Scott Marquardt was 3-4 with five RBIs and a grand slam homerun for the Express Friday, Aug. 13, but it wasn’t enough. The Cold Spring Rockies ended the Express season 12-9 in Region 10C play in Watkins. The Rockies opened up a scoreless ball game in the fourth inning as they unleashed the wood for six runs. The biggest blow came from the bat of starting pitcher Rick Burtzel, who blasted a grand slam home run making the score 6-0, Rockies. The Express, usually a very sound defensive team, committed two big errors in the inning to keep the Rockies rally alive. Of the six runs scored, they had only one earned run. Pat Arnold came on in relief of starting pitcher Brooks Marquardt in the fourth inning. After giving up a single, Arnold struck out Rockies catcher Paul Schreiner to end the inning. Kimball could not get anything going offensively off Rockies starter Rick Burtzel. The Express had runners on base every inning, but couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it. Cold Spring added to its 6-0 lead in the fifth as they scored two more off Arnold, only one of them being earned. The Express defense picked a very inopportune time to not show up as they committed seven errors on the night. The Express were down 8-0, but managed to score two runs in the seventh inning to make it 8-2. The Rockies countered with four runs off reliever Justin Hill in the top of the eighth. Hill was in his second inning of work after pitching a 1-2-3 seventh inning. With the score at 12-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the Express lumber finally woke up as they rallied for six runs. Scott Marquardt’s one out, towering grand slam over the leftfield wall cut the lead to 12-8. Kris Hagen pitched a scoreless top of the ninth as the Express finally made a game out of the mess. They managed a single run in the ninth as Brooks Marquardt singled his brother Brian home making it 12-9. That was all they could muster as Jeremy Kuechle’s line out to second base ended the Express season. Rail report The Express ended the season with an overall record of 23-12. It wasn’t a bad season as they won the St. Cloud Sports Inc. Tournament in June and the CVL South Division title. They would like to wish good luck to the two teams representing Region 10C at the state tournament. The Melrose Black Sox and the St. Cloud Orthopedic Ice will advance to Jordan and Belle Plaine with the hopes of winning the Class C state championship. The Express would also like to commend the Watkins Clippers for putting on an excellent region tournament. It was a great atmosphere with good food and cold refreshments throughout the tourney. They would also like to thank everyone who came out and showed support for the team this summer. The dedicated fans who come out week after week in support of the team make it that much more enjoyable to go out and play every game. A very special thanks to all of our sponsors who have a sign on the outfield wall. Without your support we would not be able to continuously make improvements to Veterans Memorial Field. Thank you to Jean Matua and the rest of the Tri-County News staff for their continued coverage of the Express, for taking photos of the games, and for finding room for weekly write-ups throughout the summer. We appreciate your support. A very big “thank you” to all concession stand workers and our P.A. announcer Kevin Sommers for their volunteer efforts. Thanks to everyone making the summer so fun. The Express can’t wait to see you all again next season.
