Another week, another series at Eagan’s Goat Hill Park for the Nordeast Legends, who entered the third week of play with a 3-1 record, tied for second place in the TCMABL 18+ American Division. This week found us up against our good friends (shoutout Taydan and Chef <3), the Bloomington Babycakes who, in their third season in the league, are battling to establish consistency in pitching and defense. The first game was close to perfection, as the Legends mixed a potent offense with dominant pitching and defense. The Legends batted around in the first and second innings and led 10-0 after two. Leading the charge were Michael Walsh and Keir Anderson, who recently returned from a week of galavanting around Scotland, gorging himself on haggis and whiskey or whatever one does midst the lochs. Walshy and Keir each had two hits: a single, a double, 3 RBI, and two runs scored. Jon Lucktenberg and John “HBP-don’t-raise-my-WHIP” Harper combined for a gem on the mound, limiting the Cakes to two hits and a single walk across five innings of work. Lucky was 13 for 14 on first pitch strikes (93%!) and Harper hammered the under (and some poor bloke’s ribcage) on his weekly batters-faced-before-HBP betting line with two. When the dust settled, the Legends came away with an 11-0 run-rule victory in 5 innings.

 

Game two was immediately more interesting as Legends starting pitcher Erik Lundgren yielded a single run and came out of the game with an apparent upper body injury (we only use hockey-level specificity here) with only one out in the first. Lucky came in on very short notice and worked out of a bases-loaded jam, preserving the early lead and limiting further damage. Much like game one, the Legends struck early with three in the first, four in the second, and five in the third for a 12-1 lead after three. I’ll be honest, in the early innings, tempers flared a bit as good-natured trash talk turned a wee bit hostile….but cooler heads prevailed. Nothing quite settles the score like a rap battle, so I shall next turn to a ChatGPT limerick:

 

There once was a pitcher, Pete "Pistol,"

Whose aim was quite often abysmal.

With a fiery glare,

He'd throw here and there,

And his pitches went wild like a missile.

 

Boom, roasted. Moving on. We’re all friends here.

The Cakes displayed their capable offense in the later innings, delaying the Legends’ second mercy rule victory an extra inning with a four-run fifth inning against an interesting Legends defense (think lefty shortstop and pseudo-geriatric outfield). The Legends rebounded with a scrappy Tanner Anderson insurance run and a mostly shut-down inning by Charlie Jones to secure the 16-6 victory in six innings.

A few extra highlights: Harper reaped what he sowed and was hit by a zippy Teagan Yotter fastball in his sole plate appearance (look out for Teagan, he’s got really good stuff) and Legends newcomer utility infielder Eli Puchner (pronunciation guide: Puchner? I barely know her!) made his TCMABL debut going 2-3 with 2BB, 2RBI, 1R, and a few nifty plays at the hot corner.

 

Week 4 Preview: Now sitting at 5-1, the Legends face off against the 3-3 Giants for a 2023 TCMABL championship rematch. The Giants are a much better team than their early record may indicate and pair their top-tier arm talent with formidable offense.

Clickbait titles only on this message board…. Our week off was well-spent doing what we love most: Memorial Day BBQs, quality family time, the Minnesota sports fan experience, and closely monitoring the “Stengel vs. Uncle Austin Week 1 Stats Upload” Challenge. Spoiler alert: Uncle Austin won.

 

It was a beautiful, albeit slightly muggy morning, at Goat Hill Park in Eagan as the Legends faced off against TCMABL pitching GOAT, Evan Acosta. As most in the league know by now, the lefty flamethrower fills up the zone with a sizzling fastball and a handful of nasty offspeed offerings, boasting a career regular season 0.94 ERA with a 12-1 record and 212Ks in 111.1 innings. Today was no different, as Acosta racked up 9Ks through five innings. Although we pressured with scattered hits and walks to the tune of a 0.375 OBP and pushed Acosta’s pitch count to 93 through five, we were unable to squeeze a run across. Our own ace, Jon Lucktenberg, countered with five scoreless innings of his own, escaping a few jams with the help of Carl Engretson’s lock-down third base defense. Lucky led off the top of the sixth with a single, knocking Acosta out of the game. Acosta was soon in line for the loss (only his second in four seasons) as Andrew Young, Jackson Nelson, Jared Anderson, and Carl Engebretson ambushed the Expos’ bullpen with clutch two-out hitting, driving in the inherited runner and then some. With a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Legends turned to closer Grant Ryerse who shut down the Expos’ lineup for the final two frames, striking out two and allowing only one baserunner, securing a 5-0 Legends victory.

 

Unable to ride the momentum from game one, the Legends got behind early and were unable to string together consistent offense in game two. Erik Lundgren and Christian Holcomb provided solid efforts on the mound and did not allow an extra-base hit, but were burned by a handful of strung-together singles and untimely errors. Although the final score was 7-3 Expos, we kept things close through much of the game thanks to a two-hit performance by Jared Anderson and Lucky’s second bomb of the season, a 375 foot (official Google Maps estimate) two-run shot to deep left center field. Although not particularly relevant to the game’s outcome, the sixth inning yielded something I’ve never seen on the baseball diamond. The Expos’ leadoff man flared a blooper into shallow center for a base hit. Our middle infielders and center fielder converged as the ball dropped and we quickly realized that second-base was open for the taking. Within seconds, no less than six Legends (CF, LF, RF, P, 2B, and SS, if I remember correctly) converged on second base in stampede-like fashion, driving the hitter back to first. Both teams had a good laugh.

 

Week 3 Preview: The Legends head back to Goat Hill to take on our friends, the Bloomington Babycakes. Although the boys in black and pink have had a tough go as they battle to establish themselves in the League, they have demonstrated year-over-year offensive improvement. We’re looking forward to a good series.

With the Bombers’ Trevor “I Didn’t Realize Anyone Read Those” Copeland and his witty weekly write-ups as my muse, I put pen to paper in an effort to memorialize the Nordeast Legends’ ninth season in the 18+ League of the TCMABL. Coming off the most successful campaign in team history, the end of which resulted in team founder Keir Anderson chugging Hamm’s from the Jon Garbacz Living Memorial Championship Trophy on Alimagnet Park’s Rich Vanderlaan Field, the Legends were busy this offseason. While much of the team’s core remains intact heading into the 2024 season, the Legends lost longtime first baseman, Austin Fuller, and slugger Josh Dolezal to out-of-state moves. In an effort to fill the void, the Legends welcome TCMABL mainstay OF/3B Tanner Anderson, a transfer from the Ducks who propels the Legends into a commanding lead in the players-named-Anderson arms race. In addition to Tanner, the Legends signed rookie OF/P Chase McGuiggan and 2B/3B Eli Puchner, both of whom will add even more lefty pop to the lineup.

 

The 2024 season opened with sunny skies and the “Tanner Anderson Revenge Series” at Concordia University’s Bob Barnes Field. Jon Lucktenberg opened the scoring in the home half of the second inning with a two-run blast over the left-field fence and off the wall of the neighboring Gangelhoff Center. Both teams swung freely over the next few innings as the Ducks batted back thanks to some well-timed contact and untimely defensive miscues by the Legends. Although Carl Engbretson tacked on a run with a solo shot in the fifth, the Ducks led 5-3 after 5. After Christian Holcomb came out of the pen and set the Ducks down in order in the top half of the frame, Michael Walsh led off the bottom of the sixth with a HBP. Tanner Anderson followed behind with a one out walk and the comeback was afoot. Jackson Nelson attacked the first pitch he saw, mashing a bases clearing triple to tie the game. The play was not without drama, as the ever-speedy Tanner blew through a stop sign and dodged the tag with a crafty slide.  Heading into the seventh, Church Camp Carl made a deal with the devil, promising Christian that he would hit a walkoff dinger if Christian preserved the tie. The Ducks threatened with a leadoff double, but Christian worked through the top of the Ducks’ order, inducing a 4-3 double play and a key strikeout. With Christian having done his job, in a cinematic moment you’d have to see to believe, Carl Engbretson hit his second solo shot of the day to deep right field, walking off the Ducks to seal the Game 1 victory.

 

Game 2 featured improvement by the Legends in all facets of the game: better hitting, better defense…….Papa John (Toraason) on the bump. Sorry. I’ll be better. Long story short, the good guys won 12-4. Here are the highlights: Toro racked up 10Ks in 4 innings, Jared Anderson went 4-4, Keir Anderson paired 3 hits with a phenomenal catch in right field, Nelly converted a triple into a little-league homerun and made some new friends along the way, the solo umpire operated with the efficiency and confidence of a professional four-man crew (catching a Duck base runner leaving third base early on a sacrifice fly opportunity to right field), and Lundgren earned a 3 innings save to secure the sweep.

 

Week 2 Preview: After a week off to observe Memorial Day and celebrate Angel Hernandez’s retirement, the Legends head to Eagan for an away series against the new-look Minneapolis Expos, who pair their proven pitching staff and potent lineup with elite reinforcements from the now-defunct TCMABL Rams.

2023 Championship Recap- 

We were ambushed early and often in the TCMABL Championship Game. Hats off to the Giants who came out swinging and found the holes in our defense in the top of the 1st. By the time the dust had settled and we got our first 3 outs, 14 Giants had come to the plate and 10 had scored. A rather bleak start to our first Championship game appearance, but thankfully there was plenty of baseball left. Erik Lundgren came out of the pen and started to settle in as the offense began chipping away. Jon Lucktenberg doubled home John Libbey in the bottom of the 2nd for our 1st run. Rob McLain would double home 2 more in the bottom of the 3rd to make it 10-3 after 3. The Giants added another gut punch in the top of the 4th by plating 3 to extend their lead to 13-3. Things would start to get interesting in the bottom of the 4th though as a 2-out rally led to 6 runs, the exclamation point coming from John Libbey's bases clearing double to make it 13-9 after 4. At this point Lundgren really started to dial in, as he would only allow 2 more infield singles from that point on, finishing his day with 7 fantastic innings to help keep us in the game. We took advantage of some free passes handed out by the Giants in the 5th, and Keir Anderson made it hurt with a 2-out single to bring us within 1, down 13-12. Momentum is a funny thing, and after a horrible start, it was clearly on our side at this point in the game. Jared Anderson pieced a 2-run double in the 6th for us to take our first lead, 14-13. We wouldn't stop there and led 18-13 after 6. Now firing on all cylinders, our offensive attack added 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, and 1 more in the bottom of the 8th for good measure, totaling 21 on the day. John Libbey took care of business on the mound for the last 2 innings, as a 4-6-3 double play cemented our first league championship. Final score Legends 21 - Giants 13.

 

Our ace, Jon Lucktenberg was named TCMABL 2023 Postseason MVP! Lucky threw 14 innings, picking up 2 wins while only allowing 4 earned runs, and also going 6-12 with 4 RBI in posteason play.

2023 Semifinals Playoff Recap- 

The Cardinals swept us in the regular season, but we were determined not to lose a 3rd time. Our ace Jon Lucktenberg did everything he could to ensure that we would find our way to the league championship game. Lucky was absolutely fantastic as he threw 8 innings, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, while striking out 2 and walking 1. He also added a 2-run double in the top of the 2nd to give us a 2-0 lead. We would score again in the top of the 4th as 6 straight singles led to 5 more runs. Michael Walsh, Jared Anderson, and Keir Anderson all had RBI in the frame. The offense was stifled from that point on, but 7 runs would be enough as Grant Ryerse came in to shut things down in the 9th for the W. Final score Legends 7 - Cardinals 2.

 

2023 Championship Preview-

We'll get to play in our first league championship game tomorrow. We haven't played the Giants this year, but we are looking forward to an exciting game and a great experience.

2023 Quarterfinals Playoff Recap- 

Getting a 1st round playoff bye was nice. Having to play the Sea Donkeys? Less so... P Jon Lucktenberg stranded a leadoff single in the top of the 1st, and then we jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. Leadoff hitter and CF Jackson Nelson reached on an error caused by a deceptively quick infield dirt. C Jared Anderson singled to right to put 2 runners aboard. With 1 out, 3B Grant Ryerse doubled to right-center on the first pitch he saw to score 1 and put runners at 2nd & 3rd. LF Rob McLain came through with his first clutch hit of the day, a 2-RBI single to make it 3-0. Lucky glided through the 2nd and 3rd innings without a baserunner. We threatened in the 2nd but couldn't score, stranding SS Michael Walsh at 3rd base. The Donkeys broke through in the 4th, as 3 singles and a walk led to 2 runs. We would respond in the bottom of the 4th, as Lucky drew a walk, Walsh legged out an infield single to flip the lineup where Nelson came through with an RBI single to make the score 4-2. Lucky would work around a 2-out walk in the 5th, and we lined into a bad luck double play line drive back to the pitcher to erase our hopes of adding on in the bottom of the frame. Two singles and a Sac Fly by the Donkeys in the 6th made things even closer as Luck would end his day on the mound with a 4-3 lead. We lined into another double play in the bottom of the 6th before handing the game ball to Erik Lundgren for the 7th. A fly ball lost in the sun made things really interesting as the Donkeys would score once to tie things at 4, but Lundgren limited the damage to nothing more. In the bottom of the 7th, DH Carl Engbretson drew a 2-out walk, and his courtesy runner went 1st to 3rd on Ryerse's 3rd hit of the day. Once again, McLain came through with a clutch, 2-out RBI single to put us back in front, 5-4. We handed the ball to Ryerse for the 2-inning save, but not without drama. 2 singles and a sac bunt put runners on 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out in the 8th. Ryerse showed the ice he has in his veins as he bookended a walk with 2 backwards Ks to get out of the inning with the lead intact, and the Donks leaving the bases loaded. We went quietly in the bottom of the 8th, perhaps too eager for the 9th. Emery hustled for a 1-out double, but a huge swinging K of the Donkey's 5-hitter and a final ground ball got us out with an even bigger W. Final score Legends 5 - Sea Donkeys 4.

 

 

2023 Semifinals Playoff Preview-

We advanced to Championship weekend for the first time in team history. We have another incredibly tough game ahead as we'll take on the EP Cardinals Saturday morning at 11, with a spot in the TCMABL Championship game on the line.

2023 Week 11 Recap- 

 

Game 1-

Our magic number for locking in the #2 seed and earning a first-round playoff by was down to 1 heading into the final week of the regular season. Field maintenance at Donaldson shifted this series up to the brand-new Gleason Field complex in Maple Grove. Rather than relying on the Cards/Donks series to secure our playoff bye, we took care of business ourselves. Emphatically. We jumped all over the Bombers at the 10am start and never looked back. Lucky danced out of trouble in the top of the 1st, and then the offense exploded for a 5-run bottom, which would be more than enough. We tacked on 1 run in the 4th and "walked off" in the bottom of the 5th with 4 more runs for the 10-0 run-rule win. 8 hits up and down the lineup encapsulated our well-rounded attack, while Lucky dialed in and delivered the 5-inning CG, not allowing a base runner after the 1st. Final score Legends 10 - Bombers 0 in 5 innings.

 

Game 2-

With our playoff spot locked in, the victory lap commenced. Emptying the bench, flipping the lineup, and pitching by committee was the approach for the noon game. We have to tip our caps to the Bomber's Lyons, who was on cruise control all afternoon. Grant Ryerse and Keir Anderson had back-to-back doubles for our only run of the game. We gave up a handful of runs, but left Maple Grove with a smile, despite the 4-1 L. Final score Legends 1 - Bombers 4.

 

Week 10 Makeup-

We have such a silly rule about rain delays occurring mid-inning... We decided with the Yotes to ignore the inning restart rule and pick up exactly where we left off, giving the Yotes their run back and picking this game up at 1-1 in the top of the 2nd. We would score 2 in the bottom of the 2nd and do our best to get out of Cottage Grove while we still had daylight. This game had no playoff seeding implications and turned out to be a friendly playoff tune-up. Final score Legends 3 - Coyotes 2.

 

2023 Playoff Preview-

Our first ever playoff bye means we will not be playing in the first round on Saturday. We'll jump straight to the TCMABL Quarterfinals, as we await either the Sea Donkeys or the winner of the Saints/Bombers matchup.

2023 Week 10 Recap- 

 

Game 1-

We were a little nervous heading out to Cottage Grove to take on the undefeated defending champs, especially with a 9-man squad in Game 1. Lucky put the team on his back and fired strikes while keeping the Coyotes off balance and off the scoreboard for 5 shutout innings. The Yotes would threaten a couple times, but solid Legends defense stepped up when needed most to keep the shutout intact. We were able to scratch across 3 runs in the 3rd, 2 more in the 6th, and then really break things open with 4 runs in the 6th for a 9-0 lead when closer Grant Ryerse came in for the final 2 innings. Ryerse worked 2 scoreless to lock up the shutout win in Game 1. Jackson Nelson, Grant Ryerse, and Jon Lucktenberg each had 2 hits, while Michael Walsh and Rob McLain also tallied a knock each in the W. Final score Legends 9 - Coyotes 0.

 

Game 2-

The afternoon game got postponed after 1 complete inning, with the Legends up 1-0. Hopefully we can finish this game soon.

 

 

2023 Week 11 Preview-

A win moves us to 16-3 and moves the magic number down to 1 to lock up the 2-seed and a playoff bye. We'll look to do the job ourselves with a win in Game 2 against the Coyotes, or against the Bombers next Sunday to finish off the regular season, back at Donaldson for the first time since June 18th.

2023 Week 9 Recap- 

 

Game 1-

The Legends picked a bad week to play our worst brand of baseball. A full squad left little room for excuses, as we tip our hats to the Cards for their sweep. We battled a bit in game 1, being down 5-3 after 6, when the Cardinals broke things open with a 7-spot in the 7th. Final score Legends 4 - Cardinals 12.

 

Game 2-

Game 2 ended up much closer in score but had a similar feel to it. John Toraason battled, keeping us alive for most of the game. We did break through with a 3-run 6th inning to briefly take a 3-2 lead, but the Cardinals responded with 2 in the bottom half of the inning and hung on to win. Final score Legends 3 - Cardinals 4.

 

 

2023 Week 10 Preview-

Now 15-3, we have to scrape out a few more wins the rest of the way to secure a bye. The task doesn't get much easier next week, having to travel to Cottage Grove to take on the undefeated Coyotes. 

2023 Week 8 Recap- 

 

Game 1-

The Diamond Jaxx were a great challenge in week 8. Lucky did everything he could to keep the Jaxx in check, battling through 6 innings, allowing 1 run. Our offense was slow out of the gates, but eventually broke through for 3 runs in the top of the 6th. Keir Anderson doubled twice, Carl Engbretson drew 3 walks, and Jared Anderson had the clutch 2-RBI double we desperately needed. Christian Holcomb came in the shut things down in the 7th, and did so, largely in part to a clutch relay from the left-center fence to throw out the would-be tying run at home to end the game. Final score Legends 3 - Diamond Jaxx 2. 

 

Game 2-

John Toraason was great in game 2, going 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run while striking out 6. The offense showed a bit more life, totaling 9 hits and 5 runs. Jackson Nelson and Jon Lucktenberg each had 2 hits, with Lucky's being a clutch 2-RBI double to break things open a bit. Erik Lundgren shut things down in the 7th with a scoreless inning to preserve the W. Final score Legends 5 - Diamond Jaxx 1.

 

 

2023 Week 9 Preview-

Moving to 15-1 sets up a huge series with the Cardinals, with a shot at first place on the line. Games will be played at Big Willow.