St. Cloud Area Amateur Baseball Team | Granite City Grays Baseball Club

June 29th, 2008 - In what is always a big draw in the Lakewood Central, the Grays matched up with the Orthopedic Ice on Sunday night in front of a rather large crowd (for a Lakewood regular season game anyway) and took home a 4-1 win behind a complete game 4-hitter for Billy Sommers.

GC jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd on a sac fly by Bubba Hollenhorst, but the Ice came right back and tied it in the bottom of the 2nd. After the 2nd inning, Sommers held the Ice in check and only allowed 1 hit the rest of the way.

In the 3rd, Dave Carlson hit a clutch 2-out RBI double which ended up being all the Grays would need to lock down their 5th Lakewood win of the year. But... just for good measure, Phil Imholte came up in the top of the 5th and stroked a shot to the right center gap scoring runners from 1st and 2nd and knocking out the Ice starter. After that GC was held in check by former Gray, Cory Hollenhorst, but it didn't matter as Billy Sommers kept a high-powered offense off-balance and frustrated.

In what was one of the more exciting plays of the year, GC left fielder Brace Hemmelgarn, was tagged out (supposedly) in top of the 9th trying a straight steal of home. While the play didn't go the Grays way, the game did and the way things had been going lately we'll take it.

On a side note, Grays manager Brett Hemmelgarn got to give Ice catcher, Buddha Mathiasen, a good shove after the attempted steal of home when he went to get an explanation from the umpire and instead got an earful from Mathiasen. Brett is very happy that he got to do this on the diamond, in uniform, otherwise that shove might have ended unpleasantly for him in any other setting as Buddha likes to pick on the little guys...

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Catching Up With the Grays...

- It's been a while, my bad. Anyway, there was a trip to Omaha for a week to catch the College World Series, but other than that I have no legitimate excuse. Now that I got that out of the way, lets figure out what happened while I was busy not updating the site.

June 13th, 2008 - Well, Brian Anderson was brilliant on the mound and that was about the only highlight from a well played, well pitched game on both sides. Anderson threw a complete game and gave up 8 hits and only 1 unearned run in the bottom of the 9th.

June 15th, 2008 - While the bats didn't necessarily come alive in this one, the Grays were able to push a run across on a Phil Imholte walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th to win the game 3-2 and earn a victory for Dave Carlson in his 2nd start of the year. Imholte led the Grays at the plate by going 2-3 with a walk. Carlson threw a complete game, allowing 4 hits and striking out 7 Lakers. A big win for the Grays.

June 22nd, 2008 - GC traveled out to Cold Spring to face the mighty Springers and after having some success the past 3 years, they got it handed to them with a 10-0 loss in 7 innings. GC could only managed 9 guys for the game (what a shocker!) and were led by the guy who bailed them out, Steve Carlson, who only playing in his 2nd game went 3-3 at the plate. By the way, the Grays only had 4 hits on the day.... Thanks Steve for trying to be a one man team and carry us on your back!!

June 25th, 2008 - It was the much heralded return of Bubba Hollenhorst on this night, but things didn't go according to plan. Making his first start of the year, the Freeport Black Sox got to Bubba early and put up 6 runs in the first 5 innings. And much to the surprise of anyone who pays attention to this team, the Grays were shut out again!! Going back to the Coon Rapids game, the sluggers which make up the Grays lineup had scored a total of 3 runs in 34 innings.

June 27th, 2008 - Guess what happened in this game... nope, we still lost but we scored 9 runs! In a game that went down to the last inning, the Cold Spring Rockies squeaked out a 10-9 win in an exhibition at Springer Park. The Grays led 5-4 going into the bottom of the 8th but a few defensive lapses led to 5 Rockies runs as they took a 9-5 lead going to the 9th. GC strung together some hits and a few Rockies errors to put up 4 in the top of the 9th and tie the game before succumbing in the bottom of the 9th.

GC pounded out 12 hits, yet left 13 guys on base. Dave Carlson hit his first HR of the year (a p-rod to left if you must know) while going 2-6 with 4 RBI's on the night. Mike Kessler and Brett Hemmelgarn also pitched in by going 3-6 and 4-4 respectively on the night. It wasn't a win, but we scored some runs so we're starting to do something right.

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Grays Drop Opener, Win Nightcap In St. Cloud Tourney

June 7th, 2008 - Granite City was up and at 'em for a 10:30 am start time on Saturday morning, and while their defense and pitching showed up again, the bats were still nowhere to be found dropping a well fought battle to the Midway Snurdbirds by a score of 3-1.

Brian Anderson did his part for the Grays, effectively mowing the grass at Joe Faber Field before the game began and then mowing down Midway hitters (when he wasn't walking them). Anderson threw all 7 innings and only allowed 2 ER on 4 hits but the took the loss.

Offensively not much to write about again for the Grays as they struggled to get things going offensively. Ben Spaniol led GC by going 2-3 on the day.

- In the nightcap, GC woke up the bats and pulled out a 5-4 win 8 innings over the Class A Minneapolis Angels. The Grays hit the ball hard all game and finally found a few holes with runners in scoring position. 8 hits is by no means an explosion, but for GC it was a step in the right direction.

Granite City jumped out to a 2-0 lead on RBI singles from Josh Boom and Matt Peck in top of the 4th, but let Minneapolis take the lead in bottom of the inning by allowing 4 runs (1 ER). GC fought back and tied the score in the top of the 6th on back-to-back 2 out RBI singles from Boom and Peck again. In extras, Nick Hengel drove a first pitch fastball to center field to score Dave Carlson from 2nd base for the winning run.

Billy Sommers picked up his first win, in relief, for GC by throwing 4 innings and giving up 2 hits. Dave Carlson started for the Grays and enjoyed walking everyone and then striking guys out to leave runners stranded. Not textbook, but it got the job done.

Besides Boom and Peck who were both 2-3 with 2 RBI, Nick Hengel enjoyed a 2-2 day at the plate with 2 BB and 2 runs scored.

The Grays finished with a 1-1 record in pool play, but lost the tiebreaker to the Minneapolis Angels who advanced out of the pool.

- Be on the lookout for pics from the GC-Litchfield game from last Wednesday, they will be up in the next few days.

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Hengel's 3-Hitter Leads to Lakewood Victory #3

June 4th, 2008 - The Grays traveled down to Litchfield to play a home game on Wednesday night and left with a 5-2 victory which evens their Lakewood League record at 3-3. Armed and ready to play with only 9 guys for the second consecutive Wednesday, the Grays feable offensive attack was able to scratch out 4 hits and push across 5 runs.

Nick Hengel threw a masterful 8.2 innings to pick up his first win of the year before giving way to Adam Koopmeiners who came in to pick up a one out save by recording the final out on a belly flop off the mound and throwing to first to retire the Litchfield batter. Hengel gave up only 3 hits and 3 walks on the night and kept the Blues hitters off balance all game.

At the plate, Hengel also drove in what ended up being the winning run on a single up the middle in the bottom of the 6th and added an insurance run when the next batter, Brace Hemmelgarn, bounced into a fielders choice scoring Brian Knoblauch from 3rd.

All in all, the Grays still can't hit the ball, but a win is a win.

- Next up for the Grays is the St. Cloud Tournament this weekend, June 6-8, out at Joe Faber and Dick Putz Fields. Come out and watch some great amateur baseball action as 12 teams will compete in pool play with each pool winner moving on to play on Sunday for a chance at the title.

Catch the Grays at 6:30 Friday night against the Midway Snurdbirds (quite possibly the coolest name in the state) and then again Saturday night at 5:00 against the Minneapolis Angels. Both games are at Faber Field.

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Grays Fall to Cylclones

June 1st, 2008 - On a day that was nearly too hot to play, (i know it was 80 degrees, but compared to the weather recently, this was a heat wave), the Grays definitely came out cold only managing 4 hits off Cyclone pitchers to fall 9-0 in Lakewood League play. Grays starter Billy Sommers threw effectively, but did not get help from the offensively challenged Grays as they were shut out for the 2nd time in 6 games.

The Grays will look to start a winning streak on Wednesday night when they travel to Litchfield to make up their postponed game from Saturday afternoon. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm at Optimist Park in Litchfield.

- On a side note, Grays pitcher, Peter Burg, threw 6.2 innings last night in his debut for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League. Read all about the May 31st game right here.

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Grays - Litchfield Game Postponed

May 31st, 2008 - Due to very wet field conditions out at Joe Faber field from the past two nights of rain, the Grays game was postponed. No makeup date has been announced yet.

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Anderson Relief Keys Grays Victory

May 28th, 2008 - Brian Anderson threw 4 solid innings in relief of Grays starter Adam Koopmeiners to help the Grays pick up their second Lakewood victory of the year on Wednesday night. Anderson struck out 4 while only giving up two hits and three runs (0 ER).

At the plate the Grays were led by Ben Spaniol (3-4, 2 2B), Dave Carlson (4-6), and Adam Koopmeiners (3-6) who was making his first career start in the Granite City Grays lineup. Grays hitters (all nine that were there) pounded out 17 hits on the night.

The Grays went big on the mound (literally) as Koopmeiners and Anderson gave the Grays solid efforts in their first action of the season on the hill.

A special shout out goes to Steve Carlson, who dropped everything to be the ninth guy for the Grays on Wednesday. Likely to be his first and last game as a Gray this season, Carlson filled in admirably at 2nd base and went 1-3 at the plate with 2 RBI, a HBP, and a BB. Not bad, for someone who hadn't swung a bat or thrown a ball in 9 months... now you just have to remember to put the cup back in when you go out to play defense.

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3rd Inning Dooms Grays

May 25th, 2008 - In what was a matchup of two Lakewood Central teams with large roster turnover, the St. Joe Saints put together an 8 run third inning to lead the way in a 12-4 victory over the Grays. The Saints were able to string together 7 singles, a walk and 2 errors throughout their big inning as every ball they put into play seemed to find a hole between Grays fielders. Nick Hengel took the loss on the hill for the Grays in his first start of the year.

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GRAYS DROP 2 OVER WEEKEND

- On Saturday, the Grays traveled to Blaine to take on 2007 Class B state participant, Blaine Fusion. The Grays jumped out early and took a 5-0 lead knocking their starting pitcher out after 3 innings. Blaine chipped away throughout ensuing 4 innings and cut the lead to 5-4 heading into the bottom of the 8th. A few bloop hits and an error later, the Fusion had taken an 8-5 lead which proved too much for the offensively challenged Grays to handle.

Billy Sommers made his Granite City Grays pitching debut and did not disappoint. Throwing against a potent Fusion lineup, Sommers Lasted 7 1/3 innings before giving way to fellow newcomer Nick Hengel. While Sommers did his work on the mound, the Grays hitters combined for 17 strikeouts at the plate, having all 11 hitters record at least one strikeout. Not going to score many runs if you can't put the ball in play.

On a lighter note, the Grays did extend their exhibition game losing streak to 8. Losing all 7 exhibitions last year, plus their first this year, the Grays next opportunity to win one out of the league will be Friday, June 6th when they take on the Minneapolis Angels in the St. Cloud Tournament.

- Sunday, the Grays played game their second Lakewood League game of the summer and it was a game they would like to forget. Losing 10-0 to the Sauk Centre Titans in a game that featured a lot of walks and hit batters. The Titans capitalized on the Grays struggles on the mound and got timely hits with runners in scoring position.

The same cannot be said for the Grays who loaded the bases twice with no outs and failed to score. The only bright side of the day was that the game was over in an hour and a half and everyone got to go home and enjoy the rest of a sunny afternoon.

There is really not much else to write about, other than it was an ugly game on the part of the Grays having been 10 runned for the first time in a while.

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May 11, 2008 - It took a bases clearing, 2 out - 2 strike, triple in the bottom of the 8th inning from newcomer Matt Peck, but the Grays pulled out a victory on opening day by a score of 5-3 over the Becker Bandits. Matt Peck, making his amateur baseball debut for the Granite City Grays, came up big by going 2-4 on the day with 4 RBI's. Not only did Peck have a big day at the plate, he also provided a solid backstop behind the dish for the Grays pitchers who struggled to throw the ball 60' 6" at times.

Scott Halupczok got the nod on the hill on opening day and didn't disappoint. Throwing 6 2/3 innings in his 2008 debut he gave up 3 runs (2 earned) and struck out 7 to take a no decision. Dave Carlson came on in relief of Halupczok and was able to shut down the Bandits by only allowing 1 hit over the final 2 2/3 innings and picking up the win in relief.

Another newcomer, Mike Kessler, had an impressive debut with the Grays by going 2-3 with 2 runs and an RBI. Kessler drew a huge walk to load the bases in the bottom of the 8th before the big hit by Peck. Brett Hemmelgarn was the only other Grays hitter to record multiple hits by going 3-5 on the day.

And for those of you who were wondering, 2nd basemen Josh Boom, is still alive and kicking after taking a fastball to the earhole in the 2nd inning. Other than his ear feeling "really hot", and having the earhole from the helmet imprinted on his ear (no, seriously) he is doing well... by the way, he did tough it out and play the rest of the game!

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May 10, 2008 - Well, the rain didn't hold off and now Opening Day 2008 is pushed back to the original date of May 11th against the Becker Bandits. The Rocks games will try to be rescheduled as it would have been a tough game, but at this moment no dates have been tossed around. See the message board for updates regarding tomorrows game and plans to hit before hand.

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May 7, 2008 - Opening Day 2008 is right around the corner on Saturday night as the Grays take on the Minneapolis Rocks in an exhibition game that was added last week. Game time is scheduled for 8:00 pm at Joe Faber Field.

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April 24, 2008 - The Granite City Grays would like to congratulate teammate Peter Burg on his signing with the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League. Burg has been a mainstay in the rotation for the past 2 years posting a 5-1 record with a 3.83 ERA in 2006 and 5-2 records with a 1.71 ERA in 2007. Burg's absence from the rotation will leave big shoes to fill, but we wish him the best of luck.

(Let's hope the baseball thing works out for Peter though, as he looks much more comfortable in a baseball uniform compared to the suit he is wearing above.)

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