Welcome back Charger faithful, it is time to dig that maroon out from the winters snow banks cause we are gearing up for another season of Charger Baseball. The Chargers are feeling good about the upcoming season; riding the momentum off their previous 13 win season. A late season win streak found the Chargers in the state tournament where they exited early due to an extra inning loss to Jordan. The team has high hopes for another successful season where the focus is beating their opponents rather than beating themselves. In the 2013 season, the Chargers lost six games by two runs or less, leaving the Chargers anxious to take care of unfinished business. The stat that really matters is that the coveted traveling keg has spent eight months & fifteen days on its rightful perch, resting in the cozy confines of Spring Hill.
The 2013 Chargers scored 138 runs on the season allowing 77 earned runs. Almost the entire squad will be back in action again for the men in maroon with the absence of one short, stocky and often soft spoken man in Joe Welle. Joe departs the team to focus on his dream of landscaping and hitting it big in the lottery.
At the helm for the Chargers in their 10th season as Co-Managers are the laid back Randy Schoenberg and dirt kicking Gordon Barten. They again have chosen the task of leading the mild mannered Chargers for the 2014 season.
Taking the hill for the Chargers will be some familiar faces in the best farming duo in Stearns County Brad and Brent Terres. The Terres’ plan for the upcoming season is to work the land and opposing batters. Chris Spanier, who pitched 52 innings in 2013, plans to again eat up innings using his pitching arsenal wheeling and dealing one of his many pitches from the hill. A “Royal Killer” on the mound he is called by opponents from the SCL South. Corey Schoenberg is the last of the Charger hurlers who never backs down from a fight. Jordan Welle will get some work in this summer for the Chargers, he hopes to get some time away from his up and coming fertilizer business to pitch a few innings.
The hitters in 2013 were productive; they slumped a little from previous seasons but it was tough to keep them from swinging out of their shoes in hope to connect. Shawn Schoenberg looks to again lead the team in home runs and stolen bases. Grant Schoenberg and Jamie Terres look to lead the team in average; driving in runs for the Chargers. The Chargers return two of the most liked players in the league Nathan Terres and Grant Schoenberg. They were shown their appreciation by being plunked five times a piece last season. The Chargers will also be running wild on the base path again this year with the help of the Terres’ - Nate and Eric are wise on the base path and know how to make things happen. They are sure to have their cleats laced up and ready to make all the right moves on the base path.
Kyle Bertram the “Marty Cordova” of the Chargers, flexing his muscles, is a versatile outfielder for the Chargers and will be taking time off from the Kickball Circuit to practice and play multiple positions. The young impressionable Tyler Revermann has gotten the call up to the bigs from the Charger Minor League Program. Revermann is hoping to learn from some of the elite baseball minds the Chargers have to offer; he will surely be molded into another outstanding citizen learning from Stearns County’s Finest. Another familiar face of the Chargers is Brandon Welle; who has spent most of the off season scheduling ways to spend his summer devoted to being the hardest working Charger on and off the field. You can find him pulling weeds and dragging the field as the weather warms. Welle plans to extinguish the fire that is the Farming Flames for missing the Dick Putz show due to name confusion, it was obvious that Brandon hit the double not Jordan. Austin Schoenberg comes into the season with fines and starts the season off on the right foot for the Chargers. Thanks to some undercover Chargers, he was found wearing team gear to school risking chance of ketchup stains.
The weather is warming up and hopefully so are the Chargers bats. See you at the Ball Park!
Eden Valley AP