The young Spring Grove baseball team, heading into the final Southeast Conference game, was one of four squads still in contention for the 2022 conference championship. After having once shared the league lead, the Lions lost that conference finale and finished third among eight SEC teams. The 11-8 season record followed last year’s 10-12 campaign and was the fourth consecutive season with double-digit wins.
Photo by Lee Epps
Since Spring Grove reinstated a stand-alone baseball program in 2016, the Lions have finished in the top half of the SEC standings five out of five years. (SG was an independent in 2016, and the pandemic cancelled the 2020 season.) The 11 season wins (11-8) included a 10-4 SEC mark – the most conference wins since 1996, when current head coach Chris Strinmoen repeated as the Lion baseball Most Valuable Player.
Spring Grove split a pair of one-run games against conference champion Lyle/Pacelli, but the Lions twice came up just short against SEC runner-up and section runner-up Southland, falling 4-3 and 4-2. There was also a disappointing split with fourth-place Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons; after winning 21-10 on the road, SG fell 11-10 at home in the SEC finale. The Lions swept the other four SEC squads, but there were two extremely close calls versus Mabel-Canton, both by 3-2 scores.
Most exhilarating was an early-season upset when Spring Grove stunned state-ranked Lyle/Pacelli, 7-6, at Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field. There were no walk-off wins, but two walk-off losses came in crucial conference contests. In a clash between two undefeated teams at Southland, the Rebels broke a tie in the bottom of the final seventh inning to win, 4-3. The second Lion loss was a gut-wrencher at Austin, where L/P rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh to win, 5-4.
Usually, it was either a blowout or a nailbiter. Only three games were decided by moderate four-to-eight-run margins. More than a third of the games (seven out of 19) were not close, decided by 10 or more runs. Spring Grove won two of the three games that ended early with the 10-run rule. The Lions were on the brink of another run-rule win when leading Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland 10-1 after five innings. But the Bulldogs had a seven-run inning to turn a rout into a 10-8 challenge. The Lions responded to win, 16-8.
Nearly half (nine out of 19 games) went down to the wire, decided by one or two runs. The Lions did not win their share with a 3-6 record in those tight fits. Winning all the close encounters would have resulted in a 17-2 record; losing them all would have left the Lions at 8-11.
There was a remarkable stretch of close games in which the team with the most base hits – lost six of seven games. Spring Grove three times won with the fewest hits and three times lost with the most hits.
The Lions won their first four games. The season ended with three straight losses, including a pair of shutouts – a two-hitter in the regular season finale and a one-hitter in the section opener. After the regular-season game with Wabasha-Kellogg had been canceled due to weather, the teams met in the section opener at Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field; No. 10 section seed W-K eliminated No. 7 Spring Grove, 2-0.
It was a much more experienced crew with eight returning letter winners compared to only one experienced player the previous season. However, it was still a young team. There was only one senior in 2021 (MVP, All-SEC Isaac Griffin); there were two seniors in 2022, second baseman Jonah Udstuen and outfielder Matthew Doering. The main cast of players consisted of the two seniors plus five juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen. Three of those freshmen were full-time starters for the second straight season, and the fourth saw significant action both in the field and on the mound. Four other freshmen played on the B-team.
The average score was an 8-5 win, reversing the previous season’s 8-5 loss. Lion batting, pitching and base stealing all improved, while the opposition’s statistics declined. The 2022 team averaged 6.42 stolen bases per game, the third-best season in 30 seasons of record keeping. The opponents swiped 2.5 bases per game.
Despite losing their 2021 pitching ace to graduation, the eight Lion hurlers of 2022 came through with a combined 3.97 earned run average, a commendable improvement from last year’s 5.08. The mound staff struck out 176 enemy batters while issuing 149 free passes (117 walks, 32 hit by a pitch). The error count was extremely close with the Lions averaging 2.42 errors per game and the opponents 2.53.
The team batting average improved to .288 from last year’s .256. Meanwhile the opponents batted only .215 against Spring Grove, significantly down from the .271 back in 2021. This spring, the Lions also hit with more power with 26 extra-base hits (22 doubles, four triples) compared to last year’s 20.
The B-team finished at 4-11. In junior high, the first team went 4-8 and the reserve team 1-9.
The focus of this article is the team. Individual achievements will be highlighted in upcoming award coverage.
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Southeast Conference (final)
Lyle/Pacelli 12-2 SEC, 17-6 season
Southland 11-3 SEC, 16-8 season
Spring Grove 10-4 SEC, 11-8 season
AC/GE 9-5 SEC, 10-9 season
GMLOK 6-8 SEC, 6-12 season
Mabel-Canton 4-10 SEC, 5-14 season
Houston 4-10 SEC, 4-16 season
Schaeffer Aca. 0-14 SEC, 0-21 season
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Spring Grove Varsity Baseball 2022
11 wins, 8 losses (10-4 SEC)
W vs. GMLOK* 5-1
W vs. Lyle/Pacelli* 7-6
04-18 Cotter/Hope Lutheran, postponed
W vs. Houston* 12-2 (6 inn.)
W at Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons* 21-10
L at Southland* 3-4
W at Mabel-Canton* 3-2
W at GMLOK*16-8
L at Lyle/Pacelli* 4-5
L vs. Martin County West 7-8
W at Houston* 10-2
W vs. Mabel-Canton* 3-2
L vs. Southland* 2-4
L at Rushford-Peterson 3-13
W vs. Goodhue 15-4
W vs. Schaeffer Academy* 13-3
W vs. Schaeffer Academy* 13-2
L vs. Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons* 10-11
L at Fillmore Central/Lanesboro 0-10
SECTION 1A (SG #7 seed)
L vs. #10 Wabasha-Kellogg 0-2
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Spring Grove B-Team Baseball 2022
4 wins, 11 losses
L vs. GMLOK 2-5
L vs. Lyle/Pacelli 2-12
L vs. Houston 2-5
L at Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 0-2
L at Southland 0-5
W at Mabel-Canton 5-2
L at GMLOK 0-10
L at Lyle/Pacelli 1-8
W at GMLOK 7-6
L vs. GMLOK 4-6
W at Houston 13-9
L vs. Mabel-Canton 2-5
L vs. Southland 3-12
L Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 1-7
W vs. Fillmore Central/Lanesboro 10-5
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Junior high First Game
4 wins, 8 losses
L vs. Mabel-Canton 8-13
W vs. GMLOK 10-0
W vs. Houston 5-3
W vs. GMLOK 9-2
W vs. Lyle/Pacelli 9-3
L vs. Caledonia 2-7
L vs. Southland 0-16
L vs. Houston 1-7
L vs. Mabel-Canton 6-8
L to Southland 0-15
L vs. Fillmore/Lanesboro 2-13
L at Caledonia 4-10
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Junior high Second Game
1 win, 9 losses, 1 tie
W vs. Mabel-Canton 6-1
T vs. GMLOK 9-9
L vs. Houston 1-11
L vs. GMLOK 1-2
L vs. Lyle/Pacelli 5-9
L vs. Caledonia
L vs. Southland 3-17
L vs. Houston 3-16
L vs. Southland 0-1
L vs. Fillmore/Lanesboro 2-11
L at Caledonia 9-11
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the Last 7 seasons – SG Varsity Baseball
2022 11-8 (10-4 SEC, 3rd of 8)
2021 10-12 (7-6 SEC, 4th of 9)
2020 season canceled, pandemic
2019 16-8 (9-5 SEC, 3rd of 8) 2019 sub-section champions
2018 10-5 (9-3 SEC, 2nd of 7)
2017 8-10 (7-5 SEC, 3rd of 7)
2016 7-11 (no conference)
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shared program with Caledonia 2010 – 2015
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7 postseason titles (SG only teams):
district – 1952, ‘60, ‘61, ‘69, ‘78, ‘79
sub-section – 2019