Borwege Pitches Gem for Faribault Baseball

Faribault Falcon sophomore Blake Borwege threw fewer than 100 pitches and struck out 12 in a 7-0 win over the Waseca Bluejays on Saturday.

The game was moved to Waterville, where Waseca has been playing their home games since a fire burned down their legendary grandstand last month. The investigators ruled the cause was arson and the plan is to rebuild.

Borwege did not walk a single batter and scattered five hits.

The two times the Bluejays had multiple base runners and threatened to score, Borwege got the third out on a strike out as he mixed speeds very well. Sixty-eight of the 97 pitches he threw were for strikes, and he tallied 17 first-pitch strikes to the 26 batters he faced.

Meanwhile Faribault didn't crush the ball against Waseca junior starter Eric Maas but timed their five hits well and took advantage of four hit batsmen and four walks.

After a strike out to start the second inning, sophomore first baseman Graham Gulsvig collected a seeing eye single to right field and was wild pitched to second base.

Designated hitter Adam Vos hit a roller to second base, advancing Gulsvig to third and was safe because the catch was not made at first and Faribault was set up for a big inning.

No. 9 hitter junior second baseman Omar Escobar smacked an RBI single that got by the right fielder allowing Vos to score and later scored on a groundout.

With two outs Faribault coaxed back to back walks and looked like they could even have a bigger inning but a fly out ended the top of the second and the Falcons had a 3-0 lead.

Faribault scored a run in the third when lead off batter Payton Miller got hit by a pitch that grazed his helmet. He would later score on a sacrifice fly by Escobar.

In the fifth inning Miller was hit again to lead off an inning and scored on a Vos ground out. Junior third baseman Colton Helgeson singled and later scored via an error on a Escobar hit ball and the Falcons were up 6-0.

They added a run in the top of the seventh when Miller walked to open the inning and would have been thrown out at the plate but the catcher did not make the catch so he scored a run on the error.

The Falcons had no errors in the game. With 12 of 26 batters struck out there weren't a lot of balls put in play.

It was a very impressive second victory of the season for Faribault and a very young lineup with no seniors starting.

Maas finished the game with 105 pitches thrown, 66 for strikes. He had three strikeouts and four walks and hit four batters.

Our Faribault State Farm Insurance agents Faribault players of the game courtesy of Faribault State Farm agents Tony Langerud and Jason Krohn were Payton Miller with three runs scored after getting on base to lead off the second, fifth and seventh innings, twice via hit by pitch and once on a walk. Omar Escobar with a hit and three RBIs, and Borwege with his masterpiece of work on the hill.

These two teams are in the same section and, even with the win over Waseca, it does not appear the Falcons will be able to get out of the No. 8 seed in the section.

Even winning their final two games might not accomplish that because Waseca has seven wins and Faribault would finish with four if they defeat two Rochester schools in the final week of the season next week.

The Falcons are at Rochester Mayo on Tuesday and host John Marshall on Friday for Senior Night. Both games have 5PM first pitches.

Waseca is at Fairmont on Monday, St. Peter on Tuesday and Blue Earth Area on Thursday, all 5:30PM first pitches.

They get to play a home game in Waseca with a new backstop in place in their final game of the regular season thanks to the Minnesota Twins.

Tri-City United was supposed to host the Bluejays in Montgomery but agreed to move the game so the Waseca seniors can have a game on their home field and the night will be a fundraiser night also for the new grandstand.

According to fundraising organizers, FSN Television will be doing the Twins pregame and postgame shows from Tink Larson Field in Waseca with requests for money to rebuild the grandstand coming during the broadcasts.

Tink Larson was at the game Saturday and told me they want to rebuild the same facility.

One of the Waseca committee members working on the project told me the grandstand probably won't be exactly the same because it will need to be handicapped accessible but the estimate is in the seven figures to replace.

The grandstand was insured by the City of Waseca for $300,000, and that did not cover the mowers and other equipment stored underneath the seats. Just the structure, not its contents.

I told the baseball field committee member I hope they catch the culprit or culprits and make them pay the entire cost of replacement.

The morning after the devastating fire, Larson joined me on the KDHL morning sports and his voice was filled with sadness.

Built in 1938 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, like the Faribault Viaduct, Larson has spent more than 50 years caring for the field that has his name attached to it.

Twins third base coach Gene Glynn is a Waseca native and was also saddened by the news.

Larson hopes they can rebuild the structure to as close as identical as possible but said the morning after the fire on KDHL, "It will never be the same."

He is amazed at all the people who have offered their condolences since the tragedy.

For Tink the facility was not just a facility. Not just a grandstand with storage rooms and clubhouses underneath. It was like a second home. His wife of 50 years, Sharon worked the concession stand about 44 of those years. She passed away in January 2014.

If you would like to donate toward the cost of replacement of contents or rebuilding the structure, email Tink Larson.

I know we have a lot of terrific sports fans in the KDHL/Power 96 listening area and hope you will consider whatever the heart tells you to give. Because giving from the heart is the best kind of giving.