Hats Off To The Hounds

I hate having to write articles like this. How much better would it be to write an article patting myself on the back for a great season that culminated in a state championship for the Rochester Royals? Alas, another year has come and gone and the state championship has eluded us again, so instead I write "Hats off to the Hounds."

No, the Austin Greyhounds didn't win the state tournament (it would have been their third in four years.) But they came darn close. Only a Mankato team--a team made mostly of Minnesota State-Mankato players rather than Mankato natives--stood in their way. And for that, I'm forced to tip my cap.

During the regular season, the Royals owned the Hounds. After a loss in their first meeting, Rochester rattled off five straight wins--a couple via the ten-run-rule. I have to admit that after a few of those games, I would have said there was no way Austin would even make it to the state tournament. During the section tournament, when it mattered, they put up a fight and surprised us by only losing 2-0. And at state, when it really mattered, they broke out the bats and beat us 5-2.

Was it because they saved Dave Meyer and took their lumps during the regular season? Or are they just a more clutch team than the Royals? Possibly, they just caught us on a bad day. Whatever the case, the Hounds beat us, and then proceeded to win another three games and work their way into the final two teams.

To my arch-nemesis, my worthy opponents, I say hats off to you. I just wish you would have won it all.