Sports Memories by Tom Jones

 

50 years ago: 1969

• Dennis Hansel drove a 1955 Chevrolet to victory in the feature event to capture the Albert Lea Jaycees demolition derby at the Freeborn County Fair. The event featured a car that slammed through a picket fence, sending three spectators to the hospital after its accelerator stuck.

• Playing with only seven players, Grace Lutheran Church handed Emmons Lutheran Church its first loss of the year, 9-6, in church fastpitch league play at Hayek Park. Harold Schumacher hit a three-run home run to lead Grace.

• Larry Reynen scattered nine hits and struck out 10 to lead the Albert Lea Eagles amateur baseball team to a 9-3 victory over Austin in South Border League play at Hayek Field.

 

25 years ago: 1994

• The Albert Lea Eagles 15-year-old traveling baseball team defeated Farmington 8-2. Ryan Hanson pitched five innings to get the win. Jeremy Nelson and Adam Benson each added two hits for the team that had a record of 20-8 on the season.

• A federal judge in Minneapolis cleared the way for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 1994-95 season schedule to be released as owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner were attempting to sell the team to various groups, including one from Louisiana.

• The Albert Lea Elks U-12 girls’ soccer team captured the Southern Girls District 4 title. Kristen Kyllo’s goal with eight minutes to go on a pass from Jasmine Wangen gave the team a 3-2 victory and the championship. It had a 20-1-1 record on the year.

 

10 years ago: 2009

• Kevin George connected for a grand slam in the second inning to power the USC Post 210 American Legion baseball team to a 6-4 victory over Luverne to advance to the District II championship game.

• The Albert Lea Knights 11A baseball team finished fifth in the MBT state tournament at Kent Hrbek Fields in Bloomington. The team was coached by Stan Thompson, Bruce Mullenbach and Blane Hammer.

• Phil Schmidt defeated Andy Petersen to capture the Green Lea Golf Course men’s club championship.

 

This year

• A few years ago while attending a sports card show in Mason City, my son Spencer was given a customized bobblehead of a gentleman in Twins attire. The bobblehead sat around in his room until he gave it to me this spring. I decided to see if I could find the owner. Having been told it had come from a storage locker in Owatonna, I contacted former KATE radio announcer Paul Shea, who is now in Owatonna, and he put it on their station’s Facebook page. Within hours, we found out who he was and I had a message from his daughter, who said her dad had passed away a few years ago and they had made it for him. On our way up north a couple weeks ago, we delivered this special piece to another daughter in Sartell, who was so thrilled to get it. Turns out he had worked within a block from my folks’ home in Albert Lea for over 30 years. It was meant to be that we found the owner and got this back to where it belonged.