Town Ball Talk

Kimball's Scott Marquardt — along with his father Tom and brothers Brooks and Brian — has been a mainstay of Central Minnesota baseball for more than two decades. But, 26 years into a terrific amateur baseball career, Scott Marquardt truly put his name in the history books on Monday, Sept. 4 with a two-run walk-off home run to give Kimball its first-ever Class C state championship. Host Louie Opatz talked to Marquardt about his career at Kimball and what it felt like to bring his town its first state title with one swing of the bat.

Sobieski righty Tyler Jendro dominated the 2014 state tourney like no has ever seen, winning all six of his team's games and allowing only one run in more than 40 state-tournament innings. Just over a year later, Jendro wasn't sure he'd ever pitch again after a terrible car accident left him with a broken arm and numerous broken bones in his hand. Jendro discussed his path from youth baseball in Royalton to college success and a state championship with Sobieski.

Dave Kelly played on the final Darwin town ball team in 1957, and since the team folded 60 years ago Kelly has made it his goal to dig up as much of Darwin's baseball history as he can. Kelly spoke about his town-ball career, Darwin's amateur baseball heyday, his efforts to commemorate the town's team and the tireless historical research that helped induct a forgotten star into a college baseball Hall of Fame.

Brett Kruschke will be the first to admit it: he was never a star on the diamond. But that hasn't stopped Brett from being an integral part of town ball in Belle Plaine and across the state through his work both online and IRL, as the kids say. Brett spoke about his baseball memories and how Twitter has changed the Minnesota town ball landscape.

The Farming Flames' Father Aaron Nett, a Catholic priest in Eden Valley & Watkins, and the Dundas Dukes' Charlie Ruud, a Lutheran pastor in Edina, both spend their Sundays at the pulpit and in the dugout. They talked about the intersection of their faith and baseball, and how they carry their spirituality onto the diamond.

Whether they feature gargantuan grandstands and state-of-the-art amenities or are simply a diamond carved into a cornfield with a tin shack for beer, Minnesota boasts myriad beautiful, interesting and idiosyncratic town ball fields. Town Ball Talk host Louie Opatz speaks with Todd Mueller, author of "Town Ball Parks of Minnesota," and Brace Hemmelgarn, Twins official photographer behind the #FieldsofMN project, about their respective projects and what makes Minnesota's fields so compelling.

Waseca coaching legend Tink Larson sits down with host Louie Opatz to discuss his 50 years of coaching baseball in Waseca, Minnesota at the field that now bears his name. Larson also discussed the fire that tragically burned down the grandstand at Tink Larson Field this spring and the efforts to repair and rebuild the field.

Host Louie Opatz sits down with Minnesota Baseball Association state board members Mike Nagel and Dave Hartmann to discuss their baseball lives — before and after they became part of the state board. Nagel and Hartmann chat about the pressing issues facing the state board, from the recent composite bat ruling to differentiating Class B and Class C teams.

The 2015 class of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame boasted five stalwart inductees. In episode three of Town Ball Talk, Louie speaks with two of them — St. Joseph's Pat Schneider and Eden Valley's Bob "Birdie" Geislinger — about their decades of playing and coaching in Minnesota amateur baseball. Schneider and Geislinger reveal their town ball origins and describe the moment they found out they would be joining the hall of fame.

Melrose Beacon reporter Herman Lensing and St. Cloud Times sports reporter Tom Elliott discuss their collective 60+ years covering amateur baseball in Central Minnesota.

Bob Karn, the winningest high school baseball coach in Minnesota history and a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, discusses his 60 years of life in town ball. Karn and host Louie Opatz touch on St. Cloud baseball history, the evolution (or devolution) of youth sports, Bob's late brother and fellow Hall-of-Famer Jim Karn and what lessons Karn has gleaned from his decades in the game.