The 2020 season opener for the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines baseball team was off to a respectable beginning, but then a 10-run third inning opened the flood gates in a 17-0, four-inning loss to the Manson Northwest Webster Cougars on Monday, June 15, in Gilmore City.
The Cougars scored single runs in both the first and second frames for an early 2-0 advantage before exploding for 10 runs in third stanza and ended the game early with five runs in the top of the fourth inning.

Manson Northwest Webster erupted for 15 runs in the top of the third inning to break open a 5-0 Twin Lakes Conference softball contest and went on to a 20-0, three-inning victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.
The blue and orange pounded out 13 hits in the win as they plated four runs in the opening frame before adding a single run in the second stanza and then exploding for the big third inning.
Get the complete story in the June 18 Kossuth County Advance.

Junior Cameren Rindone did a little bit of everything to lead the Algona Bulldogs baseball team to a 4-2 season opening victory over the Clarion-Goldfield Cowboys.

Exploding for 12 runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Algona Bulldogs softball squad cruised to a 12-0, three-inning North Central Conference season opening victory over the Clarion-Goldfield Cowgirls.
Lillian Etherington carried the big stick for the red-and-black with a double and home run that chased home five RBI while older sister Kameryn pitched all three frames for the win, allowing just one hit while fanning eight Cowgirls. She walked none.

Racing for a cool $1,100 first prize check in the sport compacts class, Mason City’s Devin Jones became the first repeat winner in the fourth annual Bumble Bee Nationals on Thursday, June 11, at the Kossuth County Speedway.
“Slow and low,” said Jones in the victory lane of how he earned the win. “The closer you hugged the tires, the more traction there was, so I kept telling myself to slow down and stay down there. It was a very tedious race."

The boys and girls of summer are back in action. Meet the Algona, Bishop Garrigan, North Union and West Bend-Mallard teams in the Summer Sports Preview inside the June 18 edition of the Kossuth County Advance.

Alec Fett came from the inside of row number five to win the feature in the sport mods class at Algona on Thursday evening.
For the first time this summer, fans were allowed in the grandstands, and they responded, as a little over 800 spectators paid admission to watch an exciting evening of dirt track racing at the Kossuth County Speedway on Thursday, June 4.

Wyatt Wegener of Algona High School is pictured with Bulldog head football coach Andy Jacobson, parents Valerie Lauck and Jerod Wegener and shriner Dean Jacobsen.
Both Brendan Anderson of North Union and Wyatt Wegener of Algona were selected to the North Squad for the 48th annual Shrine Bowl scheduled to be played at the UNI-Dome on Saturday, July 18.

For the first time since March 13, there will be a competitive high school sporting event in the state of Iowa as both baseball and softball games are slated to return on Monday, June 15.
After a three month absence, the area will have an opportunity if they choose to watch a game but with some restrictions due to the COVID-19 coronavirus that has most of the nation at a standstill athletically.
Get all the details in the June 11 Kossuth County Advance.
 

Kaytee Devries of Spencer won the sport compacts feature at the Kossuth County Speedway for the second consecutive week. Photo by Katie Tanley, Broken Arrows Photography
For the second straight week, there was a pair of similarities at the Kossuth County Speedway on Thursday, May 28. First, there were no fans in the grandstands, but again, there was a nice car count in the pits.

James Wartick hauls in a pass reception for the Algona Bulldogs football team in the Class 2A state semifinals at the UNI-Dome last fall. Jim Gale photo
The football schedules for the four area squads were recently released for the 2020 season. Last week, I had the chance to talk to each of the four head coaches about their nondistrict and district schedules along with how they have been handling the layoff with their players.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced last Wednesday that summer athletic seasons may be conducted for high school baseball and softball following a two-month activities suspension due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The announcement approved the re-opening of school facilities and the start of practice for the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) and Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sanctioned summer sports starting on Monday, June 1.

It was opening night at the Kossuth County Speedway on Thursday, May 21, without any spectators in the grandstands, but that did not derail a grand total of 103 cars dotting the pits for an exciting evening of dirt track racing. The stock car class drew the biggest car count of the night with 31 drivers while both the sport mods and hobby stock classes featuring 23 cars.

Opening night of any event draws a different brand of excitement and hurdles to clear, but the first night of racing at the Kossuth County Speedway on Thursday evening turned the rpms up a couple of notches.

The area sports schedule is on hold for an indefinite period of time so the Kossuth County Advance will use the Sports Spotlight page to highlight the past few years of an area school.
This week, we will look at the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines and will feature the highlights of the last 10 years in each sport for the purple-and-gold.
Find this week's review in the May 28 Kossuth County Advance.