Coach Wins Game with Visiting Team on Field Named in His Honor
Jeff Reese has coached hundreds of games at the baseball diamond in New Richland. Saturday was the first time he coached there since it was renamed Jeff and Carol Reese Field in 2016. But the twist is he is now the coach for Mankato Loyola. The Crusaders came into New Richland and beat the Panthers 7-1.
His former assistant Drew Paukert is the current coach at NRHEG and said the game was a tight battle through the fourth inning, "We came out and had the best defensive effort and pitching we had all season...I thought the first four innings of the contest we were very competitive."
Paukert says, "Loyola was able to score on a squeeze in the third to break the tie game...The game got away from us in the fifth and sixth when we had three errors and mental miscues mentally and on the base paths." He said the Crusaders capitalized on each mistake made by the Panthers.
Nick Staloch, Jake Tasker and Evan Dobberstein all had hits for NRHEG (2-7 overall, 0-4 Gopher Conference). The Panthers play at Triton Tuesday, May 15.