SPORTS WRAP
Playing at the sandlot
Owatonna High School student Lauren Iacovino umpired her first game during a U-10 tournament at Manthey Park in early June. “It was great most of the time. It was kind of stressful. I was a little worried about things,” she said. “One kid told me he was scared himself while he was at bat. He [said] I’m so scared the ball’s going to hit me. I’m like, if the ball’s coming toward you just swing at it and hit it.”
She became obsessed with baseball last year and wanted to find a job. She figured why not become an umpire. She watched a lot of baseball and got help from her dad, Owatonna Live announcer Jason Iacovino. Lauren also practiced, “My brother [Fletcher] and his friends like to play baseball down at the sandlot. So, I will call balls and strikes down there.”
Paul Vizina was her mentor. “That was her first-ever game. She did a great job and she’s going to improve and do great, and I can’t wait to see what she does.
“I started basically for the money and the enjoyment of the game and now it’s more about giving back to the kids…We’ve got a lot of new umpires and getting new blood because I’m not getting any younger…And it’s been great. These kids have been really picking it up and doing a great job for us,” he said.
Arjes says there are other benefits. “The kids that play that umpire have a greater understanding of the game. They have to understand and see everything on the field. They have to know the rules at a deeper level. Their communication skills and dealing with adults and conflict, all that stuff goes way up.”
All Star
Owatonna’s Mitch Seykora spent the weekend catching baseballs and dodging raindrops at the PlayBall Minnesota High School All-Star Series. “Just being around new guys you’ve played against before. You know some of them, but you get to know them a little better. Being with the best of the best is pretty fun,” he said.
Seykora is on the Owatonna Legion team with high school age players and the Aces with college age and up, “New people. But it’s the same game. Just go out there and play my hardest every time.”
He hit his first wood bat homerun recently for the Aces. “Didn’t even feel it. That’s how you know it’s a good one.”
In August, Seykora begins college ball at Iowa Central Community College. “I’m excited. I think it’s good to be with a new group of guys who love playing the game,” he said, adding there will be some fall ball tournaments.
Solid finish
Owatonna’s clay target team had a strong performance at the Minnesota Trap Shooting Championship in Alexandria last week. The Huskies shot 465 out of a possible 500 to finish seventh on the day. That left them five hits away from qualifying for the Minnesota State High School League event. Forty teams advanced out of about 350 teams in the state.
The counting scores were Jackson Davis (96), Isaac Kreitinger and Morgan Hansen (94), Ethan Schubert (91), and Gavin Holmen (90). Aiden Thurber also hit 90 clays. Davis tied for fifth among male shooters. Hansen tied for second for females with the tiebreaker leaving her third.
Owatonna won its first ever conference championship this spring, competing in Class 9A with the biggest teams in the state. Conferences are based on the number of student-athletes on the team rather than school enrollment or geography.
Medford’s Reid Wildgrube qualified for the MSHSL competition in Prior Lake last Friday after a regular season average of 24.1-out-of-25. He stayed true to his average by busting 97 of 100 clays to finish in a tie for 19th among male shooters. He shot 50-for-50 in his first round. Medford won its conference this spring as well.