It's the last day of April, nothing to write home about, for sure. Non-descript weather right up to the end. So the gray sky prevails on this April 30. Rainfall this morning. Nature is subdued as it seeks to come alive in the new spring. The wind has been like a knockout blow over the recent past. I have only made it out to the bike path benches once.
I could be outside more if I wished, if I was really prepared. But I'm just lax, wanting the conditions to begin bordering on summer-like. I mean, just intermittently.
The UMM graduation has a long background of being hampered by the weather, often forced inside. So what beckons for the May 14 event here? A sunny day or more of the uncooperative stuff? I am informed that tickets would be distributed if it's inside. Not the kind of tickets you pay for, but tickets to limit the turnout and prevent an overflow. I have heard that the UMM band may not play for graduation. Plans are always subject to change, I assume. The band is something I would take for granted.
I personally helped out with the UMM band for graduation way back in about 1969. Those were war protest times, growth of the counterculture. So there I was with my French horn. I was a member all spring. Clyde Johnson was on leave and John Woell directed. The late Bonnie Dunnum-Drinkwitz was student director. Rich Meiss played oboe.
I believe we played "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine." OK how about "Procession of the Nobles." It was the latter, I'm confirming on May 1! Time draws a misty curtain but it's not hopeless. Trumpets did terrific job on "Procession of the Nobles."
The college hurdle
I would not go on to become a UMMer. Strange status for someone with strong family ties, but it was not for me, could not have handled the math/science requirements here. I could barely handle these anywhere else. I needed to show some sleight of hand. And it wasn't worth it - I should have just had no inhibitions about not being a college person. That's water under the bridge.
College was impressed on us too much when I was young, as an almost-necessary rite of passage. And too many students frittered away their time with stupid behavior anyway - drugs, alcohol, ear-splitting rock music, late raucous parties. All that is quite under the bridge now. I regret so much of it. I didn't really partake in the self-destructive stuff - note the qualifier "really" - but it was in the air around me. You couldn't fight it.
So on this April 30 we're wondering how much enjoyment the fans of MACA athletes are having. I am well on the record suggesting an adjustment in high schools' approach to spring sports. I shall not ring the bell again. Even when the teams have been able to play, I'm sure it has not been pleasant. But for the record, the MACA softball team took two against the Sauk Centre Streeters in recent action.
We're seeing Brienna Dybdahl as pitcher once again. She appears in the groove, as shown by her ten strikeouts in Game 1. She pitched the whole way in the 9-1 MACA win. Action was in Sauk Centre on April 26. Dybdahl allowed the one Sauk run on three hits. At bat, Sydney Dietz came through with three hits. Two hits each resonated off the bats of Reilly Gibson, Yasmine Westerman and Brianna Marty.
Dybdahl turned the ball over to Westerman for Game 2. Westerman matched Dybdahl's strikeout total for Game 1: 10. Her innings pitched was six. Sauk had the wheels in motion for a potential rally in the seventh. The bases were loaded. The Tigers were seeking to cling to a 6-4 lead. Dybdahl was rested at this point and she was called upon to pitch. She got the best possible result: a double play ball! Westerman was the pitcher of record and Dybdahl got the save. The Tigers completed the sweep with this 6-4 win. Let's look at the hitting attack where Westerman and Brianna Marty each had three hits. A major highlight was the home run off the bat of Kortney Sanasack. The orange and black came out of the day at 6-1.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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