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Update for the May 19th and 20th weekend
May 17, 2012
The Angels game against Huntersville for Friday night has been cancelled. Huntersville didnt have enough guys. We will look for a date later in the year.
Saturdays game against the Hurricanes has been moved to around 4:15-4:30. There is a JV baseball tournament in DL that day and the Angels will play following the tournament. The steak Fry fundraiser will be at the Sandbar after the game. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the door. There is a silent auction with numerous items. I am bringing two wine baskets with cheese and home made wine. I am also bring 3 dairy baskets with cheese, butter, and Beef and turkey jerky. Items were donated by Bongards, Lakes Area Coop, Midwest Dairy and myself. The wine comes from an employee of mine who has his own vineyard.
Henning is unable to playSunday May 27th so we may be playing them this Sunday instead. Check back here for updates, it may be a Sunday evening game in Henning.
Angels 2012 Program
April 16, 2012
The Angels will once again have a game day program availabe at the stadium. The program has the Angels schedule, roster and sponsors in it. The cost is $100, anyone interested in purchasing an ad can contact Mark or Phil. Each team member should try and sell at least 1 ad. Last years sponsors included The Detroit Lakes Newspaper and DL-online, Central Market, Ace Electric and lighting, JK Sports, Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation, First Security Bank, Northland Auto Glass, Papa Murphys, Precision printing, Dyanmic Homes, Chiropractor Christopher Singer, Subway, Ness Granite Works, Johnson's plumbing, Lakes Computer repair and consulting, Webber Family Detroit Lakes Ford Chrysler dodge jeep, Red Willow, Coldwell banker-Wade Whitworth, Tinjum Appraisal company, Dominos, Detroit Lakes Community and Cultural Center, Peplawn INC, Zorbaz, Lakeview Construction of Detroit Lakes, Sandbar, Fuhs and Sonstegard LTD, Big Rok Angus, Nereson's, American FAmily Insurance-Matt Hedstrom, Midwest Bank, Jorgenson Dairy, Bay Window Quilt shop, Dairy Queen of DL, Sharon's Style, Marco, State Bank and Trust, Laker Locker, Lakeside Tavern, and our Largest sponsor BLEACHERS BAR AND GRILL located at 25807 Co. Hwy 22 on the south west side of Detroit Lake.
We appreciate the support of these businesses as they are key in allowing us to run our team with as large of a budget as we do.
Angels Steak Fry fundraiser
April 16, 2012
The Angels 6th annual Steak Fry fundraiser will be on Saturday May 19th at 6:00 at the SandBar in Detroit Lakes. The cost is $20 and the ticket includes a steak, baked potato, bun, cole slaw and 2 drink tickets. The Angels get $10 of each ticket. We also have a silent auction with around 25 to 30 items donated by team members, businesses and boosters. Anyone interested in tickets can contact any team member a week or so before the event. Tickets are also available at the door that evening. The Angels host the Fergus Falls Hurricanes earlier in the day. Anyone interested in donating a silent auction item talk to Mark or Phil.
New additions to the Angels team
April 13, 2012
With opening day only weeks away the Angels have made some additions to the team and also have had a couple of subtractions. Mike Klyve and Phil Doll have both decided not to play in 2012. Mike teaches up in the Duluth area and will be staying up there for the summer. Phil lives in DL but has decided to retire from the Angels.
New additions include Justin Berg who played for the Angels in 2008 and 2009. Justin was the starting pitcher for the Angels in the 2008 state tournament game. After the 09 season he accepted a teaching job offer in Browerville and has taught there the past couple of years. Justin is a pitcher who played at Muscatine Jr college in Iowa and at the University of South Dakota. Angel highlights for Justin include a 7 inning 1 hit 13 strikeout performance against Dent in 08. In 2009 Justin was drafted by the WDC Shockers and pitched their opening region game with a 7 inning 4 hit 16 strikeout performance. Justin has battled some arm injuries thoughout his career.
Connor Mcleod will be a first year player for the Angels. Connor currently is a middle infielder on the Iowa Central junior college baseball team. Connor will be available for the Angels before the legion season starts and will be available for the Angels after the completion of the legion season. Connor is expected to be a big addition to the offense when he is available to the Angels. Connor's father Mitch was the head coach at NDSU for many years and is currently the Detroit Lakes Legion coach.
Jon gilson will be a new outfielder for the Angels. Jon is the younger brother of Angel centerfielder/pitcher Chris Gilson. Jon attends concordia college where he is a linebacker on the football team.
Ryan Berg is a freshman 2nd baseman on the Concordia cobbers baseball team. Ryan will add some depth to the Angels team up the middle.
More additions are expected as players finalize their summer plans and return home from college.
Detroit Lakes Tournament pairings announced
Here are the first round matchups for the Tournament. This was a challenge as I wanted to keep Perham away from the FF/DL matchup. I also wanted to keep the Jamestown teams in opposite halves, and finding a 2nd team to play at 6:30.
Top half of the bracket
Fergus Falls
Detroit Lakes
Wheaton
Jamestown Merchants
Bottom half of Bracket
Perham
Jamestown Elks
Mound Mallards
Thief River Falls
Schedule
Wednesday night 7:30 FF vs DL
Friday night 6:30 Perham vs Jamestown Elks
Friday night 8:30 Wheaton Vs Jamestown Merchants
Saturday 11:00 Mound vs Thief River Falls
Detroit Lakes High School Baseball Preview
April 8, 2012
Numbers good, experience low for Lakers team
The Detroit Lakes baseball team won’t be short on numbers, but it will be on experience. Losing almost their entire infield and a couple of their top pitchers off of last year’s Section final four team, the Lakers will have to rely on a bunch of players who have not seen the varsity playing level much.
By: Brian Wierima, DL-Online
The Detroit Lakes baseball team won’t be short on numbers, but it will be on experience.
Losing almost their entire infield and a couple of their top pitchers off of last year’s Section final four team, the Lakers will have to rely on a bunch of players who have not seen the varsity playing level much.
“We have a lot of guys equal in talent, so there will be a lot of competition for those open spots,” said DL head coach Steve Fuhs. “It may take over half the season to see who will be our regular starters.”
The Lakers pitching staff will be led by senior Ben Gailfus and Kyle Singer, who both came on strong for DL’s playoff push last year.
After those two, there will be plenty of arms, but not a lot of seasoning.
“We are inexperienced after Kyle and Ben, with seniors Travis Dorff and Stefan Boehm seeing some time last year,” Fuhs said. “After that, we have up to five or six juniors who will fill out the staff, so whoever is throwing strikes, will get into the rotation.”
One reliable position will be catcher, where junior Kirk McLeod will anchor the infield and the pitching staff. McLeod was the full-time starter last year, as well during the Legion summer season, so he has plenty of knowledge behind the plate.
Senior Brian Labat returns at first base and will give the Lakers some pop in the lineup, while seniors Casey Fonder and Aaron Marsh each return after solid junior seasons.
Singer also will help up the middle in centerfield.
The other returning infielder is senior second baseman Jake Johnson, while junior Taylor Magnuson gained some experience last summer during Legion.
“We have three to four guys at every position and 13 to 14 juniors out, so our numbers are good,” Fuhs added. “I think we can have a good, solid team, but we’ll find out as the season goes on.”
The Lakers open the season at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Tuesday, April 10, and will have their home opener Tuesday, April 17, against Mid-State Conference foe Crosby-Ironton.
Exhbition Games
March 5, 2012
The league schedule is now up on the website. I am looking to add some exhbition games on some of the following dates.
May 11, 16,18,23,30
June 22 or 24, 29 or 30
July 14 or 15
Doubleheaders could be possible on some of those dates.
If a team is interested please email me, for those of you who contacted me already i will be in touch within the next day or two and will try and give you first choices.
Angels preparing for the 2012 season
February 9, 2012
The 2012 Angels season is right around the corner. The first day to sign or release players is just over a month away (march 15). The Angels are expecting the core of the team to return. As is the case in most seasons we expect to have around 5 open roster spots. If anyone is interested in playing for the Angels in 2012 please contact me through this website or by phone 218-640-5557
Last season the Angels played 40 games. I'm expecting that we will be playing about the same amount of games again this year. We will be playing in 3 tournaments. This will be our 3rd year in the Sartell-St. Stephen tournament. We will be hosting our annual tournament and for the 2nd consecutive year playing in the Jamestown ND Tournament.
In the 5 years of Angels baseball the team has picked up 108 wins in 169 games for a winning percentage of .639. Year by year totals include
26-14 in 2012
20-10 in 2011
15-15 in 2009
18-15 in 2008
29-7 in 2007
Some interesting stats from the 2011 season include
12 pitchers started games
11 pitchers picked up wins, Taylor Fuhs, Brock Johnson and Trevor Tappe were the team leaders with 4 wins each
9 pitchers pitched at least 10 innings, with Taylor Fuhs leading at 54
Team ERA was 2.77, 2nd lowest to 2.35 in 2010
40 games played was most in team history
26 wins was 2nd most in team history to 29 in 2007
Mark Gulseth was the team leader in batting average at .435, Taylor Fuhs was 2nd at .382 and Chris Gilson was 3rd at .358
Phil Kirchner set a team record with 10 outfield assists
Phil Kirchner also set a team record with 9 homers
Doug Dickey set team records with 161 plate appearances,45 walks and 40 games played
Team batting average was .286 2nd only to .300 in 2007
Detroit Lakes to play in Jamestown Tournament July 6,7,8
February 9, 2012
The Angels will be making their second appearance in the Jamestown Tournament. Last season the Angels went 1 and 2 in the tournament. The Angels suffered losses to the Jamestown Merchants and Mayville Redcaps and picked up a win over the Jamestown Tigers.
2012 schedule being added to website
February 9, 2012
To view the 2012 schedule click on the schedule icon on the left side of this page. The regular season schedule should be out by the end of the month. Exhibition games will be added as they are scheduled. I will try and hold off on exhibitions until after the league schedule comes out.
2011 stats are now updated
The 2011 Stats are now updated, they can be found on the Teams/Rosters section.
Home-grown talent keys consistency
July 6, 2011
Home-grown talent keys consistency
By: Brian Wierima, DL-Online
After the Detroit Lakes Angels were resurrected in 2007, there was a goal of keeping the players home grown.
With the Angels recording their 100th victory since their resurrection in 2007 Monday during the annual July 4 game against visiting Frazee, the local amateur baseball team can literally be thought of as a “Detroit Lakes” one.
Throughout the five seasons of the Angels, over 95 percent of the players have hailed from Detroit Lakes, despite the usual turnover which comes with the territory of running an amateur baseball team.
By keeping the talent in-house, the Angels have been a team of consistency, averaging 20 wins per season, while collecting two state tournament berths in their first two seasons after over a decade-long layoff of having a team in DL.
“The big thing we’ve been able to do has been to keep the top one, two or three players from the DL high school team,” said co-manager Mark Jorgenson, who along with Phil Kirchner, spearheaded the effort to bring the Angels back in 2007.
“We have kept our DL kids, while other towns end up splitting up their young talent among two or three other teams.”
The Angels crawled back out of obscurity May 6, 2007, when they opened the season with a 15-0 victory over the visiting New York Mills Millers at Washington Ballpark.
Since then, DL has rolled up 99 more wins, finishing 29-7 in their inaugural season, following that with records of 18-15, 15-15, 20-10 and currently sitting at 18-8 in 2011 for a combined mark of 100-55.
If it wasn’t for local players, the Angels wouldn’t exist, either.
“We have people who are dedicated in making this team succeed,” said Kirchner, who has been amongst the team leaders in batting all five years and leads the team in most career offensive stats. “We have good leadership at the top and have had a good mix of young players and veterans.
“Our players like playing on a winning team and for the most part, we’ve done just that.”
In DL’s first season, the team was based on many veterans, with the majority coming from the Perham Pirates.
That so happened to be the Angels’ best season, as they posted 29 wins and made it to the second round of the Class C state tournament, before losing to Sauk Rapids.
That team boasted of such former Laker standouts as Nick Omberg, Kyle Danner, Taylor Fuhs, Chris Engberg, Shawn Ohman, Matt Olson, Zach Fulmer, Max Saarinen, Nick Schroeder and Chris Sieling.
The veteran-laced lineup also included Kirchner, Noah Johnson, Matt Nustad and Terry Haus.
It ended up being a perfect match, as the Angels boasted of one of the top pitchers in the area in Olson, who was DL’s horse with 101 innings pitched, while going 12-2 with 81 strikeouts and a stellar 1.87 ERA. Olson also leads all Angel pitchers in wins with 18, followed by original Angel Bryan Buhr and DL native Matt Huberty with 15 each.
With Olson — who hasn’t pitched for DL the last two seasons — heading the pitching staff, the Angels through the five seasons have had a deep pitching rotation.
This year maybe their deepest yet.
“Already this season we’ve had 10 different pitchers start games and 13 who have seen time on the mound,” Jorgenson said. “Taylor Fuhs has developed into one of the better pitchers in the league, after starting his (Angels’) career at catcher. Winning 100 games in that many seasons does show consistency.”
Fuhs has been one of DL’s most versatile players, as well as one of the most reliable and consistent.
His .325 career batting average for the Angels is second only to Kirchner’s .361 mark, while providing the team his glove pretty much at every position.
The former Mayville State University player Fuhs credits the up-and-comers for keeping the Angels rejuvenated year in and year out.
“We have a solid Legion program in DL now and the young guys are good coming out of high school,” Fuhs added. “We have a lot of college players, as well, and the chemistry is good every year, with Phil (Kirchner) doing a good job with that.”
This year’s roster includes a dozen former Laker players, with every player but one or two having college baseball experience.
And that has been the case every season since 2007, with the latest being Mark Gulseth, who is a former Major League Baseball draftee and minor league player.
“We are getting the best three players each year from the DL High School program and Legion program and that will keep us consistent for years to come,” Jorgenson said.
Another luxury the DL team has is solid funding, which ultimately goes back to the community.
Solid support from community businesses has allowed the Angels the advantage of not worrying about funding a team.
And after each season is completed, the leftover money is donated to the DL Youth Baseball programs.
“We donate from $500 to $1,000 a year to the youth baseball programs,” Kirchner said. “That’s our goal, is to support and help the youth baseball teams. And Kim Fuhs (Taylor’s mother) does a terrific job on our financial end of matters.”
Having fun also goes hand-in-hand with success. The Angels are looking to getting back to the state tournament, and have the horses to doing so.
Their deep pitching staff boasts of a potential ace in DLHS graduate Brock Johnson — who is currently pitching for the Legion team, but has his four required games in to play in the Angels’ playoff games.
The lineup is also bolstered by Concordia College two-sport athlete and DL grad Chris Gilson and other former Lakers Nick Polejewski, Brandon Johnson, Jon Tolbert, Matt Huberty and Fuhs.
Transplant Trevor Tappe is also coming along strong, as is Buhr, so adding onto that 100th win is an expectation for this 2011 group of players.
“It’s been a lot of fun playing the last five years,” Fuhs said. “I’ve never been on a losing team (on the Angels) and we are hopefully looking to make it back to state.
“That’s our goal.”
With the century mark behind them, the Angels definitely are not looking to stop at 100.
Angels pick up 100th win on July 4
July 6, 2011
Angels capture win No. 100 in Walk-off fashion
By: Brian Wierima, DL-Online
Clutch hitting and pitching marked up two more important victories for the Detroit Lakes Angels, who remain on their quest to wrap up the regular season Hi-10 League championship.
Mark Gulseth’s walk-off single Monday kicked off the fireworks for the Angels, who sealed their 100th victory since being re-established in 2007.
DL made a Washington Ballpark rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, after trailing 2-1 to the visiting Frazee Flames — and it was ignited by a pair of original Angels.
Taylor Fuhs started the comeback with a leadoff single, followed by co-manager and right fielder Phil Kirchner’s double. Fuhs was able to plate the tying run on a throwing error.
The game ended on Gulseth’s third hit of the game, a single which scored Kirchner and the winning run.
“Winning 100 games (in four and a half years) shows there is a commitment to baseball in Detroit Lakes,” said Kirchner, who helped spearhead the return of the Angels in 2007. “We do keep putting quality players out on the field, despite turnover every year. We’ve had great support from the community.”
Jon Tolbert pitched solidly, going the distance. The Flames did collect 11 hits, but DL and Tolbert were able to limit the damage to one run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings.
The Angels (13-4 in Hi-10 action) had 14 hits, with Kirchner and Gulseth each going 3-5 and Brandon Johnson, 2-4.
Frazee was hindered by four errors, while DL had two. Tolbert was accurate, pitching for four strikeouts and walking none.
The Angels increased their Hi-10 lead over Bertha with a convincing 7-1 victory over the Blazers Friday at Washington Ballpark.
Kirchner’s three-run homer in the third inning keyed DL’s scoring, while Fuhs kept the Blazer bats off balance all evening with 12 strikeouts, allowing just seven hits.
DL had eight hits, with Fuhs, Kirchner (three runs scored) and Gulseth all having two apiece.
The Angels’ 13-4 league record is tops, followed by Wadena-Deer Creek’s 10-4, Bertha at 11-6 and Perham at 6-6. The bottom four teams are Bluffton (6-8), New York Mills (3-11), Audubon (2-10) and Henning (1-12).
Pelican Rapids leads the Countryside League with a perfect 10-0 record, followed by Vergas at 10-2, Fergus Falls at 7-2, Dent at 2-8 and Frazee at 4-12.
Detroit Lakes will host Vergas tonight (Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m. They will compete in the Jamestown, N.D., tournament Saturday and Sunday, travel to New York Mills next Wednesday and prepare for the Hi-10 playoffs on Friday, July 22.
Angels closing in on win #100
June 27, 2011
The Detroit Lakes Angels are 3 wins away from picking up win number 100 in their 5th year. The Angels were reborn in 2007 and have had the following record each season.
29-7 in 2007
18-15 in 2008
15-15 in 2009
20-10 in 2010
The Angels career record entering the season was
82-47
The Angels are currently sitting with a season record of 15-7. This gives the team a career record of 97-54.
DL Tribune article on DL tournament and Nick Polejewski
June 22, 2011
It’s been a long rehab for Detroit Lakes Angels’ pitcher Nick Polejewski after he underwent the infamous elbow procedure known as “Tommy John” surgery.
But if Sunday’s nine-inning performance is any indication, Polejewski looks to be nearly back to 100 percent.
Polejewski stifled the potent Fergus Falls team’s bats in the Angels’ Tournament third-place game at Washington Park Sunday, holding the Hurricanes to four hits in a 2-1 DL victory that spanned two extra innings of play.
“I haven’t pitched for that long in a game in about two years,” Polejewski said. “I struggled some with my curveball, but my fastball was tailing well and I was attacking the strike zone well.
“Mentally, it was difficult not to think about it, but I haven’t been able to go that long in a while.”
Luckily for the Angels, Polejewski could, as he pitched out of several jams, which was also aided by some solid defensive plays.
After the ’Canes scored the tying run in the top of the sixth inning, when Casey Kowalski led off with a double and later scored on a passed ball, each team was held scoreless in the seventh and the extra eighth frame.
By tournament rules, the ninth inning starts by placing a runner at second base with no outs.
After a sacrifice fly gave Fergus Falls a runner at third base with one out, Polejewski forced a groundout to shortstop Reed Oistad and ended the inning with a fly out to second base.
“The defense certainly helped me out,” Polejewski added.
It didn’t take long for the Lakers to score the winning run, as rightfielder and co-manager Phil Kirchner took his position on second base.
Third base slugger Mark Gulseth quickly cracked a hard liner over the FF right fielder’s head, as Kirchner easily scored from second.
“That’s what Mark can do,” Kirchner said. “Nick also came through big and he kept his composure and threw strikes.”
The victory was also the first one over the ’Canes by the Angels in five years, and improved DL’s record to 9-7.
The Angels lost in the semifinals to Jamestown, N.D., by the score of 2-1.
Jamestown, which is a traditional state champion from North Dakota and eventually became the DL Tournament champ, held the Angels to one hit in the victory.
Doug Dickey came up with DL’s lone RBI.
“Jamestown has a lot of college players and is a very good team,” Kirchner said.
DL stranded the tying run on third base in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Chris Gilson took the loss after pitching five strong innings, giving up four hits and striking out seven.
The Angels advanced through the first round with a 14-4 blasting of Crookston Friday.
DL collected 12 hits, including a 3-3 night by Oistad, while Kirchner had two homeruns and four RBIs.
Matt Huberty pitched all five innings in the 10-run mercy rule game, allowing six hits and striking out seven.
Upcoming Games/Practices
| Monday, May 28 | | Detroit Lakes Angels 2012 @ Vergas Loons | 1:30pm | Vergas | | Wednesday, May 30 | | Audubon Zephyrs @ Detroit Lakes Angels 2012 | 7:30pm | Washington Park | | Saturday, Jun 2 | | Detroit Lakes Angels 2012 @ St. Stephen | 11:30am | St. Stephen | | Detroit Lakes Angels 2012 @ Isanti or Winsted | TBA | St. Stephen | | Sunday, Jun 3 | | Detroit Lakes Angels 2012 @ Sartell/St. Stephen Tournament | TBA | Sartell | | Wednesday, Jun 6 | | Detroit Lakes Tournament @ Detroit Lakes Angels 2012 | 7:30pm | Washington Park | |
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For a complete schedule listing, click here!
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