Just three players return for the 12th annual edition of the All-Area Baseball Team as Nick Stein of Algona, Joel Vaske of Bishop Garrigan and Blake Crawmer of North Union all return for the second straight summer on the squad.  This year’s team is made up of nine seniors, four juniors and a trio of sophomores. 
 
For more on this story, please see Aug. 24 issue of Kossuth County Advance.

One could say it has a summer to remember for Algona golfer Ross Froehlich.  The former Bishop Garrigan graduate rallied from a four-stroke deficit in the nine holes to complete a rare double to win the Randy Buscher Memorial “Algona Am”.
The two-day event which drew a total of 109 golfers was played at the Algona Country Club on Saturday Aug. 12 and Sunday Aug. 13.  Froehlich fired a one-under par 35 in the final round to overtake 36-hole leader Andrew Lallier.

Bringing out six-foot tall trophies and $1,000 to the winners seems to draw the best of dirt track racing as a season-high total of 108 cars signed in at the Kossuth County Speedway on Thursday, Aug. 3 in front of a nice crowd in the grandstand during the Kossuth County Fair.
The evening of racing was sponsored by Cook’s Scrap Iron, Retutzel Excavating, Algona Pumbing and the Kossuth County Cattlemen.

It took two days and a site change before Mason City Newman defeated Bishop Garrigan 5-1 in the Class 1A, Sub-State No. 2 baseball final game.  The contest began on Tuesday, July 18 at Clear Lake but was suspended in the top of the fourth inning.
The game was rescheduled for Wednesday back at Clear Lake but was moved to Forest City at 5:30 p.m. that evening as another storm went through Clear Lake area with the contest beginning around 8:30 p.m.

North Union dropped a pair of games in the consolation round at the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge on Wednesday, July 19 as the green-black-and-silver finished in eighth place in Class 2A.
The sixth-ranked Warriors dropped an 8-0 decision to 11th rated Logan Magnolia and had just two hits as No. 5 Waterloo Columbus Catholic defeated them for the second time this season, this one by the score of 8-0.

Algona went on the road to finish the 2017 regular season and came back home with a 12-8 non-conference baseball victory over the Spencer Tigers.
The two teams combined for 28 hits in the contest as the red-and-black led the way with 15, including five extra-base hits as Stein belted his third home run of the year along with a pair of doubles from Collin Sexton and one from both Trevor Bormann and Grant Goche.

Algona used a five-run explosion in the fourth inning and six strong innings on the mound from senior Bryce Bradley in a 9-3 non-conference cross-town baseball victory over the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears in a game played at Bulldog Park on Wednesday, July 5.
The home team started fast with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Bradley laced a one-out single and Garrett Schmidt courtesy ran for the Bulldog pitcher to start things.

For the third straight summer, the North Union Warriors will be a participant in the Class 2A state softball tournament at the Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.
The green-black-and-silver scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and then used great defense and a strong pitching performance in the circle from Anna Ingalls to defeat 14th ranked West Lyon by the score of 3-1 in the regional final played at Swea City on Monday, July 10.

Ross Froehlich had been close to winning the annual Showboat Open before.  But this time, first place did not get away from him although it took two extra holes for the Algona native and Bishop Garrigan graduate to earn the victory.

Nick Stein rapped out three hits and pitched the final two innings for a save to help lead the Algona Bulldogs baseball team to a 7-5 North Central Conference win over the Clear Lake Lions as the red-and-black swept the defending Class 2A state champions this season.

For the eighth straight summer, the North Union Warrior softball team finished conference play undefeated.  The latest victory came on Friday, June 30 as the green-black-and-silver defeated Garner-Hayfield/Ventura 16-2 in three innings.

In a battle for the North Central Conference softball crown, the Humboldt Wildcats earned its second straight league title with an 8-3 victory over the Algona Bulldogs.  The game was played in Algona on Wednesday, June 28.
The 10th ranked Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning before talented freshman pitcher Ellie Jacobson blanked the red-and-black the rest of the game.

District assignments for the four area baseball teams were released last week by the Iowa High School Athletic Association while the district pairings will be out later.
All three Class 1A teams were assigned to play in District No. 3 in Bishop Garrigan (10-16), North Union (9-11) and West Bend-Mallard (2-19).
Other squads in the district include Lake Mills (10-10), North Iowa (5-11), Northwood-Kensett (4-14), St. Edmond (12-11) and West Hancock (2-13).

Bishop Garrigan avenged a 10-8 loss on June 5 at Buffalo Center with a 13-6 Top of Iowa Conference softball win over North Iowa in Algona on Monday, June 26 behind another strong pitching performance from Amanda Miller.
Miller tossed all seven innings in the chalked circle to earn her 10th victory of the season.  She allowed six runs, five of them earned, on nine hits while striking out seven and once again did not issue a base-on-balls.

Luke Bormann pitched five strong innings to help lead the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears baseball team to an 11-4 Top of Iowa Conference victory over the North Iowa Bison in a contest played on Monday, June 26.
Bormann went the first five innings to earn the win on the mound for the black-and-gold as he allowed three unearned runs on six hits with two strikeouts, walked two and hit a batter.