The Chipppewa River Baseball League (CRBL) unvieled a new logo in 2019 and has expanded into offering apparel for the 2021 season. Along with SquadLocker, the CRBL offers clothing options in both mens and womens in a variety of styles.

Visit the storefront and pick out some gear to help your support the CRBL.

5% of all sales go directly to the CRBL to help cover annual league costs such as trophies, administrative costs and more.

Within all the craziness of 2020, one thing that stuck around was CRBL baseball, and what a good thing it was for the Beef River Bullfrogs.

In Jesse VenRooy’s first year of management, he focused on bringing in guys that would boost an already strong team chemistry. While we are a young team, we made vast improvements at the plate, in the field, and our pitching took a big step forward. The future looks bright in Beef River.

While 2020 was essentially pickup games, 2021 is looking to go back to normal.

In 2021 we are welcoming a majority of our players back with a couple new faces. Our pitching rotation is built of Viterbo Commit Brandon Jaenke, Tim Prince, Ethan Bartels, Zach Berg, and so many up and coming studs.

Beef River will also feature some quality hitters as well including 2B Austin Zimmerman (.423 OBP, 16 H), and DH Ryan Gray (.415 OBP, 10 RBI) and vet backstop Taylor Rathke (12 H, 8 RBI) who caught runners stealing 12 times on 15 attempts over 40 innings behind the dish.

Led by Head Coach Jesse VenRooy and Team Captain Taylor Rathke, both offensively and defensively, this year’s squad looks to give every team it faces a good fight.

Come on out to the beautiful Spangeberg Field in Strum and be a part of the great Beef River Bullfrogs culture and witness a group of guys that love to play the game! GO FROGS!

The 2021 Bloomer Fightin’ Woodticks are looking to continue to improve off a fun and successful non league summer. The ‘Ticks continue to build around their core and add young players from Bloomer hungry to contribute. Come on out to Stuckert Field and support the Bloomer Fightin’ Woodticks!

We also would like to again thank our sponsors who have contributed so much to our team. These local businesses and companies are the reason we are able to play year in and year out. Thanks for the generosity!

ROSTER: Corey Poirier, Sean Hurt, Brent Sarauer, Curtis Dachel, Erik Abrahamson, Tanner Linsmeyer, Matt Schley, Jake Malinowski, Judd Plummer, Leif Iverson, Connor Stoik, Cole Schwab, Ethan Rothbauer, Jackson Simmons, Jack Strand, Jay Ryder, Avery Macik

2020…what a year. The Cadott Red Sox season was thrown for a loop with Covid-19 and the global pandemic. The CRBL season was cancelled and Cadott was forced to play a shortened non league schedule. The Red Sox were able to cram fifteen games into a month and a half time frame. On top of Covid-19 the Red Sox experienced another hurdle in July when a tornado touched down in the middle of Cadott causing damage to the town and baseball field. The backstop, dugouts, batting cage, and surrounding trees were demolished by the tornado.

This forced the team to play the rest of their season on the road at neighboring CRBL fields. The field has been rebuilt and is ready to go in 2021! The Red Sox are anxious to get back to normal and start playing meaningful games again!

Cadott’s roster should look similar to years past with many returning veterans. These veterans include Jake Arneson, Tony Riley, Mike Danielson, Ben Poppe, Eric Bourget, Austin Goettl, Casey Schara, Shawn Sedlacek and Bennett Bowe. One good thing about the 2020 non league season was that it gave some young guys valuable experience playing ball at the CRBL level. Dylan Davis, Nelson Wahl, AJ Schemenauer, and Kaden Thurmond will all return for the Sox this year and should play prominent roles. The quartet pitched more than half of Cadott’s innings last year and did a great job.
The Red Sox would like to thank all of their fans and their outstanding sponsors. Take a second and scroll through our sponsors below. Without you guys the Red Sox would not exist! So let’s get back to normal and play some ball!

Roster: Jake Arneson, Eric Bourget, Bennett Bowe, Brett Bowe, Dusty Burish, Zach Butera, Mike Danielson, Dylan Davis, Ryan Davis, Austin Goettl, Quentin Goettl, Andrew Gunderson, Zac Merritt, Austin Najbrt, Harley Oemig, Teig Pearlberg, Ben Poppe, Tony Riley, Casey Schara, AJ Schemenauer, Shawn Sedlacek, Ethan Tegels, Kaden Thurmond, Nelson Wahl

Manager: Rick Danielson

The 2021 version of the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks will be looking to build on a very successful inaugural 2020 season with most of the team coming back along with some talented new additions. The Jack’s went 12-6 last year in what was a good test as those 18 games were played at a fast and furious pace due to the abbreviated scheduling that was required last Summer.

With-in those games the Jack’s showed a penchant for spectacular defense, solid pitching, and timely hitting. The Jack’s found themselves behind in numerous games and displayed a “never say die” attitude that resulted in numerous late inning victories with some being of the walk-off variety. Highlights included a sound mid-season victory over the 2020 WBA Champions in the River Falls Fighting Fish and a berth in the Semi-Final Game against the Osseo Merchants with a chance to go on to the WBA State Tournament.

With the upcoming season upon us and now that we have “gotten our spike’s wet” our expectations are high but no matter what the outcomes will be the 2021 version of the LumberJack’s will continue to bring along the grit and determination needed to compete at a high level. We have 35 plus games planned in a highly anticipated action-packed schedule and look forward to seeing our supporters coming out to cheer us on. With a full slate of game day promotions and activities planned we know that Casper Park will be the place to be this summer!!

Finally, we could not do all of this without our fine sponsors and we truly appreciate their support and that of the community.

ROSTER: Nolan Hutlzer, Chandler Blair, Luke Franz, Trevor Franz, Dawson Mathwig, Jimmy Schemenauer, Jake Sabaska, Matt Martineau, Dawson Rice, Blake Trippler, Levi Schaller, Sawyer Lubs, Nate Hayes, Riley Fried, Nate Custer, Jake Varsho, Blayde Bowe, Griffin Spindler, Jordan Merrel, Leo Burmeister, Jack Falkner, Terry Shaurette
Manager: Wayne Franz
Player/Coach: Dustin Franz

Amidst a pandemic the bears were able to pull together another successful season in 2020. Although it was all for none during the year the bears saw some meaningful games at the end of the year facing off against some of the teams who remained in a scarce crbl field of teams with many teams forfeiting their chances at a wba state tournament run. The Bears though we’re able to make a 3rd consecutive State Tournament appearance.

Bears fell to two great teams in tough battled games one being the eventual state champions. Bears return their valuable veteran core and with some new additions. The Bears have full expectation of making another title run this year and adding to a long history of success.

ROSTER: Chevy Tollefson, Tom Mewhorter, Alex Jinkins, Blake Johnson, Brady Burzyinski, Corey Fischer, J.R. Lukes, Matt Miller, Zack Theisse, Todd Lasher, Jim Thill, JD Prescher, Joel Zachow, Nathan Dawson, Josh Halling, Scott Lindenberg, Nathan Kent, Ty Fadness, Tyler Oestreich, Jeremy Nicolai, Sam Janni, William Mallett-Brown, Ryan Venne, Kaleb Theisse

Coach: Dave Stauch
Manager: Chevy Tollefson

The Eau Claire Cavaliers is an amateur baseball organization that started in in 1971. The Eau Claire Cavaliers will be celebrating their 50th season at historical Carson Park. The Cavaliers are looking to get back in playing baseball in the Chippewa River Baseball League after not playing in 2020.

The Cavaliers would like to wish all of the teams of the Chippewa River Baseball League the best of luck in the league in 2021. We invite all baseball fans to come to Carson Park for baseball action at its best this summer.

Field Manager Ryan Page enters his first season and will lead the Cavaliers into competition in the Chippewa River Baseball League in 2021.

ROSTER: Cooper Kapanke, Cole Tyman, Ethan Kjellberg
Logan Irvine, Jaelen Williams, Kole Lekvin, Tyler Herman, Cody Cline, Lukas Gobrecht, Elijah Johnson, Tanner Halverson, Carter Hesselman, Anthony Pogodzinski, Mitch Voller, Ryan Page, Gabe O’Brien, Chase Yeager, Jaxon Vance, Kendren Goullo

MANAGER: Ryan Page

During the “Lost Season of 2020”, the Eau Claire Rivermen managed to play 21 non-league games, finishing with a respectable record of 11 wins, 9 losses and 1 tie.

Looking to the 2021 season, the Rivermen will be playing their home CRBL games at Fairfax Field, a nice venue located on the south side of Eau Claire with spacious and ample seating, as well convenient parking.

With the never ending, meandering quest to find dedicated, reliable and mentally stable players, the ‘Men will continue to rely on a good blend of familiar veterans, emerging veterans, and intriguing prospects.

In whatever form the Navy Blue and Grey take in 2021, the Rivermen organization sincerely looks forward to getting back on the diamond to play meaning and competitive baseball games in the storied Chippewa River Baseball League.

Let’s play ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roster: Jake Becker, Michael Beckfield, Ben Boda, Shane Boettcher, Josh Briggs, James Davis, Joel Effertz, Tyler Gray, Dayton Gutsch, Brett Jensen, Alec Johnson, Terry McCann, Andy Niese, Riley Parks, Zach Parr, Will Petrosky, Dave Roubal, Jordan Ruppelt, Micah Sackett, Keith Smasal, Carson Soukup, Hans Soukup, Sawyer Sturz, Jesse Urbanek, Tim Wilson, Chad Zutter

Manager: Andy Niese

After a promising finish to the 2019 campaign, Jim Falls embarked on 2020 with hopes of…a season. Unfortunately, that season could only be enjoyed by the likes of the great auk, the passenger pigeon, the wooly mammoth, and the dodo bird. While the pandemic continues to keep things uncertain, the team and the entire CRBL anticipate a more lively go of things in 2021.

There will be changes. Foremost, in order to minimize dates, the Sturgeons will play all their league games as doubleheaders, giving them five home dates. We will be asking our fans to observe all county protocols and to observe signage at Sturgeon Stadium for the safety of all. We do plan to safely reopen our world famous (It’s a small world.) concession stand for those games, and we will have some special events along with the customary fabulous prizes for our more fortunate fans.

Peter Thaler may consider last year as a managerial internship after taking over from Nick Pitsch who was promoted to the Kuwait Sturgeons in 2020. Nick will be back to support Pete as the latter pilots Jim Falls through a real schedule.

With no official statistics from a 2020 set of exhibition games, we will point out some unofficial ones. Leading hitters among expected returners included Kole Smith at .379, Ryan Krumenauer (.370), Tristin Hable (.300), and Jake Eslinger (.294). On the mound, Isaac Lindstrom impressed with a 1.80 ERA, while Thaler chipped in at 4.07 and Hable recorded 4.50. Meanwhile, Beau Sweitzer fanned 14 batters in. 11.1 innings.

Looking back at numbers for returnees from 2019, we find Hable leading the way at the plate at .400 followed by veteran Bob Maurer averaging .345. Sweitzer’s 30 Ks in 26.1 innings top returning pitcher’s stats.

Grudem field will boast beautiful new dugouts thanks to to Eagle Scout project of Joe Luther, along with the help of a platoon of volunteers representing Troop 120 and financed by donations in the memories of CRBL Hall-of-Famers Roger “Duke” Bergeron and Dave Hepfler. The entire Sturgeon family cannot say Thank You enough for the contributions and efforts of all.

Finally, in the words of The Who in the rock opera Tommy, we’ve “got a feeling ’21 is gonna be a good year.” We invite you to join us in it.

ROSTER: Tyrel Bates, Cole Bowe, Jake Eslinger, Eli Hable, Tristin Hable, Mitch Howard, Will Jacobson, Ravin Keyeski, Wyatt Keyeski, Anthony Koslowski, Ryan Krumenauer, Isaac Lindstrom, Hunter Martell, Bob Maurer. Nick Pitsch, Hunter Sillman, Kole Smith, Beau Sweitzer, Austin Sykora, Peter Thaler, Justin Toman, Barron Tucci

Peter Thaler (Manager)

The 2021 season brings excitement and optimism to Osseo and the entire league. The 4-time reigning CRBL champs are ready to defend our title. There aren’t many changes to a veteran roster led by a core of players that have been together for roughly 10 seasons. In order to have a regular season, teams and fans alike are going to have to be mindful of some guidelines at the ballfield. Social distancing, hand sanitizing, masks, and just plain common sense will increase the chance of an uninterrupted season. The Merchants would like to extend gratitude to all the businesses in the area who have made our team and park possible. See you at the field.

ROSTER: Reese Vold, Matt Vold, Ryan Freitag, Aaron Hagberg, Jaxon Kostka, Todd Wienkes, Logan Matson, Jimi Zawacki, Joe Jawacki, Logan Boettcher, Andrew Christopherson, Jesse Brockman, Dakota Clouse, Neal Matson, Luke Eide, Brandt Freitag, Preston Gamroth, Jackson Johnson, Storm Standiford, Nolan Matson, Sawyer Bee, Jake Peterson, Joey Kinderman, Cal Freitag

Manager: Luke Anderson
Coaches: Brad (Hardbody) Hong, Corey (Dale) Hestekin

2020 was a such a disappointment for the entire CRBL. With the uncertainty of the world wide pandemic and the dangers Covid-19 brought, the Tilden Tigers decided to tread lightly on how they approached the unsanctioned season. With all of the pain and agony that 2020 brought the world, we are excited to be in the year 2021. We are primed and ready to compete in the CRBL this upcoming summer.

The veteran roster will look very familiar from years past with a few new faces making their debuts. We want to thank the CRBL and the league officers who have worked so hard. Without the thankless hours put in, we would not be able to have a season for as second year in a row. We are looking forward to seeing all of our fans out at Casper Park. The smell of spring and summer is in the air and we cannot wait any longer. Go Tigers!

Roster: Nolan Baier, Austin Lemay, Cole Zwiefelhofer, Alex Ruf, Ben King, Dane Weiland, Drew Steinmetz, Jordan Steinmetz, Lucas Steinmetz, Justin Ignarski, PJ Lequia, Carl Krumenauer, Jon Schoch, Sam Sorenson, Kevin Christorf, Jeremy Bremness, Couper Fosvick, Justin Martell, Mitch LaVelle

Manager: Ryan Baier

After taking the 2020 season off due to covid concerns, the Whitehall Wolves are anxious to play baseball once again.

The Wolves will once again rely on pitching and defense as their strength. The pitching staff will once again be led by the strong arms of our veterans Alex Byom, Scott Hovell, Troy Sharp, and Zak Pronschinske. Young pitchers Blake Theisse, Jon Cieminski, and Isaac Marley look to give the Wolves quality innings this year.

The defense behind these pitchers is led by our veterans Scott Hovell, Nate Pronschinske, and Kyle Servais. Brett Lettner will be our shortstop once again this year. Newcomers Parker Windjue and Trace Bjorge will be looking to give us some depth in the infield as well. The Wolves speedy outfield is led by centerfielder Trent Vondrasek, left fielder Alex Byom, and right fielder Sam Schweisthal. Carter Halverson, Isaac Marley, and newcomer Brock Haines will give us needed depth in the outfield this year. Jordan Hauser, rookie of the year in the CRBL two seasons ago, and veteran Max Ferguson will handle the catching duties. They are a big part of holding down an opposing team’s running game.

You need to score runs to win titles. In the offensive department, the Wolves are led by Nate Pronschinske, Jordan Hauser, Scott Hovell, Trent Vondrasek, Kyle Servais, Max Ferguson, Alex Byom, Sam Schweisthal, Sam Hirschbaeck, and Zak Pronschinske. The Wolves will be playing a tough 25 game schedule this year so all players on the roster will have opportunities to contribute.

The Whitehall Wolves would like to thank our sponsor Dave Pientok of Tri-City Sanitation and the entire Whitehall community for their support of Wolves baseball. We would also like to thank Tom & Connie from Newcomb Valley Inn for hosting and supporting our annual fundraiser each year. Finally, we would like to thank Mary Little and Butch Halama for their tremendous coverage of Wolves’ baseball. These guys cover nearly every Wolves’ game no matter where we play. We hope to see you at the park this summer for some exciting Chippewa River Baseball League games.

ROSTER: Troy Sharpe, Trent Vondrasek, Alex Byom, Blake Thiesse, Nate Pronschinske, Brock Haines, Kyle Servais, Scott Hovell, Sam Schweisthal, Zak Pronschinske, Max Ferguson, Jordan Hauser, Parker Windjue, Sam Hirschbaeck, Nate Breska, Tim Rohn, Jon Cieminski, Isaac Marley, Brett Lettner

MANAGER: Louie Ferguson

Amidst the historical COVID-19 pandemic, the CRBL did not have a league season for the first time since 1945. Opening day was slated for April 25 and then pushed back to June 7. With concerns over COVID at the forefront, early June arrived, only to see opening day postponed once again, this time to July 8. Within that postponement, the Eau Claire Cavaliers and Whitehall Wolves announced they would not be participating in the 2020 season. On the night of July 7, due to a positive infection of one player and multiple exposures, the painful decision was made to cancel or “to not sanction” league play for 2020. Further contributing to the decision was the CRBL’s inability to formulate a coordinated, cooperative and informed organizational plan with considerations for social guidelines and field usage stipulations. Moreover, on July 10, there was yet another confirmed case of COVID-19 on a second CRBL team.

With nine of the CRBL’s eleven teams choosing to play non-league games throughout June and July, the WBA tournament loomed on the August horizon. Due to the pandemic, the WBA earlier had announced a modified 12 team state tournament, one that would involve pool play formulated by two representatives from each of the WBA’s six affiliated leagues.

With no sanctioned league season, it was decided by the CRBL managers to hold a “WBA Qualifying Tournament” in order to determine the CRBL’s two state qualifying teams. Hesitant to oversee the event stemming from the disjointed approach to handling the pandemic, league officers decided to not organize the event. Additionally, the Cadott Red Sox and Eau Claire Rivemen opted out, meaning seven teams were left to play: the Beef River Bullfrogs, Bloomer Fighting Woodticks, Chippewa Falls LumberJacks, Eau Claire Bears, Jim Falls Sturgeons, Osseo Merchants, and Tilden Tigers.

After the tournament format was set, Tilden announced they would not be able to participate, resulting in a forfeit win for their first round opponent, the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks. With Tilden and four other league teams now not playing in the WBA Qualifying Tournament, the Eau Claire Bears opportunistically added available players from the Eau Claire Cavaliers, Eau Claire Rivermen and Tilden Tigers. In addition to the Cadott Red Sox and Whitehall Wolves, players from those five “opting out” teams technically had not played in the WBA Qualifying tournament, which was not sanctioned by the CRBL. Therefore, players from those five organizations were viewed as free agents, available for any team to grab. Sound convoluted and confusing? Yep, indeed it was.

The results from the WBA Qualifying Tournament, held on August 8th and 9th, 2020 were as follows:

Semi-Finals

Beef River Bullfrogs 2, Bloomer Fighting Woodticks 1 at Bloomer

Eau Claire Bears 11, Jim Falls Sturgeons 1 (7 innings) at Jim Falls

Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks over Tilden Tigers by forfeit

Osseo Merchants received a bye

Finals

Eau Claire Bears 11, Beef River 1 (8 innings) at Bloomer

Osseo Merchants 11, Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks 2 at Osseo

With the Bears and the Merchants emerging from the fracas, the WBA subsequently ruled that all Tilden players who had played for the Bears in the CRBL’s non-sanctioned WBA Qualifying Tournament would not be eligible to play in the upcoming WBA tournament, which was admirably hosted by the Spooner Cardinals on August 14th-16th. Stemming from that decision, what predictably ensued over the next several days was an embarrassing display of unproductive finger pointing, bickering and short-sighted posturing between the involved CRBL managers and WBA officials, all of it taking place in the public’s eye across the forums of social media, print media, and broadcast media. The end result was that the WBA did not reverse their decision, the Tilden players were unable to suite up for the WBA tournament, and the long-cultivated image of the CRBL as a respected and well-run amateur baseball league was unnecessarily damaged.

At Spooner, the Bears lost their two games in pool play (5-3 to River Falls and 3-2 to Everest), while Osseo split their two contests (beating Glidden 4-2 and losing to Hayward 4-0). Neither CRBL squad advanced to the Final 8.

Thus, the unforgettable season that many wish they could completely forget was concluded. Hopefully, history will illustrate that all involved with the CRBL throughout this five-month dumpster fire were successfully able to move forward and intelligently set aside their own self-interests and disorganization in order to functionally get the CRBL back on the diamond.

With the 2020 Chippewa River Baseball League (CRBL) season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league has prepared and released the 2021 season schedule. Due to the on-going pandemic, a large number of doubleheaders will occupy the 2021 CRBL season schedule to limit the number of dates teams gather. The 2021 season will mark the 92nd season of league play.

Each CRBL team will play a 20-game schedule. Six teams will compete for the North Division and five teams will compete in the South Division.

Notable Schedule Dates:

• Saturday, April 17th – Opening Day
• Saturday, July 3rd – CRBL All-Star Game hosted by the Bloomer Woodticks at Stuckert Field (Hall of Fame Classes of 2020 & 2021 to be honored)
• Wednesday, August 4th – Wildcard Wednesday
• Saturday, August 7th – Championship Saturday

All weekday games begin at 7 pm (unless otherwise noted). All weekend games begin at 12:30 pm (unless otherwise noted). Follow www.crblbaseball.com all season long for scores, standings and schedule changes.

Each teams individual 2021 schedule can be found at their team page:

• Beef River Bullfrogs
• Bloomer Woodticks
• Cadott Red Sox
• Chippewa Falls LumberJacks
• Eau Claire Bears
• Eau Claire Cavaliers
• Eau Claire Rivermen
• Jim Falls Sturgeons
• Osseo Merchants
• Tilden Tigers
• Whitehall Wolves

NOTE: Schedule Subject to Change

After an emergency league meeting among the Chippewa Rivers Baseball League (CRBL) managers and officers, the CRBL has decided to dismiss “league play” for the 2020 season. The decision was due to a CRBL player testing positive for Covid-19 and the potential of further exposure to other players, coaches, fans and umpires.

The CRBL schedule released on June 27th will remain in place, however, the games will not be considered Chippewa River Baseball League games. Additionally, each CRBL team manager will have the authority to cancel or postpone games for safety concerns.

Local media members should contact each individual manager for coverage of games. Please visit information below for each managers contact information.

• Eau Claire Bears – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/chevy-tollefson/
• Eau Claire Rivermen – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/andy-niese/
• Osseo Merchants – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/luke-anderson/
• Beef River Bullfrogs – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/jesse-venrooy/
• Tilden Tigers – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/ryan-baier/
• Bloomer Woodticks – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/noah-lane/
• Cadott Red Sox – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/rick-danielson/
• Jim Falls Sturgeons – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/pete-thaler/
• Chippewa Falls LumberJacks – https://crblbaseball.com/staff/wayne-franz/

Scores and schedule adjustments will not be updated via league website in the 2020 summer.

The Chippewa River Baseball League is hopeful for a full return to traditional league action in the summer of 2021.