Final 2021 CRBL Standings

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2021 Noteworthy Performances & Milestones

Hitting

• There were ten .400+ hitters this year in league play.
• In his 20th season, the Eau Claire Bears’ Todd Lasher had 12 hits, 3 doubles and notched 15 total bases, moving into 3rd place all time in total bases (733), 6th place all-time in doubles (82), and 7th place all-time in hits (430).
• Nathan Kent, the unanimous All-CRBL 2nd baseman of the Eau Claire Bears, led the circuit in hitting with a robust .558 average (29/52) as well as in steals with 13 swipes. The last person to lead the CRBL in both those categories in the same season was current league officer and Eau Claire Rivemen Chad Zutter. “Zut” accomplished the feat back in 2001 when he was with the Hallie Eagles, hitting .467 (21/45) with 10 stolen bases.
• In his 29th season, Eau Claire Rivermen’s Andy Niese became the CRBL’s all-time leader in games played with 522, breaking the previous record of 506 held by Jim Falls legend Keith Pitsch.
• Niese made his 21st CRBL All-Star game appearance, breaking the all-time mark of 20 All-Star games, held by Bloomer legend and CRBL Hall of Famer Scott Stuckert.
• Niese also became the first player to cross the 600-hit barrier. With 16 hits this year, the CRBL’s all-time hit leader now has 607 for his career.
• The league wide batting average dropped from .311 in 2019 to .285 in 2021, a decrease of 8.4%.

Pitching

• Osseo’s Luke Eide became the first pitcher since 2002 to capture the pitching triple crown, leading the CRBL in wins (10), strikeouts (99) and ERA (0.95).
• Eide’s strikeout total is the highest since 2012 when Jim Falls’ Cody Bunkelman struck out 107 CRBL batters.
• Luke’s 10 wins are the most since Tyler Gray had 10 victories while pitching for the Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks in 2010.
• The last pitcher to win the pitching triple crown was CRBL Hall of Famer Kurt Stellplug, accomplishing his trifecta (7 wins, 81 K’s, 1.36 ERA) in 2002 while also pitching for the Osseo Merchants.
• Eide also twirled one of this season’s two no-hitters, a 5-inning blitz of Cadott in a 13-0 victory on June 13th. It was the CRBL’s 65th no-hitter in history.
• Luke’s Osseo teammate, lefty Logan Boettcher went 4 and 0 off the mound, strengthening his grip as the CRBL’s all-time winningest pitcher with an .860 win clip thanks to a sterling career record of 37 and 6.
• Levi Schaller of the Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks threw the CRBL’s lone-no hitter this year, doing so in a 1-0 gem vs. the Tilden Tigers on April 28th. It was the 64 no-hitter in CRBL history.
• In his 14th CRBL season, Bloomer’s Curtis Dachel led the league with 85.2 innings pitched. Dachel’s herculean total vaulted him in to 11th place all-time in that category with 732. The leader is iron man and CRBL Hall of Famer Russ Nelson with an incredible 1,720.1 innings pitched in CRBL play over his 35 year career.
• With a 4 and 3 record off the mound in 2021, Eau Claire Bears’ player/manager Chevy Tollefson now has 56 wins in his CRBL career, good for 11th place all-time at the completion of his 13th league season.
• The Eau Claire Rivermen’s Tyler Gray continues to ascend the CRBL’s all-time pitching rankings. With 2021 marking his 16th CRBL season.
• Hurling 63.2 innings in 2021, “Tgray” now ranks 3rd all-time in innings pitched with 995.1.
• Notching 1 shutout, Gray also ranks 3rd all-time with 14 shutouts. The leader is Chippewa Falls great and CRBL Hall of Famer Jim Hoepner with 19.
• With his 4 wins in 2021, Gray moves in 3rd place in that category as well with 86 career victories. The all-time leader is the aforementioned Jim Hoepner with 109 W’s.
• The league wide earned run average dropped from 5.13 in 2019 to 5.00 in 2021, a decrease of 2.5%.

Managerial

• With 2021 marking his 17th season serving as a player/manager, the Eau Claire Rivermen’s skipper Andy Niese now ranks on the following all-time charts.
• 2nd all-time in seasons managed – the leader is Scott Stuckert with 27 seasons
• 2nd all-time in managerial wins with 180. The all-time leader is also Scott Stuckert with 186 victories.

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Hitting Statistical Leaders

Player	Team	Hits	At-Bats	Avg. (minimum 40 at-bats)
Nathan Kent	Eau Claire Bears	29	52	.558
Mitch Voller	Eau Claire Cavaliers	25	53	.475
Jordan Steinmetz	Tilden Tigers	20	43	.465
Nolan Baier	Tilden Tigers	29	68	.426
Nolan Hutzler	Chippewa LumberJacks	23	54	.425
Nate Hayes	Chippewa LumberJacks	24	57	.421
Nolan Matson	Osseo Merchants	29	68	.413
Anthony Pogodzinski	Eau Claire Cavaliers	21	51	.412
Blake Johnson	Eau Claire Bears	22	54	.407
Jon Schoch	Tilden Tigers	24	59	.406

Player	Team	At-Bats
Nolan Baier	Tilden Tigers	68
Sawyer Sturz	Eau Claire Rivermen	68
Cole Zwiefelhofer	Tilden Tigers	68
Trent Vodrasek	Whitehall Wolves	67
Scott Hovell	Whitehall Wolves	63

Player	Team	Hits
Nolan Baier	Tilden Tigers	29
Nathan Kent	Eau Claire Bears	29
Nolan Matson	Osseo Merchants	26
Nate Hayes	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	24
Corey Poirier	Bloomer Woodticks	24
Jon Schoch	Tilden Tigers	24
Cole Zwiefelhofer	Tilden Tigers	24

Player	Team	Doubles
Jon Schoch	Tilden Tigers	9
Matt Martineau	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	7
Jordan Steinmetz	Tilden Tigers	7
Tyler Gray	Eau Claire Rivermen	6
Nolan Matson	Osseo Merchants	6
Storm Standiford	Osseo Merchants	6

Player	Team	Triples
Josh Halling	Eau Claire Bears	3
Tanner Halverson	Eau Claire Cavaliers	3
Lucas Steinmetz	Tilden Tigers	3
Jesse Brockman	Osseo Merchants	2
James Davis	Eau Claire Rivermen	2

Player	Team	Homeruns
Nolan Baier	Tilden Tigers	3
Scott Hovell	Whitehall Wolves	3
	Seven players tied with	2

Player	Team	RBI’s
Nolan Baier	Tilden Tigers	30
Jon Schoch	Tilden Tigers	29
Cole Zwiefelhofer	Tilden Tigers	24
Mitch Voller	Eau Claire Cavaliers	18
Anthony Pogodzinski	Eau Claire Cavaliers	17

Player	Team	Runs Scored
Jordan Steinmetz	Tilden Tigers	32
Alex Ruf	Tilden Tigers	25
Ryan Freitag	Osseo Merchants	20
Nolan Matson	Osseo Merchants	20
Mitch Voller	Eau Claire Cavaliers	18
Nathan Kent	Eau Claire Bears	18

Player	Team	Stolen Bases
Nathan Kent	Eau Claire Bears	13
Dawson Mathwig	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	9
Jimmy Schemenuer	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	9
Jaxon Vance	Eau Claire Cavaliers	9
Kole Lekvin	Eau Claire Cavaliers	8
Connor Stoik	Bloomer Woodticks	8
Mitch Voller	Eau Claire Cavaliers	8

Player	Team	Walks
Jon Schoch	Tilden Tigers	19
Jordan Steinmetz	Tilden Tigers	18
Ryan Freitag	Osseo Merchants	16
Jesse Brockman	Osseo Merchants	14
Nolan Hutzler	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	14
Nate Pronschinske	Whitehall Wolves	14

Team	Hits	At-Bats	Team Avg.
Eau Claire Bears	163	580	.340
Tilden Tigers	182	543	.335
Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks	168	520	.323
Eau Claire Cavaliers	176	561	.314
Osseo Merchants	176	569	.309
Eau Claire Rivermen	151	539	.280
Whitehall Wolves	124	460	.270
Bloomer Woodticks	139	516	.269
Beef River Bullfrogs	133	523	.254
Cadott Red Sox	126	508	.248
Jim Falls Sturgeons	129	537	.240

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Pitching Statistical Leaders

Player	Team	ER	IP	ERA (Minimum 20 IP)
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	7	66.1	0.95
Logan Boettcher	Osseo Merchants	3	22	1.27
Levi Schaller	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	9	43.1	1.87
Paul Petit	Eau Claire Cavaliers	10	46	1.96
PJ LeQuia	Tilden Tigers	9	34	2.38
Carter Hesselman	Eau Claire Cavaliers	8	27.2	2.60
Zack Thiesse	Eau Claire Bears	14	42	3.00
Carl Krumenauer	Tilden Tigers	7	21	3.00
Scott Hovell	Whitehall Woilves	15	39	3.46
Chevy Tollefson	Eau Claire Bears	16	41	3.51

Player	Team	IP
Curtis Dachel	Bloomer Woodticks	85.2
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	66.1
Tyler Gray	Eau Claire Rivermen	63.2
James Davis	Eau Claire Rivermen	52.2
Paul Petit	Eau Claire Cavaliers	46

Player	Team	W
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	10
Curtis Dachel	Bloomer Woodticks	9
Scott Hovell	Whitehall Wolves	6
Paul Petit	Eau Claire Cavaliers	6
Levi Schaller	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	5
Zack Thiesse	Eau Claire Bears	5

Player	Team	Win % (Minimum 5 decisions)
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	.909 (10-1)
Paul Petit	Eau Claire Cavaliers	.857 (6-1)
Scott Hovell	Whitehall Wolves	.750 (6-2)
Levi Schaller	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	.714 (5-2)
Zack Thiesse	Eau Claire Bears	.714 (5-2)

Player	Team	Strikeouts
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	99
Levi Schaller	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	83
Curtis Dachel	Bloomer Woodticks	78
Tyler Gray	Eau Claire Rivermen	66
Paul Petit	Eau Claire Cavaliers	59

Player	Team	Saves
Chase Bredl	Eau Claire Cavaliers	2
Todd Lasher	Eau Claire Bears	2
Ryan Krumenauer	Jim Falls Sturgeons	2
Joel Zachow	Eau Claire Bears	2

Player	Team	Shutouts
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	4
Paul Petit	Eau Claire Cavaliers	4

Player	Team	K’s/9 IP (Minimum 20 innings pitched)
Blake Thiesse	Eau Claire Bears	18.15 (41K / 20.1 IP)
Levi Schaller	Chippewa Falls LumberJacks	17.24 (83 K / 43.1 IP)
Luke Eide	Osseo Merchants	13.43 (99 K / 66.1 IP)
Logan Boettcher	Osseo Merchants	12.27 (30 K / 22 IP)
Scott Hovell	Whitehall Wolves	12.23 (53 K / 39 IP)

Beef River Bullfrogs Team	Earned Runs	Innings Pitched	Team ERA
Osseo Merchants	30	139.2	1.93
Eau Claire Cavaliers	37	141.1	2.36
Tilden Tigers	37	124	2.69
Chippewa Falls Lumberjacks	51	125.1	3.66
Eau Claire Bears	59	135.1	3.92
Whitehall Wolves	73	129.2	5.07
Eau Claire Rivermen	83	138	5.41
Bloomer Woodticks	88	135.1	5.85
Jim Falls Sturgeons	102	131.2	6.97
Cadott Red Sox	114	121.1	8.46
Beef River Bullfrogs	118	125.1	8.47

• May 2nd – Levi Schaller (Chippewa Falls LumberJacks) tossed a 7-inning no-hitter in 1-0 victory over the Tilden Tigers. (Last Time it Happened – Alex Byom in 2019 versus the Cadott Red Sox in a 10-0, five inning win)
• May 16th – Levi Schaller (Chippewa Falls LumberJacks) strikes out 18 in 3-2 win over Bloomer Woodticks
• May 19th – Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Casper Park for the Chippewa Falls Chamber of Commerce for the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks in a non-league game against Sparta.
• June 6th – Carter Hesselman (Eau Claire Cavaliers) tossed a 7-inning one-hitter in a 10-0 win over Beef River Bullfrogs.
• June 6th – Levi Schaller (Chippewa Falls LumberJacks) threw a 7-inning one-hitter and struck out 21 in a 3-0 win over Jim Falls Sturgeons.
• June 13th – Paul Petit (Eau Claire Cavaliers) tossed a complete game, shutout in 4-0 win over Chippewa Falls LumbjerJacks.
• June 13th – Luke Eide (Osseo Merchants) threw a 5-inning no-hitter in 13-0 win over Cadott Red Sox.
• June 20th – Paul Petit (Eau Claire Cavaliers) tossed a one-hitter and struck out 15 in against Jim Falls Sturgeons.

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.

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!

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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.