Caledonia Argus

Caledonia team wins National Softball title

Posted: 10/7/03

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

Forget about the Minnesota Twins for just a minute -- Caledonia has its own national champions.

Team Miken of Caledonia, won the World Softball League North American Championship tournament, A/B division, on September 26-28 in Panama City, Florida.

The team is sponsored by John Daniels and Long Haul Trucking from Albertville, MN; Jeb Griffith and Miken Sports from Caledonia; and Bruce Schott from Schott Distributing in Goodview, MN.

They triumphed over 15 other teams in the toughest way possible, winning eight straight after losing their first game in the double-elimination tourney.

Team member and spokesman Brad Augedahl wrote up the following account of the tournament.

The Long Haul/Team Miken/Michelob softball team traveled to sunny Panama City, FL to compete in the WSL (World Softball League) North American Championship tournament on September 26-28. The team qualified for the tournament by winning the 32-team Firemanís tourney in Bloomington, MN in July. The team played in the A/B division of the double elimination tournament.

LH/Miken opened the tourney Friday night against Team VICC out of Illinois and got beaten soundly by a final score of 23-9. Their next loss would eliminate them from the tournament. LH/Miken would square off against Team Trump from Manitoba Canada Saturday morning. LH/Miken won by a final score of 20-4. Up next was Sambettiís from Iowa. The team was starting to hit the ball very well and won by a final score of 28-8 to advance to play Romeoís/Alabama Brick from Alabama. In a close back and forth battle, LH/Miken would come to bat in the bottom of the fifth trailing 18-14. The team would respond with 15 runs to take a commanding lead and hold on for the 30-18 victory. The game was completed at 1:30 am and the teamís next game was scheduled for 8:00 am Sunday morning.

LH/Miken would start Sunday morning against Sports-Center/Worth from Mississippi. The team trailed 10-2 after 2 innings but rallied for 16 runs in the sixth inning to win by a comfortable 27-15 margin. Up next was one of the tournament favorites, Jean Schoppe from Tennessee. Long Haul/Miken would open the game quickly by scoring 16 runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the game and advance with a 31-11 victory. The victory earned them the right to play Sporting Wood out of Texas with the winner advancing to the championship game.

The team continued to play inspired ball and made quick work of the Texas boys with a big 26-4 victory. Deery Brothers/R&M-/Miken from Iowa would be the teamís opponent in the championship game. Since LH/Miken had one loss and Deery was undefeated they would have to defeat them twice in a row to take the title. LH/Miken trailed in the first game by a 10-6 margin in the fifth inning and Deery Brothers had the bases loaded with 2 outs. Deery had their best hitter at the plate who was already 3-3 with 3 homers in the game. After a brief team meeting they decided to intentionally walk him to make the score 11-6. The following batter hit a fly ball to left for the final out in the inning and the momentum turned in the game. LH/Miken would respond with 8 runs in the bottom half of the inning and hang on for a hard fought 17-11 win to force the true championship game.

The second game was just as close as the game was tied at 9 in the bottom of the sixth. LH/Miken would squeeze 2 runs across and then the defense took over to shut out Deery in the seventh to secure the teams 8th straight victory and the WSL title. Tourney MVP was Tom Muehlenkamp, 1st team All Americans were Tony Hansen, BJ Augedahl, Shawn Bauer and Adam Peterson.

The team also took second place in the ASA ìAî National tourney in McAllen, TX on August 29-30. First team All Americans were Eric Klug, Adam Peterson, Brad Augedahl, Chad Augedahl and Tom Muehlenkamp. Second team were Mark Augedahl and Randy King. Chad Augedahl also won the tournament batting title .783 and homerun title with 9 HRís. LH/Miken also won the ASA Open MN state tourney in August and finished the season with an impressive 59-12 record with 10 tournament titles.

Not a typical team

Brad had a few more comments when he dropped this story off at the Argus on October 3.

He said that Panama City was a beautiful place to play, and the event was like a combination of vacation and tournament. Players also enjoyed playing teams from all over the United States. They were new opponents, which made it more interesting because teams didnít know the other teamís tendencies.

The Caledonia team may have surprised a few people with the fact that the players arenít a big, physical team, Brad said. ìWe kind of rely more on our athletic ability.î

Plus other teams draw players from larger cities, compared to LH/M, which had nine from Caledonia, one from Houston, and two from Wisconsin.

ìWeíre definitely not the normal team that goes down there,î he said.

The team overcame a couple challenges enroute to the title, Augedahl said. One, they hadnít played in three weeks, and it showed up in their first game, a 15-run drubbing.

And that led to their other challenge -- having to win eight straight games in the grueling schedule that Brad described earlier.

Players heard fans say that they couldnít believe Caledonia was still playing.

ìWe had some proud fans there,î Brad said. ìIt helps to have people yelling and cheering you on.î

Miken bats, which are manufactured in Caledonia, figured prominently in the wins and the entire tournament, added Brad, who works for Miken. He estimated that 95 percent of the teams were either using the bats or had heard of them. ìWe just got ours for free and they didnít,î he said.

ëPretty phenomenalí

Pete and Susan Peterson of Houston were two of the proud fans that Brad referred to. They watched all the games. Their son, Adam, is on the team.

ìI donít think Caledonia realizes what theyíve got here,î Pete said in an interview with the Argus on October 2. ìThis was pretty phenomenal.î

Umpires at the national tournament told Peterson that Caledoniaís team is at the caliber of professional softball teams. Many of the top teams draw players from a wide area, yet Caledonia players are mostly from this area. There are even two sets of brothers, Corey and Eric Klug, and Chad, Brad, Mark, and B.J. Augedahl -- and all of thes men are cousins!

ìThey give their whole heart when they play,î Peterson said. ìThey get along so well. Itís fun to watch them, on and off the field. Iíve told them they would be a dream to coach for how well they buckle down and focus on the game.î

Plus they are good sports, and well-liked by the other teams..

ìWhat a tribute to the town of Caledonia. The families here and the athleticism of the kids that come out of this town. It was a first class affair. It was fun to watch. The city of Caledonia should be extremely proud.î

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