Standing by in sports. Wed. May 6

The month of May is up there with January and February when it comes to keeping a sports guy on the go.

Not so much this season of COVID-19.

I would normally be attending multiple games per day three to four times a week in multiple towns. Now I’m basically a desk jockey waiting for any chance to get outside to witness some kind of sporting activity.

Monday night’s ceremony by head baseball coach Terry Eiter was a reminder of how weird it is not being at the ballpark or Snappy Park, the golf courses, tennis courts or Mollberg Field.

April is always hit and miss with the weather. It’s the coming of May Day that really gets the final push of the last school season in gear.

A look back at last year shows just how busy a sports week can be.

The DL boys golf team hosted an early season invite placing third by four strokes in a field of 15 teams led by Hunter Burnside’s 2-over-par 73 at the Country Club.

The boys tennis team split a double dip with Bemidji and Fergus Falls. Senior Sam Spry came up with a big victory at three-singles in a third set tiebreaker to seal the win over the Otters.

The girls softball team outscored Crosby-Ironton 25-4 in two games to set up a battle for the Mid-State title later in the week with Park Rapids.

The baseball team matched the effort sweeping the Rangers at Washington Park 7-3 and 15-1.

Two days later, the baseball team split with Park Rapids and the Panthers secured the Mid-State softball crown handing the Lakers a rare sweep in defeat.

The same day, the Moorhead Spuds swept both team titles at Mollberg Field at the annual Craig Fredrickson Memorial Invite. The Laker girls placed third and the boys were second only nine points behind Moorhead.

Elijah Kitzmann won the 3,200m run and Reed Reller captured first in the 400m dash. Breanna Price had the lone win for the girls in discus throw.

Both golf teams picked up victories that same afternoon.

Lukas Justesen (runner-up), Burnside and Jack Schramel paced the Laker boys with top 10 finishes en route to a three-stroke win over Sartell-St. Stephen at Headwaters in Park Rapids.

Shelby Busker was a winner by five strokes at Minnewaska Golf Club as the Lakers secured a first victory of the season against state-ranked competition. The Lakers and Minnewaska battled for second place at state in June with DL placing third behind Red Wing and the Minnewaska Lakers.

The week concluded with former Laker girls golf head coach Cali Harrier being named one of three inductees to the 2019 class of Minnesota High School Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Her induction made it two years in a row as boys head coach Bob Gorden was inducted in 2018.

MISCELLANY

Not attending state golf is going to be as strange for me as it is going to be for the DL teams and their families. It's become a right of passage the past decade.

Both squads make the long trip to Jordan at least once during the regular season, along with the annual pilgrimage in June.

This year presented a new challenge for the girls competing in Class AAA with a different venue for the state tournament at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids - and an agonizing challenge on the roads for me.

Both teams advancing out of their respective section meets would have created one of the worst 50-mile commutes from the north suburbs to the south over the two-day state tournaments.

I can’t say I’m missing that opportunity. Maybe next year.