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Sports Memories by Tom Jones

10 years

• Parker Mullenbach’s line-drive single in the bottom of the seventh inning led the Albert Lea American Legion baseball team to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Austin.
• With the thirteenth pick of the NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected point guard Zach LaVine from UCLA. He would go on to play three seasons with the team.
• The Albert Lea High School Athletic Hall of Fame committee announced that former KATE sports director John Focke would be emcee at their upcoming banquet.
• Albert Lea’s Parker Mullenbach, Johnathan Fleek and Wyatt Paulsen were named to the Albert Lea Tribune’s First Team All-Area Baseball Team.

20 years

• United South Central shortstop Shannon Schroeder was named the Albert Lea Tribune’s Softball Player of the Year. NRHEG’s Wendy Schulz was named the Coach of the Year.
• The Glenville-Emmons American Legion baseball team committed nine errors in a 7-0 loss at Stewartville. Michael Greibrok, Josh Kluender and Robert Flugum had the lone hits in the game for Glenville-Emmons, who were 1-3 on the season.
• Junior Ryan Truesdell was named to the first-team Big Nine All-Conference Baseball Team. Junior teammate Jared Butler was named Honorable Mention.
• The Albert Lea American Legion baseball team was defeated by the Rochester Patriots 13-2 in a game played at Hayek Field. Brandon Klukow took the loss for Albert Lea, who stood at 1-3 on the summer.

50 years

• Danny Thompson’s four-hit night which included an inside-the-park home run led the Minnesota Twins to an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers. Bert Blyleven picked up his sixth win of the season for the Twins.
• At the Albert Lea Country Club’s Monday Night League, Wayne Marpe was low-net, Wayne McCluskey second low-net and Don Cashin third-low net.
• The Minnesota Twins announced they had signed Mike Fitzenberger, who had been a standout earlier in the year on the University of Minnesota baseball team. He was set to report to the Twins’ Midwest League affiliate in Dubuque, Iowa and later went on to appear in 51 games that season.
• Paul Heers pitched a two-hit shutout as the Albert Lea Auto Parts fastpitch softball team defeated the House of Pizza from Austin 2-0.
• John Dziura gave up only one hit as the Albert Lea VFW baseball team traveled to Waseca and came home with a 1-0 victory.
• Bruce Palmer hit two home runs to lead Church Offset Printing to a 20-6 win over the Aragon Bar in City American League softball play.
• Green Lea Golf Course announced that professional golfer Patty Berg would appear later in the summer at a ladies’ day luncheon and would be hosting a clinic and playing a round of golf.
• In the second game of a tournament in Kenyon, The American Legion “A” baseball team defeated the Christie DeParcq Post 406 of St. Paul 4-2. Mike Thompson’s single scored two runs in the seventh inning to give Albert Lea the win.

Alumni update

After playing hockey the past two seasons for the North Iowa Bulls, 2021 Albert Lea High School graduate Blake Ulve has committed to play this fall at St. Norbert College, a NCAA Division III college in DePere, Wisconsin.