The 11U Rural Minnesota Cardinals Baseball Team, sponsored by Bob’s Baseball Tours and some of its customers, recently won the USSSA World Series in Liberty, Missouri July 12-16.
The team finished a perfect 7-0 to win the 4-day tournament in the Heartland of America.
A majority of the team is made up of Redwood Area players who had won 20 of their last 21 games, including RJ Manthei, Paxton Kurtz, Jaxon Ellingson, Luke Kaupang, Ryker Vermillion, Jack Balko, Gaige Nelson and Conner Baune. Vance Vanden Einde (Le Sueur), Declan Schroder (St. James) and Cameron Kittelson (Wabasso) played significant roles.
“Thanks to USSSA Baseball, we were able to add three kids to help us compete with other All-Star type teams, as we didn’t have our full squad”, head coach Bob Kaupang said.
The tournament started with a pair of games Thursday. The Cardinals defeated the top ranked YBC Prospects 15-3 before dropping the Rebels from Marshall, Missouri 16-10.
Friday saw the Rural Minnesota squad start by defeating a pair of teams from Kansas. Strike Zone was defeated 15-9 and a hard fought game was won against the Backwards K Braves 6-4.
As elimination play began Saturday, the Cardinals and Rebels faced off in a close affair until the local squad broke it open in the 4th inning to win 11-3.
Storms and power outages prevented the final games from being played until Sunday evening. Once everything got underway the local boys faced off against their toughest opponent up to that point – the Backwards K Braves. Unlike the first matchup, the Cards won 17-7 which set them up for the World Series finale under the lights.
The Cardinals found themselves down 1-0 going into the bottom of the first, but scored four runs to take an early lead they would not relinquish. They won 13-3.
Offensive stars were Luke Kaupang who hit .800 (16-20 with 3 home runs, two doubles, and a triple), Cameron Kittelson .556 (10-18 with 3 homers and pair of doubles) and Conner Baune .500 (8-16 with 2 doubles).
Four other players hit over .400 during the tournament: Gaige Nelson .471, Jack Balko .444, Ryker Vermillion .438 and Vance Vanden Einde .421.
“It’s obviously nice to hit the ball well,” stated Kaupang, “but what sets this team apart from others I’ve coached at older ages is how well they’re starting to understand the game.”
“My favorite moment was one of Conner Baune’s outs. He purposely swung and missed at a wild 0-2 pitch knowing the catcher couldn’t catch it and he could reach base safely on a strikeout. The stat sheet says a strikeout is bad, but in a coaches heart that is an unselfish baseball player who puts his team first because he wants to win.”
“It’s the little things these kids are getting so good at. They’re starting to do things most high school teams don’t do in terms of awareness.”
On the mound the Cardinals were anchored by Declan Schroeder Thursday before he left for Minnesota (prior commitments), Gaige Nelson Friday, Jack Balko and Luke Kaupang Saturday, and Balko and Vance Vanden Einde Sunday. Also seeing time on the mound was Ryker Vermillion, Jaxon Ellingson, Cameron Kittelson and Conner Baune.
After the team celebration at the conclusion of the game, the team was awarded a championship banner, trophy, and each player on the World Series champion was given a hard-earned heavy-duty USSSA World Series ring to remember their experience.
Bob’s Baseball Tours, LLC provided caps, shirts, and game pants free to all players, but it was our customers who paid for the tournament entry fee. A special thank you to Dave & Kyle Brottlund (from California signed up for our fall Minnesota tour), Pat Glynn (from Washington signed up for our East Coast tour in less than two weeks), and prior customers and current supporters Ric Walcha (Oregon), Steve Hallstein (North Dakota), and Kathy Garrett (New Mexico). We were able to do this because of you!
