Sports Section — Barron News-Shield — Wednesday, July 11, 2012 SporSportsts

Leader of the pack Barron’s Bryce Johnson led a pack of Midwest Modifi eds with his Lighting Auto sponsored entry out of turn four during the Firecracker special last Tuesday, July 3, at the Rice Lake Speedway. Following Johnson are Dustin Brown of Rice Lake, Cole Spacek of Phillips, Jake Stai of New Auburn and Wheeler’s Kerry Halopka. Brown won the heat race, followed by Spacek and Johnson. The grandstands were full of race fans who were treated to a spectacular fi reworks show between feature races. Minnesota driver raises ‘Cain’ with Firecracker fi eld By Ed Reichert in the pack, Kevin Adams was trying Cain continued to roll on unabated. that the drivers settled down and hard to beat a tough fi eld of Street Stock tention for the lead, and with a strong to fi ght his way forward after starting He drove home for a relatively easy racing took place. racers. move, raced past Knudtson to take Dave Cain has a habit of dropping tenth. win with Myers unable to cut into his Ryan Viltz continued to lead, but Mike Knudtson and Jim Miller bat- over the top spot. in at various speedways from time to Cain continued to lead through two advantage. Adams was able to charge he had to fi ght off fi rst Halopka and tled on the opening laps of the main, A collision between Miller and time and making things miserable for more minor yellows, with the last past Leer for third in the late going then his brother Tito, who moved with Miller and Knudtson swapping Cody Kummer stopped the race and the local favorites. Such was the case twelve laps running under the green. with Duval rounding out the top fi ve. into the second place. Meanwhile, the top spot until Knudtson took con- set up a four-lap sprint to the fi nish. again last Tuesday at the Rice Lake Cain gradually built up his lead until Wilson may have had the most Cory Crapser, who started ninth, was trol. They were both challenged by Randall pulled away as Richards and Speedway as the annual Firecracker it was a comfortable one, as he found dominating performance of the night on the move. He worked past Travis Eric Olson and Danny Richards, who Knudtson battled for second. Randall special was served up to the fans. a groove running up against the wall in the nonstop Super Stock feature. Anderson and into the top fi ve. Ryan were providing plenty of heat. fl ashed across the line for his sec- Cain, making his second appearance in turn one and low in the other cor- In the early going, Brad Eding- continued to show the way, but Tito A huge swarm of cars were close ond straight victory at Rice Lake as of the year at Rice Lake, heading ner. The action behind him heated up. ton jumped into the initial lead, but and Halopka were battling hard right behind the lead duo with positions Richards held off Knudton for third. back home over the border to Min- Adams had a good battle with Duval he was quickly challenged by Scott behind him. Crapser also looked for a being swapped on every corner. The Kummer’s mud encrusted car, after nesota with his second feature race for position and then set off after Lawrence. Lawrence made several way past the front runners. fi ghting was intense with little give an off track excursion through the victory. Leer as Myers had worked his way runs on the low side of Edington, but As the laps ran down, Ryan contin- and lots of take going on, but every- infi eld, held on for fourth ahead of Other winners on a steamy pre hol- into second. Brad staved him off with some con- ued to hold the groove and continued one managed to keep their cars point- Doug Wojcik. iday night included Aaron Wilson, tact between the two on several oc- to fi ght off the challenges right to ed in the right direction. Wagner’s fi rst win of the year was Ryan Viltz, Jimmy Randall and C.J. casions. the checkered fl ag as he recorded his Meanwhile, Randall steadily accomplished by making a great Wagner. Golfers ‘Rally for With the top two locked in their third Rice Lake win of 2012. He was worked his way forward, showing a move for the lead as two other com- Twenty cars took the green fl ag for own warfare, Wilson moved to high chased by his brother Tito, Halopka, lot of speed as he rode the high side petitors battled it out. the Modifi ed feature and Cain, ben- the Cure’ July 24 side of the track, and with a great run Crapser and Anderson to the fl ag. of the track but also showed the abil- John Erickson and Bob Thomp- efi ting from a redraw that saw him on off turn four, blew past both front Randall may have executed the ity to pass on the low side if neces- son battled for the early lead in the the outside pole, battled side-by-side at Pine Crest runners to take over the lead. Wil- drive of the night. He came from 11th sary. Before too long he was in con- Pure Stock main before Thompson for the fi rst couple of laps with Adam The Pine Crest ladies are hosting a son’s car was handling great right in secured the front spot. Soon though, Hensel before edging into the lead. “Rally for the Cure” on Tuesday, July the middle of the track and he quickly Thompson was being challenged Matt Leer quickly moved in to chal- 24. Golfers are asked to make a $20 put distance on the fi eld. hard by Jason Havel for the lead, lenge for the second spot along with donation plus the cost to golf nine Shane Kisling started seventh on with the two beating and banging in Steve Hallquist. Hensel only made it holes. Tee off is set for 9 a.m. the grid, and after battling past Dar- Taxidermists clinch the corners for the top spot and both for fi ve laps before he rolled to a halt All golfers are encouraged to join rel Hazelton and Tommy Richards, with suspension problems and went for a fun morning with may golfi ng closed in on the cars battling for sec- (See Racing page 2) off on the hook. events and prizes. Valuable breast ond. He also went to the topside and Cain continued to maintain the cancer education material will also drove past to take over the runner-up regular season title lead with Curt Myers moving in to be available. slot, but by then Wilson had nearly fi ght Leer for second. Scott Duval For more information, call Kaye a straightaway on the fi eld. With the also was on the move. Farther back Leaman at 715-790-1947. yellow fl ag not coming out, Wilson’s comfortable lead was not challenged with twin bill sweep and he drove home for his second Red Cedar Men’s Fastpitch Minor Kiel Gowin had base hits for RLWS. win of the year at Rice Lake. Divison squads were involved in a Brandon Johnson was two-for- Having by far his best run of the couple of doubleheaders in league four, Tom Dettle had a double and season was Bart Steffen. He used the week eight, playing the regular Mike Bailey a home run as pitcher Ja- SPORTS SCENE low side to gradually work his way scheduled games of July 5 and mak- son Hoff and Larson Collision Center past Edington for third, making the ing up the postponed games of June held on to defeat Whitetail Dairy 9-7. pass in the late going, while Jason By Bob Veness 14. Twin Pines Taxidermy wrapped Losing pitcher Brandon Manecke Forehand got the hard charger award, up the regular season title with a had three hits in four at bats, includ- Everybody that you talk to is getting ready for the Green Bay Packers to coming from fourteenth to round out sweep over Rice Lake Weighing ing a triple and a double, and Bryan be in camp. h ey want the season to start, mostly because our other two the top fi ve. Systems, while Whitetail Dairy and Nelson also hit three-for-four. Bran- pro sports (Bucks and Brewers) are having bad years. Will this carry over Josh Basey got the jump on Cole Larson’s Collision Center split their don Christian was two-for-three. to the Packers? I certainly hope not, but everyone I have talked to recently Spacek to be the early leader of the twin bill. Manecke pitched the second game agrees that it would be impossible for Green Bay to be as dominating this Midwest Modifi ed main event, but Gary Ekholm’s one-out base hit in as well and this time got the pitch- season as last. As one of my good friends (he is a Vikings fan) says, no before a couple laps could be com- the bottom of the seventh plated Mor- ing victory as Whitetail rebounded to matter how good the Packers are during the season, they will fold in the pleted, Ryan Viltz made a strong gan Neuman and Patrick Rankin as chalk up a 13-9 win. Losing pitcher playof s. I have a few words for that guy and the main word is winning. If move on the outside to power around Twin Pines rallied to beat Weighing was the veteran Ron Sloan. The win- there is a way for the Packers to win 15 games this year, either during the Basey and take over the lead. Tito Systems in the opener 5-4. Rice Lake ning pitcher aided his own cause regular season or if it may include the playof s, I would be a ‘happy camper’ Viltz and Shane Halopka soon fol- Weighing had scored twice in the top with a home run and double in three and I think every other Packer fan would be as well. I think 15 wins for the lowed suit and they became the pack half of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. at bats. Vikings would be two or maybe three seasons. battling for the lead. At Indianapolis combine–Barron Winning pitcher Conn Johnson Dusty Holub tripled for White- Golden Bear Isaiah Frandsen com- Speaking of the Vikings, they have another player who got in trouble A hard crash on lap six eliminated batted two-for-four for Twin Pines tail, Nelson, Luke Mathews and Dan peted at Indianapolis, Ind., at the with the law. When oi cers tried to close down a bar that was running the cars of Basey, Jake Stai, Dusty and C.J. Damaske two-for-four with Subrt, who also singled, collected Midwest Schuman’s National Under- over the hour of closing, Adrian Peterson resisted, i rst one oi cer, then an- Brown and Bryce Johnson, but after a double. Zak Sharp had Weighing doubles. Christian was two-for-four. classmen combine on Sunday. There other and it took a third to subdue him. He was arrested on a misdemeanor Systems only extra base hit, a double. For Larson’s, Hoff was four-for-fi ve were 200 junior athletes who compet- charge and it cost him just $1,000, but as a colleague here in the oi ce said, Locals ready for Adam Bayer was the losing pitcher. including a double, Johnson batted ed from eight states. Frandsen quali- it did a lot of harm to his character. I think the Vikings are better without Morgan Neuman was two-for- two-for-four and Bailey and Steve fi ed for the event as the MVP of junior him anyway. When he is in the lineup, they start counting on him and athletes at Schumans’ National Un- WFCA All-Star three with a double and Damaske Foust each rapped out two-base hits. derclassmen Football Combine held more ot en than not he does not deliver. He is a great running back, but in was again two-for-four as the Taxi- Because of Independence Day, this day and age of the NFL, you need to do more than that or your success earlier in Burnsville, Minn., where he game Saturday dermists captured the nightcap 13-5. holiday Major Division teams were received both a medal and trophy for is only for you. He is probably their second best player on the entire roster, Four outstanding teams and coach- Marcus Loew was winning pitcher idle. his performance. Frandsen will be a but usually he struggles to stay healthy and he can’t catch a pass very well ing staffs will represent Wisconsin and Sam Elliott the loser. Elliott and senior for the Golden Bears this fall. out of the backi eld. Maybe they need to bring back the ‘party love boat’ high school football in the Wisconsin and entire team can get in trouble all at once. Football Coaches Association All- ************ Star Games at UW-Oshkosh Titan We are all losing patience with the Milwaukee Brewers, but if the truth Stadium, 450 Josslyn St., Oshkosh were known, they are playing some pretty good baseball overall the past on Saturday, July 14. The Div. 4–7 month. It is the games they lose when it is an opportune time to move up game starts at noon followed by the on the Central Division leaders that hurt the most. Milwaukee just won Div. 1–3 game starting at 5 p.m. two of three in Houston, but since the Astros are the worst team in base- After the time consuming process ball, they probably should have won all three. Ryan Braun, who has been of nominations for the state’s best carrying the team through the bulk of the season, appears to be getting senior players, evaluations and re- tired of that role or maybe he is just getting tired physically. He won’t get placement of players unable to play, much of a break during the All-Star break because he is starting in the the 2012 WFCA All-Star rosters are outi eld. But the other Brewers really need a rest. fi nished. As the four-day layof begins, I have some questions for the manage- Austin Haugestuen, a 205 lb., 6’1” ment. Why keep putting Axford out there when he can’t get the job done? wide receiver, will represent Bar- Why send pitchers like Manny Parra and Randy Wolf to the mound when ron on the Div. 4-7 North squad. they can’t even throw a strike? If we are really going to ‘throw in the towel’ Two Bloomer players have made the and start shopping players around, why are we not going to the minors to team. Six-foot, 175 lb. running back bring up the best prospects? Why keep hitting and pitching coaches on that Levi Nayes and six-foot, 225 lb. line- are not getting the job done? Why do you ever take Carlos Gomez out of backer Jeremy Seibel will also play centeri eld? What is the purpose in batting Nyjer Morgan second when he for head coach Jason Sargent of Clear simply can’t hit his weight–and he is a skinny guy? I hope when the team Lake. comes back on Friday we have some answers to some of these questions. Other players from the Heart of Oh–one more thing–make an all out ef ort to sign Grienke to a long term the North conference include Justin contract right away. Alexson, Northwestern (6’2” 200 ************ lb. LB); Logan Anderson, Spooner Imagine the loss that CBS had in television viewing when both Tiger (5’11” 165 lb. WR); Adam Bielmeier Woods and Phil Mickelson were not able to make the cut last weekend. It is (5’11” 160 lb. DB) and Brady Rose dangerous for the PGA oi cials to have these cuts and then the best players (6’0” 200 lb. WR), both Cumberland; don’t end up on the weekend. h at had to hurt and probably sent a lot of Otis Hamilton, Ladysmith (5’11” 190 people to the tennis championships instead. h at was also very interesting. lb. LB); and Brandon Mikyska, Chet- ************ ek-Weyerhaeuser (6’0” 260 lb. OL). Since it is the middle of the summer, there is not much going on in high Other area players on the squad All-Star winners school sports, but there are football camps coming up this week. One in include Matt Gretzlock from Clayton Justin Doriott (from left), Macky Mikunda and Jason Balts participated in an exciting HeartLake Border Legion League Chetek with Jesse Wendt and then one at Flambeau, where Jim Leonhard (6’4” 190 lb. TE), Shell Lake’s Caleb All-Star game held at Osceola on July 5. Doriott started the game on the mound for the National League and threw will host. Chris Maragos of the Seattle Seahawks will be joining Jim on the Schmidt (6’2” 210 lb. DE) and Josh two scoreless innings. Balts batted one-for-two and had a spectacular play behind the plate in the top of the seventh i eld, with a number of high school coaches involved from around the state. Malone of Northwood/Solon Springs to keep the score tied at 0-0. With runners on fi rst and third, the American League tried a delayed steal; Balts pump In another sport involving local high school basketball players, Tif any faked hard to second base and caught the runner sleeping on third to end the threat. Mikunda had solid at bats and (5’11” 170 lb. DB) played well defensively. All three boys are batting over .380 for the summer. The National League won 1-0 on a walk Marshall of Lake Holcombe played in the WBCA All-Star game at Wiscon- The WFCA looks forward to this sin Dells for the Div. 5 North team. Cameron’s Tiera Czyscon played for the off a single by Cumberland’s Jaylin Lansin in the bottom of the seventh. The National League is comprised of league- year’s games and their partnership leading Cumberland (10-0), Barron (7-5), Spring Valley (8-6), Amery (7-7), St. Croix Falls (5-11) and Osceola (5-9). Div. 4 North–her team won 79-54 and was the only girls North team to pull with Children’s Hospitals of Wiscon- The American is led by Somerset (14-0), New Richmond (7-5), Grantsburg (6-6), Unity (5-7), Baldwin (2-8) and Luck/ out a win. h e South also won four out of the i ve boys games. sin. Frederic (0-12). Barron will host undefeated Cumberland Tuesday, July 17.