The final week of the regular season brought the North Stars to Fridley. We jumped in front in the 1st when Jared Anderson doubled and scored thanks to 2 wild pitches. Charlie Jones brought home 2 more in the 2nd with a knock to left field. We added 1 more in the 3rd on Dylan Verschleiser’s RBI single. That was more than enough run support for Lucky. Lucky went the distance only giving up 1 run and striking out 5. Game 1 went 4-1 in our favor.

Game 2: We got the offense going early again in game 2 with a pair of runs in the 1st and 2nd innings. The North Stars responded with 2 runs of their own in the 3rd. With 2 outs in the 4th Lucky crushed his first home run of the year to push our lead to 6-2. We added 4 more in the 5th highlighted by Dylan Verschelsier catching everyone napping with a steal of home. John Harper went 5 strong and Keir Anderson and Charlie Jones closed it down in relief. We won game 2 11-5 to seal the all important bye next Saturday.

Playoff Preview: We finished the regular season at 16-6 and the #2 seed in the National Division. We will face the highest remaining seed next Sunday in the quarterfinals.

Our 2025 All Stars are Jared Anderson - C and Eli Puchner - UTIL! 

A model of consistency since joining full time in 2018 Jared has turned into one of, if not the best pure hitters in Legends history. They say your best hitter hits 2nd and Jared has been doing just that for us since 2022. On the defensive side Jared is a brick wall behind the plate. So far in 2025 Jared is batting 0.400/0.509/0.600 including 6 extra base hits and 12 RBI. 

Eli has been a defensive wizard for us this year. Eli has played 6 different positions (2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, RF) and makes plays at each of them that make us in dugout look at each other in awe. Oh and the kid can hit too. So far in 2025 Eli is batting 0.300/0.393/0.400 including 2 triples and 11 RBI.

Week 10 saw us head to Barnes Field for a matchup filled with playoff implications for both sides. The Bombers opened the scoring with a 2 out rally to get the games first run. With the bases loaded and 2 out in the bottom of the 1st Michael Walsh came through clutch with a 2 run single. The Bombers put together a big 3rd inning to take a 5-3 lead. They held the lead until the bottom of the 6th. Luck and Keir walked to open the inning and both would later score on sac flies from Eli Puchner and Michael Walsh. Devin Quigley ripped a double to left and Dylan Verschlesier traded places with him, nearly hitting one over the tall fence in left to give us the 6-5 lead. Lucky shut the door to secure the win in the 7th.

Game 2: We took advantage of a couple early Bombers errors to jump in front 2-0 in the first. Tanner Anderson started a 2 out rally in the 2nd. Jackson Nelson followed up Tanners single with a walk and then Matthew Vang brought them both home with a double. Dylan Verschleiser doubled to lead off the 4th and would later score on a Tanner Anderson sac fly. We’d add one more on a Matthew Vang RBI single. Christian Holcomb was fantastic once again holding the Bombers to 1 run over 6 innings. Final 6-2. 

Week 11 Preview: After taking care of business and some favorable results elsewhere around the league we now control our own destiny. A sweep of the North Stars next week will give us the 2 seed and the ever important bye in round 1 of the playoffs. 

Week 9 we matched up against the Coyotes in a massive divisional series. In the bottom of the 3rd we opened the scoring. Jared Anderson singled, followed by Carl Engbretson doubling off the wall. Jon Lucktenberg brought Jared home with an infield single. The Coyotes got runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out for the ever dangerous Jason Eddy but Jon Lucktenberg got him to pop out and the next batter to fly out to escape without any damage. Devin Quigley and Charlie Jones opened the 4th with back to back walks. Jared Anderson then showed Carl why that extra set in the gym matters as he ripped a ball over the wall for a 3-R home run! We’d add one more run on a Devin Quigley RBI single in the 5th. Lucky had a brilliant 6 innings of work and Harper shut the door in the 7th for a 5-0 win.

We opened the scoring in game 2 behind a Carl Engbretson RBI double in the top of the first. The Yotes responded with 2 runs in the bottom half and never looked back. We struggled to get base runners the rest of the game and fell 5-1.

Week 10 Preview: Next week we head to Barnes Field to take on the Bombers. Down to 4 games left in the season every game matters even more. We are fighting for playoff seeding and the Bombers are fighting for a spot in the playoffs. Should be an exciting series. 

The Forgotten Star Player of the Week goes to Jared Anderson for his home run in game 1. He also threw out a runner trying to steal 2nd.

Week 8 brought the Hippos to Fridley. Lots of vacations saw us with a 10 man squad. The Hippos jumped out in front with a 2 run first inning. Thats all they would get as Jon Lucktenberg would shut them down not allowing another run in a complete game effort. We slowly chipped away scoring 1 run in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. We finally broke out for 4 runs in the 6th behind a Dylan Verschleiser RBI single, Christian Holcomb sac fly and Matthew Vang and Jared Anderson RBI doubles. Game 1 ended in a 7-2 final. 

Game 2 we didn’t wait as long to get the bats going with a 6 run 2nd, 2 run 3rd and 4 run 4th. Dylan Verschlesier, Jared Anderson and Matthew Vang led the charge with 2 hits a piece. Christian Holcomb went 4 strong on the mound with 8 strikeouts. Game 2 went our way 12-0.

The Forgotten Star Player of the Week goes to Charlie Jones. Jonesy went 3/5 2 2B BB 4R 1RBI.

We opened the 2nd half up against the Bats. Game 1 started as an efficient pitchers duel as we traded 0’s with the Bats. The Bats broke up Jon Lucktenberg’s perfect game with a single to RF to open the 5th but Lucky locked in and kept the shutout rolling. We finally broke through in the bottom of the 5th. Charlie Jones started the rally with leadoff single. Eli Puchner and Carl Engbretson followed it up with walks before Jon Lucktenberg drove in 2 with a single to left. Matthew Vang and Keir Anderson added RBI singles to push the lead to 4. Carl Engbretson extended the lead in the bottom of the 6th with a 2 run triple. We added 2 more before Jackson Moore closed out the win in the 7th. Game 1 went our way 8-0.

Game 2: Charlie Jones continued his red hot day at the plate by driving in 2 to open the scoring in the top of the 2nd. After dancing out of danger in the 1st and 2nd the offense decided to break out for 6 spot in the 3rd. The 6 run inning was led by a Matthew Vang RBI double, Jon Lucktenberg 2 run single and Tanner Anderson’s bases clearing double. Needing 3 more runs to go home early we opened the flood gates for 8 more runs in the 6th. Jon Lucktenberg had another 2 run single and Charlie Jones added an RBI single, his 5th! hit of the day. John Toraason made his season debut on the mound with a 1-2-3 bottom half of the 6th to close it out. Final 16-1.

Week 8 Preview: Next week brings the Hippos to Fridley. The standings are tightening up with the 2, 3 and 4 seeds separated by only 2 games so every game is important at this point in the season. 

The Forgotten Star Player of the Week goes to Jon Lucktenberg. Luck had himself a day on both sides of the field. Luck went 4/6 6RBI 5R 2BB 1SB and 6IP W 2H 2BB 4K.

Week 6 saw us matched up with one of TCMABL’s newest franchises in the Sweepers. After a field change and some field maintence due to lots of rain this past week, we were off and running (only 40 minutes late). Jon Lucktenberg got the ball in G1 and had his good stuff all game long. Luck struck out 7 and only surrendered 3 hits in his 5 inning complete game. After a quiet 1st and 2nd inning at the plate we loaded them up for Legends rookie Matthew Vang. Matthew ripped a scorcher that just stayed fair down the line for his first career TCMABL home run, a grand slam at that! We added 3 more in the 4th highlighted by a hustle double from Jared Anderson, RBI single from Matthew Vang and a double from Devin Quigley. We added 2 more in the 5th and won via the run rule 12-2.

Game 2: Michael Walsh opened the scoring in the bottom of the 2nd by launching a ball over the left field fence for his 3rd career home run! We took a 5-0 lead into the 4th before the Sweepers bats came alive for 4 runs. A couple quiet innings for both teams had us leading 5-4 after 5 innings. Our offense woke up for 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th to give us some insurance runs. We wouldn’t need them as John Harper shut down the Sweepers in the 7th to lock up the 10-4 win. Harper was fantastic in his complete game effort, striking out 8. 

The Forgotten Star Co-Players of the Week go to Matthew Vang and Michael Walsh for their home runs!

Week 7 Preview: We have now won 3 in a row and head into the All Star break at 7-5 and in 4th place in the National Division. Next up after the break is a matchup with the Bats. We haven’t played the Bats before but it is setting up for an important matchup with playoff seeding potentially on the line. 

Week 5 saw the Legends travel to Goat Hill Park to take on the Babycakes who are in the middle of the best season in their franchise history. Multiple absences saw the Legends short handed on the hottest Sunday of the year so far. We jumped on the board in the top of the 1st, taking advantage of a Babycake error. Unfortunately for us the Babycakes returned the favor and scored 3 unearned runs in the 2nd to tie it up at 3. Eli Puchner who was a star on both sides of the field today ripped a RBI double down the line to put us up 5-3 in the 4th. The Babycakes battled back to score 3 more to take the lead 6-5 in the bottom half of the 4th. We weren’t able to muster up the tying run and lost our 5th straight game. 

Game 2 did not start in our favor as the Babycakes hit the ball hard and before we knew it we were in a 4-0 hole after 1. After a rough 1st inning Christian Holcomb settled down and shut down the Cakes while our offense chipped away. Christian went the distance, allowing only 3 hits after the 1st inning. 4 straight hits from Keir Anderson, Rob McLain, Devin Quigley and Dylan Verschleiser and a sac fly from Derek Rydlund and we were right back in the game after 2. We added 1 run in each of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th innings, highlighted by RBI singles from Rob McLain, Eli Puchner and Jon Lucktenberg. We went on to win 6-4 to get us back to 0.500.

Week 6 preview: Next week has us matched up against a new TCMABL team in the Sweepers. We look forward to the matchup and hope to get back above 0.500.

The Forgotten Star Player of the Week is Eli Puchner. Eli was a leader on both sides of the ball with multiple big hits and stellar defensive play to keep the Babycakes rallies at bay. Eli went 4-8 2B 2RBI R and had 2 PO and 7 A defensively.

Week 4 saw us matched up against the undefeated Cardinals. Game 1 was a fairly uneventful game. We scored runs on a wild pitch and a fielders choice. Tanner Anderson threw out a runner at third base trying to take an extra base. John Harper stepped in for his first start of the year and delivered 4 gritty innings holding the Cardinals potent offense to just 3 hits. Unfortunatley our offense was just as quiet and the Cardinals took Game 1 4-2. 

Game 2 we fell behind 1-0 after the 1st. In the top of the 3rd back to back Cardinals base runners reached base and both made the mistake of testing Carl Engbretson’s arm. Both found out the hard way he has a cannon and were thrown out trying to swipe 2nd. We tied it up on Eli Puchner’s RBI single in the bottom half of the 3rd. The Cardinals took the lead right back in the top of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th Jared Anderson came up clutch ripping a triple to the left field gap, scoring Devin Quigley and then himself after a Cardinals error. The Cardinals would get some timely hitting to retake the lead in the 5th. Derek Rydlund’s pinch hit infield single followed by Quigley’s walk had us in business to start the 6th but we couldn’t manage to get the clutch hit we needed. The Cardinals took another close battle 4-3.

We look to get back in the win column next week against our friends in the Babycakes. The Babycakes are off to a torrid start at 7-1 so we look forward to the challenge.

The Forgotten Star Player of the Week is Jared Anderson for his little league home run.

Week 3 saw the Legends matched up with the Tomcats. Game 1 started in our favor with Carl Engbretson crushing a double. Carl later came around to score on an Eli Puchner sacrifice fly. Jackson Nelson and Keir Anderson led off the 3rd with a pair of singles. Jon Lucktenberg brough them both home on a double. Michael Walsh’s sac fly in the top of the 5th put us up 4-0. Things started to go down hill from there. Walks and a couple infield hits led to 5 runs for the Tomcats. We weren’t able to muster up any more offense and game 1 went to the Tomcats 5-4. 

In the top of the 1st of game 2 the Tomcats continued with the momentum they built at the end of game 1. A combination of some hard hit balls and sloppy defense and we were in an early 4-0 hole. The Tomcats held us scoreless until the 4th inning when Dylan Verschleiser came through with an RBI single. Charlie Jones followed it up with a RBI double. We added 1 more in the 6th to make it 4-3 but that would be as close as we would come. The Tomcats added 2 insurance runs in the top of the 7th and went on to win 6-3. 

No Forgotten Star Player of the Week this week. Instead we went to pay them a visit post game.

Week 4 Preview: Next week doesn’t get any easier as we finally return to our home confines of Fridley HS against the long time TCMABL powerhouse Cardinals. We hope we can flush this weekend and play some better baseball next weekend.