Spooner 6 Eau Claire Bears 5

            The Spooner Cardinals participated in a five-team tournament in Hayward for the first time and came away with a 1-2 record against stiff competition. In the opening game, Spooner scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk-off with a 6-5 win over the Eau Claire Bears. It was a back and forth contest for most of the game but Spooner used timely hitting throughout the lineup and a solid pitching performance from Jesse Morales (7 innings) to grab the opening win in their first game of the tournament.

Spooner 1 Hartford Hawks 16

            Game two came against the defending tournament champions Hartford Hawks. Hartford has traveled to the tournament each year all the way from the Milwaukee area. They won the tournament in 2024 and play in one of the toughest amateur leagues in the state with many of the teams being in the suburban Milwaukee area. The Cardinals sent Evan Potaczek to the mound after a stellar high school season (Co-Player of the Year in the HON conference). Unfortunately, Hartford brought the bats with them and used an 8 run third inning to blow the game open at 9-1.  Spooner did manage to put quality contact together but the result was minimal scoring against the tough Hawks defense. The Cardinals opted to save what little pitching remained for their third game of the day. Hartford expanded their lead over their next two innings at the plate to win the game 16-1.

Spooner 1 Holmen Features 2

            Coming into their third game of the day, Spooner sent Trevor Brimblecom to the mound and played a tight and low scoring game. Brimblecom was very efficient for the game but Holmen managed one run in each of the third and fifth innings to be just enough to snag the win. Spooner could not muster enough offense to score runs and the third game of the day took its’ toll on the team.

            The tournament ended with a Hartford victory over the home Hayward Hawks to go 3-0 on the tournament and secure the back-to-back championship.

            Overall, it was a decent showing for the young Cardinals team as they started four high school graduates in each game and were missing a solid portion of their team for various reasons. It was a good experience for the young players as we hope they can step in with bigger roles over the remainder of the season and future years to take the reins into a new era of Cardinals baseball.

The Cardinals (3-4, 2-1 Indy) resume league play on Friday night, June 20^th when they travel back to Hayward for a 7:30 Musky Fest game with the Hawks. Spooner hosts Cumberland on Saturday June 21^st at 7:30.