A major house cleaning has taken place and the opportunities for in-coming student-athletes in strong academic standing are excellent at all positions! There are less than a half dozen players back from the 2010 squad, which interprets into plenty of openings on the 2011 spring roster.

To be eligible for fall semester workouts, all players must have an up-to-date physical examination (within the last 12 months of September). Paper work (which will be available at the team orientation meeting) must be completed as well.

To inquire about Anoka Ramsey baseball 2011, get in touch with head coach Tom Yelle:

612 387 8085  or editor.abcsports@ecm-inc.com

While Anoka Ramsey had a one of its worst seasons in terms of victories and losses — an 8-24 finish in 2010 — Vankrevelen finished with some spectacular numbers:

•6 home runs and 31 RBI and a .403 batting average

•46 hits to tie a single-season team record

•5 triples to set a single-season team record

•12 doubles to set a single-season team record

During his two-year career, Vankrevelen had:

•81 hits to set a new program record

•22 doubles to set a new program record

For his efforts, Vankrevelen was named to the MCAC’s all-Southern Division team in a vote by the conference coaches.

In addition to those new team records, Vankrevelen’s teammate Benny Nergard finished with a new program record .487 career batting average: 58 hits for 119 at bats.

Kyle Griffin steams toward first base.

To view photos from the second half of the season by Alan Williams, please go to:

http://www.machineautomationproducts.net/transfer/2010_legion_baseball/

For for information or specific photos, contact Alan Williams:

awilliams@machineautomationproducts.net

In the first game, Anoka Ramsey battled from behind three different times until taking the lead in the seventh. Minnesota West snatched a 4-3 lead in the last of the sixth, but in the top of the seventh run-scoring hits by Casey Vankrevelen and Nick Knoche gave Anoka Ramsey a 5-4 lead and a sixth run came home on an infield out for a 6-4 advantage.

It was this score Chris Hoff transformed into a win with a solid relief appearance in the last of the seventh.

In the second game, Minnesota West took a 1-0 lead in the second game before Anoka Ramsey tied it in the first inning and took the lead for keeps with four in the fourth. Five runs scored in the fifth and three in the sixth boosted the advantage to 13-2 — the final score after pitcher Mike Latta tossed a scoreless sixth.

For the day, Kelvin Minnig was both tough on the mound and at the plate. He pitched into the seventh inning — giving up just four runs on two hits, while striking out five — to get the win. At the plate, Minnig was Mr. RBI with one in the first game and seven in the second on a pair of doubles and a bases-loaded triple.

Latta, who scattered five hits over the six innings of Game 2 to pick up his first collegiate pitching win,  finished with four hits on the day, while both Vankrevelen and Andrew Gazich collected three hits.
Freshman shortstop Steve Hoke, meantime, led the team with five hits and scored five runs.

For the 18th time in 24 games this season, Anoka Ramsey came up short. This time, Sunday afternoon at Alimagnet Park in Burnsville, it was to once-beaten (MCAC-Southern Division) Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) by 6-4 and 6-2 margins.

Pitchers Chris Hoff and Kelvin Minnig gave up five hits each in the six innings they pitched of both games, but both were hindered by errors — four in the first game and three in the second. Anoka Ramsey batters, meantime, had six hits in the first game and five in the second to win that battle with DCTC by one.

Still, runs were hard to secure when they were needed in both games.

In the first game, Anoka Ramsey fell 5-0 after committing all four of its errors in the first two innings, then came back to close the gap at the finish. Mike Latta had a pair of hits, including a double. In the second game, no one had more than one hit, but Anoka Ramsey missed opportunities to score runs in each of the final three innings, initially while trailing 4-2, then 6-2.

In game one, catcher Mike Latta took the mound for his first start of the season and took a 3-2 lead into the last of the fifth inning when was tagged for a one-out single, then a two-out, two-run home run in what eventually became a 4-3 loss.

In game two, Anoka Ramsey pitcher Jordan Wallmow was staked to a 3-0 lead by some heads-up baserunning by Steve Hoke and Casey Vankevelen and a run-scoring double by Andrew Gazich in the first, but that was wiped out in the third by a three-run homer.

Ultimately, Anoka Ramsey battled back to take a 5-3 lead, but Itasca tied the score in the fourth, then broke the game open with nine runs in the sixth.

Highlights from the doubleheader included the four-strikeout pitching by Latta and two bang-bang outs at the plate, one started by shortstop Hoke, who cut down an Itasca runner trying to score on a ground ball, and another produced by strong-armed right fielder Kelvin Minning, who fired a strike to catcher Gazich for a tag out.

Vankrevelen, who has now taken over the team leadership in hitting (.437), finished the game with four hits.

In game one, Anoka Ramsey took an 11-10 lead into the sixth when RCTC took advantage of a walk, bloop hit and a series of singles to score nine times on its way to securing a 19-11 come-from-behind win.

In game two, Anoka Ramsey jumped to a 2-0 first inning lead thanks to run-scoring hits by Andy Evans and Benny Nergard, but fell behind quickly, 12-2 by the third on the way to losing 14-6.

Mitch Minnig had a breakout doubleheader with four hits, including two doubles and a triple. He also had five RBI on the day.

Casey Vankrevelen, hitting out of the No. 2 hole for the first time this season, was one of several players in the lineup to collect three hits. One of his hits, however, was his team-leading fifth homer of the season.

Anoka Ramsey’s, however, was not up to the same level this doubleheader. In addition to giving up 25 hits to RCTC batters, the pitching staff was charged with 15 walks and three hit batters.

In addition, the inside-the-parker  was:

• The highlight of an 11-run fifth inning, the biggest offensive showing for Anoka Ramsey in two weeks.

• A a punctuation blow for Anoka Ramsey in a come-from-behind effort to win game one of the doubleheader, 13-4, against Minnesota West (Worthington).

• The first such hit in the 15-year history of upper-level (college, American Legion, high school and amateur) baseball played on this Coon Rapids field.

• A fitting way to end a seven-game losing streak.

Indeed, Anoka Ramsey came into this Sunday afternoon doubleheader on its home field winless in nearly two weeks and in danger of falling for the eighth straight game going into the fifth, down 3-0. Eight hits, including two doubles by Casey Vankrevelen, one double by Mike Latta and Griffin’s inside-the-park homer with Steve Hoke on base dramatically turned this game around.

Griffin, who has been one of the top hitters this season for Anoka Ramsey, drilled a line shot toward the left-center-field gap at Wintercrest West. The Minnesota West center field attempted to make a diving catch, but missed and the ball shot to the fence some 408 feet away from home plate before it was retrieved.

The burly 263-pound Griffin jumped on his horse as he rolled around second and was given the wave home from his coach at third. A relay throw was made, but Griffin slid home safely well ahead of the tag .

The excitement of the play and the subsequent 13-4 victory picked up by freshman right-hander Kelvin Minnig did not carry over into game two of the doubleheader, however. Anoka Ramsey fell behind 5-0 early and did not muster any type of rally until the last of the seventh inning when it scored four runs.

Four runs, though were not enough to avoid its eighth loss in nine games, 12-8.

Riverland won the first game 12-2, then took the second game 2-0 in what was a classic pitchers’ duel. Anoka Ramsey sophomore Chris Hoff, who gave up five hits and struck out five,  pitched the best game of his collegiate career. Riverland batters, however, won out by scoring an unearned run with two out in the third, then scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh.

Anoka Ramsey managed only four hits off Riverland ace Brian Voigt, who struck out 11. Only one Anoka Ramsey runner managed to reach second base during the contest.

The losses dropped Anoka Ramsey to 5-11 going into a doubleheader with Minnesota West April 18 at Wintercrest West.

Sophomore Matt Wagner pitched three strong innings in the first game with HIbbing.

A week after sustaining a 16-0 thrashing at the hands of Anoka Ramsey, the Hibbing Community College team came to Wintercrest West in Coon Rapids and promptly dealt the home team two stunning defeats: 1-0 and 8-6

The losses dropped Anoka Ramsey to 5-and-9 on the season heading into MCAC divisional play.

The first game featured just six hits total — three by each team — and one unearned run scored in the fourth by Hibbing. The second game was in Anoka Ramsey’s hands (4-1 after three innings), but it slipped away over the final three innings into the two-run loss. Anoka Ramsey had seven hits in this game, but only had two of those hits after the second inning.