Byron King. Duane was a long-time player for the Athletics during the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Bryon has served as the assistant baseball coach for the Augusta High School team for past few years.

The Athletics enter the season with a lot of questions about their pitching staff, position players and hitting…but are excited to work through all those challenges and put a competitive team on the field!

Fans of the Athletics should be excited about the upcoming season and the potential of the new team! The team would like to thank all their sponsors for helping get the team off the ground this season. (Take a second and scroll through our sponsors below). Hope to see you all out at the field this season!

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ROSTER: Chase Stensen-Veenendahl, Brennan Stensen-Veenendahl, JJ Breaker, Cody Breaker, Cole Stensen, Brice Shimon, Parker Gehrmann, Cameron Martzke, Logan Brown, Ryan Grunewald, Matt Vesperman, Jakob Rosemeyer, Ryan Stunkel

Managers: Duane Ives & Byron King

While the Bullfrogs showed an improvement on the field last year, the 2023 Frogs will look to be the surprise of the CRBL.

Beef River returns most of their team from last year, including the team leader in hits Ryan Gray (14). Taylor Rathke/Tim Prince (12), Kyle Maug (11), Ethan Bartels (10) and Wes Boyarski (1 HR) also are returning as leading hitters from last year’s squad. Returning arms include Bartels (49.2 IP), Boyarski (34) and Prince (24.1). The Frogs will be looking to some of the fresh faces to help them get through the season on the mound.

Preston Benedict is one name to watch on the mound as a newcomer for the Frogs and to the CRBL. Derek Bills brings some late game heat, while Dylan Fox will also look to take on some innings as a fresh face.

Will Thibideau will make his full CRBL season debut with the Frogs. Thibideau went 5-13 in 3 games for the Frogs last season, including a double. Carter Johnson will also make his return to the Outfield after playing in just 5 games for the Frogs last season. Storm Standiford comes over to the Frogs after having spent time with the Eau Claire Cavaliers and most recently the Osseo Merchants. The lefty will look to help anchor the lineup at 1B and the DH position. Jackson Faulkner will join the Frogs after spending last season with the Cavaliers. Colin Boyarski will join the squad after his senior season with Altoona. Colin is the younger brother of Wes Boyarski and will look to provide a boost at the plate while manning the hot corner and some games behind the dish.

Hanging up the cleats to be a full-time dad is Brendan McCabe. McCabe brought an electric energy to the squad as a Veteran and went out with a bang, hitting .333 with 4 doubles, while also earning his first All-Star game selection, and Gold Glove award behind the dish. McCabe’s energy and love for the game will be missed this season.
The Bullfrogs are excited to have fans back out to the Ballpark this summer and can’t wait to see what the season holds.

Go Frogs!

ROSTER: Dyllan Bauer, Austin Baker, Ethan Bartels, Preston Benedict, Derek Bills, Colin Boyarski, Wesley Boyarski, Jackson Faulkner, Parker Fischer, Dylan Fox, Ryan Gray, Brandon Jaenke, Carter Johnson, Justin Julson, Reece Lucas, Ethan Maug, Kyle Maug, Daniel Palubicki, Tim Prince, Taylor Rathke, Cody Skabroud, Storm Standiford, Will Thibideau, Brett VanVlack, Austin Zimmerman 

MANAGER: Taylor Rathke, Ethan Bartels

The 2022 Woodticks were something. We aren’t sure what, but they were something. An uncharacteristic one win season is something that the 2023 version of the Woodticks will work to turn into what feels like ancient history.

The roster is built like a bread forward sandwich. The top piece of bread is those same faces that have suited up for several seasons. The team will hope the veterans can provide steadiness. The middle of the sandwich includes a couple players that are really coming into their own as they continue to play in the battle tested CRBL. The final part of the roster that makes up the the bottom piece of bread is full of players who are young and ready to show their talents. This group of Ticks have either just joined the team or have played in parts of only a couple seasons. We are excited to see how the season plays on for this group!

We would like to thank all of our local sponsors as well as the players’ families for the time and effort they give to help our season run. We hope to see you head up north to Bloomer for some Woodtick action this season!

The Red Sox are excited to be back for another year of CRBL baseball in 2023! Going into last season the team had a lot of unknowns with several key veterans retiring and many new faces joining the team.  The club didn’t know what to expect with these new players but they exceeded expectations and laid a promising foundation for the upcoming 2023 season.

Returning to the lineup this season on the infield are all star and rookie of the year runner up Chad Kron.  Kron took control of the leadoff spot last year with a 340 batting average and played a great shortstop.  Fresh off his first career All CRBL Award veteran Zac Merritt (362 BA) looks to be an anchor in the middle of the lineup.  Filling out the infield will be Austin Goettl, Parker Lemanski, Jonah Hanson, Sam Feck, Cole Bakkum, and Conner Roth. Second year player Ryan Smith figures to be the primary catcher.

In years past the Sox have been thin in the outfield.  This is not the case anymore.  Ely Johnson will return to centerfield where he batted 467(14 for 30) last season.  Two time gold glove winner and 2022 all star Shawn Sedlacek is slotted to man left field.  Logan Burzynski who made the all star team as a rookie last year, Tony Riley and Bennett Bowe will all be big contributors as well.

Something Cadott has struggled with for years has been pitching depth.  In one years time Cadott has completely revamped their starting rotation.  Second year player Alex Schmidt joined the team in April last year and finished third in the league in innings pitched with 56.  After months of negotiations the Red Sox were able to add two time all star Zack Thiesse. His veteran leadership, playoff experience, and durability will be a major plus for the team. Eau Claire North graduate and current University of Minnesota Duluth pitcher Henry Wilkinson will join the team in June as will Cadott high school standout and southpaw Warren Bowe.  On paper this rotation is the strongest Cadott has had in over a decade.

Red Sox fans should be excited about the potential of their team for the upcoming season!   The team would like to thank all of their fans and their outstanding sponsors.  (Take a second and scroll through our sponsors below). Hope to see you all out at the field this season!  Let’s play ball!

ROSTER: Cole Bakkum, Bennett Bowe, Warren Bowe, Logan Burzynski, Henry Danielson, Rick Danielson, Sam Feck, Austin Goettl, Jonah Hanson, Ely Johnson, Chad Kron, Parker Lemanski , Zac Merritt, Ben Poppe, Tony Riley, Conner Roth, Alex Schmidt, Shawn Sedlacek, Ryan Smith, Zack Thiesse, Henry Wilkinson

MANAGER: Rick Danielson

The Chippewa Falls LumberJacks continue to make their mark as a highly competitive and successful team in the CRBL and Amatuer Baseball in this part of the state. In 2022 we were one of four teams to make the CRBL Playoffs which marked the second year in row we have done so. Our 21-10 overall season record put us over 20 wins for the second consecutive year as well.

The Jacks participated in the WBA (Wisconsin Baseball Association) Tournament for the 3rd straight year going 1-1 in Regional play. Getting back to the WBA Tournament and competing for the championship will be one of our top goals for 2023.

Individually Matt Martineau gathered unanimous All-CRBL honors at 2nd Base. Nolan Hutler received Honorable Mention All-CRBL and Caleb Gardow won a CRBL Gold Glove.

Of note the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks will be the host for the 2023 CRBL All-Star Game on June 30th at 7:00 pm and among the events will be the induction of the CRBL HOF Class for 2023. Former Lumberjacks Chuck Hall and Jim Spaeth will be inducted into the HOF along with some other CRBL legends so please mark your calendars for this special event.

Finally, the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks would like to thank all of our sponsors, fans, media, and support staff for all of their efforts in helping us achieve the success we have enjoyed our first three seasons. The 2023 home schedule is loaded with fun and entertaining Game Day Events and those wearing the LumberJack uniform wiil be ready to “Play Ball” as they say so come on out and support the Jacks!

The Eau Claire Bears look to continue their run of success in 2023. The 2023 Bears will be lead by All League Pitcher Joel Zachow and Outfielder Todd Lasher. The Bears will also be returning a long list of veterans including 2023 All Stars Chevy Tollefson, Blake Johnson, Matt Miller, and Jimmy Thill. The Bears are also bringing in some new blood this season to help the team out as well as bringing back a few veterans that will make some appearances throughout the season. 2022 marked the first year in Tollefson managerial career the bears did not reach the state tournament losing in an extra inning Heartbreaker in the regional final. The Bears plan to be back with a vengeance in 2023 and hope to claim that state title.

ROSTER: Chevy Tollefson, Todd Lasher, Jim Thill, Blake Johnson, Sam Janni, Ty Fadness, Matt Miller, Alex Jinkins, J.R. Lukes, Nathan Kent, Logan Berg, Mitch Bendickson, J.D. Prescher, Nate Larson, Quentin Gonzalez, Grant Preston, Tyler Oestrich, Joel Zachow, Will Mallett-Brown, Jack Shirpke, Joe Halling, Josh Halling, Wes Fleischer, Chris Budd, Hunter Guenther

The Eau Claire Cavaliers is an amateur baseball organization that started in in 1971. The 2023 baseball season will see the Eau Claire Cavaliers starting their 6th season as members of the Chippewa River Baseball League.

The 2022 baseball season saw the Cavaliers qualify for the WBA playoffs at the Merrill regionals. We started the playoffs by playing the Spring Valley Hawks and lost 4-5. The next day we played the Everest Merchants and won 4-3. We qualified for the WBA State Tournament held in Viroqua, WI. We played the Brill Millers and won 11-2 and lost to the River Falls Fighting Fish 0-10.

CRBL award winners were Cooper Kapanke CRBL 1st basemen, Caden Erickson CRBL golden glove and Ben Boda honorable mention.

The Eau Claire Cavaliers would like to welcome Ryan Bembnister as our new field manager for the 2023 baseball season. He becomes the 11th field manager in the history of our organization.

The Cavaliers would like to wish all of the teams of the Chippewa River Baseball League the best of luck in the league in 2023. We invite all baseball fans to come to Carson Park for baseball action at its best this summer.

ROSTER: Andrew Milner, Tyson Allen-Woodcock, David Jannsen, Cade Mueller, Luke Erickson, Xavier Bembnister, Gabe O’Brien, Jaxon Vance, Austin Goetsch, Josh Garcia, Jack Redwine,Chase Yaeger, Ben Boda, Lucas Costley, Caden Erickson, Cole Tyman, Conor O’Reilly Cooper Kapanke, Mitch Voller, Campbell Kapanke and Sam Harris

2023 will stand as the 7th season of play for the Eau Claire Rivermen in the historical Chippewa River Baseball League.

The season of 2022 saw the Rivermen battle to an 8 and 10 CRBL record and a 7th place finish in the 10-team standings. Overall, the ‘Men finished at 17 and 19. Fair to say the highlight of the year was qualifying for the WBA and playing in the Ellsworth Regional. After losing a tight, 3-0 contest to a tough Hudson River Rats team, the Rivermen captured their first WBA victory in franchise history with a 9-6, 10-inning win vs. the Whittlesey Reds. In the seesaw 10-inning contest, the ‘Men were up 4-2, only to fall behind 9-6 before tying the game 9-all with 3 runs in the top of the 9th. In the deciding 10th frame, EC put up a 3-spot for the final margin of victory. Nonetheless, Hudson emerged from the 3-team pool to make it the WBA finals in Onalaska and Sparta.

2022 CRBL award winners for the Crew in Navy Blue and Grey included Lance Lettner in the outfield (1st All-CRBL award), Andy Niese at designated hitter (13th All-CRBL award), and Tyler Gray as honorable mention pitcher (7th HOM award). The fleet-footed Lettner also garnered his first gold glove recognition for his dynamic play in centerfield.

Alas, with a new season comes renewed hope, and the process of building a competitive roster never stops. With the return of 6 to 7 starters and the addition of several talented high school players from Eau Claire, the Men of the River are excited to take the diamond in 2023.

Regardless of wins and losses, the Eau Claire Rivermen are proud to be part of the storied Chippewa River Baseball League. We look forward to seeing you at Fairfax Field, our plush home park with ample seating and convenient parking.

ROSTER: Jake Becker, Patrick Callaghan, James Davis, Cooper Dykes, Joe Davis, Joel Effertz, Drew Gibson, Tyler Gray, Brett Jensen, Brett Johnson, Sam Knickerbocker, Jacob Lacy, Lance Lettner, Payton Loomis, Truman Lokken, Jonah Mueller, Andy Niese, Dave Roubal, Alex St. John, Hans Soukup, Sawyer Sturz, Jesse Urbanek, Tim Wilson, Carson Windeshausen

MANAGER: Andy Niese

After years of hoping to see change, the Sturgeons realized a sea change in 2022. Thanks to a stable core bolstered by some key additions, the team followed a 5-15 record in 2021 with a 9-9 finish last year. As a result, they made the WBA tournament for the first time since 2-13 and won a game in it for the first time since 1991. (As a testament to the strength of the CRBL, each of the six teams in the tournament won at least once.)

The Sturgeons enter 2023 with almost everyone back. One key loss will be catcher Kole Smith who, instead of defending the plate for Jim Falls, will be defending the country with the army. Meanwhile, look for new names to pop up in the box scores as the team has brought up some exciting hopefuls from the farm team in Cobban.

Looking at some of the offensive numbers turned in last year, we find rookie Bobby Soran hitting .524 with 11-21, Mitch Howard (.400, 4-10), CRBL Honorable Mention All-League Tristin Hable (.362, 17-47, with 11 R and 7 RBI), Bob Maurer (.292, 7-24), and Justin Toman (.279, 12-43). Throw in dependable CRBL Gold Glove winner and team grand slam specialist Ryan Krumenauer (15-58, .259) who led the team in taters while finishing second in hits and RBI, Evan Dennis (11-42, .262, with 11 BBs), Austin Sykora (10-43), and A. J. Schemenauer the team RBI leader (9), and the Sturgeons have the basis of a strong lineup.

CRBL Rookie-of-the-Year Will Jacobson leads the mound corps, having posted a 4-3 record with a 2.92 ERA and 42 Ks in 52.1 innings. His brilliant 12-inning complete game 5-2 win in the WBAs capped a stellar season. He was backed by Mike Maurer (3-3), Isaac Lindstrom (0.00 ERA in 10.1 IP), and manager Peter Thaler (3.45 ERA in 15.2 IP) among others. Jacobson and Lindstrom also picked up saves.

Jim Falls was well represented at the All-Star game as well, sending Toman, Jacobson, both Maurers, and Hable.

Welcome back to Sturgeon Stadium at Grudem Field for the 59th season of Sturgeon baseball. We’ll have a hot dog and a cold one waiting for you.

ROSTER: Trevor Bowe, Nelson Crumbaker, Evan Dennis, Jake Eslinger, Tristin Hable, Mitch Howard, Will Jacobson, Raven Keyeski, Wyatt Keyeski, Ryan Krumenauer, Isaac Lindstrom, Hunter Martell, Bob Maurer, Mike Maurer, A. J. Schemenauer, Beau Snyder, Bobby Soran, Austin Skorra, Peter Thaler, Justin Toman, Nick Pitsch, Kole Smith

MANAGER: Pete Thaler

The Merchants turned in another great season in 2022 finishing 15-3 in CRBL play. However the season was cut short in the second game of the WBA playoffs. Aaron Hagberg will take over the managerial duties this season as the Merchants try to extend one of the best runs in CRBL history. He will inherit a lineup filled with veteran studs. We would like to extend our thanks to all the great local sponsors. Having a top-notch organization would be difficult to run without your support. Hope to see you at the ballpark. WWMD!

ROSTER: Mason Kostka, Ryan Freitag, Tanner Marsh, Jaxon Kostka, Todd Wienkes, Jackson Johnson, Jimi Zawacki, Joe Zawacki, Logan Boettcher, Jesse Brockman, Alex Byom, Zak Iverson, Luke Eide, Brandt Freitag, Preston Gamroth, Nolan Matson, Scott Hovell, Garrett Koxlien, Gabe Richardson

MANAGER: Aaron Hagberg

The 2022 season came and went in the blink of an eye. The Tilden Tigers had a very memorable year full of many accolades. First by winning the CRBL Championship in consecutive seasons. The second being a runner-up finish in the WBA State Championship game, coming up just short of our ultimate goal. It’s always fun when you end your season in the last game possible, but we are still not satisfied. The third being all the participants that represented the North in the All Star Game. The Tilden Tigers cannot wait to turn the page to the 2023 season.

We will be returning our entire core from our team last year. We are very excited with the additions of Jimmy Schemenauer and Adam Larock. PJ Lequia, Carl Krumenauer, Steph Scatassa, Noah Hanson, and Trevor Olson will be the power behind the rotation this season once again. Our core group of veterans mixed with a group of young fellas will bolster our league leading offense. The Steinmetz Family will once against be taking up many spots in our starting lineup. Our MVP, Jordan Steinmetz, is looking to try and repeat this season. Cole Zwiefelhofer, Jon Schoch, and Alex Ruf will coincide as Captains of this roster and we would not want it any other way.

With the addition of Augusta, we are very excited to be back to the North Format and look at defending that title. We cannot wait to get the season started! None of this would be possible without the amazing support of our fans. We always love to give them a HUGE shoutout. Let’s play ball!!! Go Tigers!