Recent event photos
(updated 9/19/08)

Students

Posted Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Welcome to another baseball season on our website! Congratulations to Steven Helget and the Mankato Twins as they won the Class B State Amatuer Baseball tournament this past summer. Steven will be catching again for the Minnesota State Mavericks next spring. Way to go dozen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dugout Chatter: We are in constant contact with ArchBishop Bergan High School in Fremont,  Nebraska about our upcoming spring baseball trip. We are planning on the same format as last spring with hopefully adding an extra day to our trip for more baseball! As it stands right now, we will be going from the 26th through the 29th of March 2009. Parents, try to get that on your calendar so you might be able to tag along with us. It is a great bonding trip for everyone! Our hope is to play/scrimmage two for sure, maybe three different schools and attend a Division I college baseball game. We will be taking the Varsity and JV teams on this trip. We will again have our fund raising walk this spring to help defray the costs of this. The Fifth Annual Alumni baseball scrimmage is scheduled for May 2, 2009, at noon on the Hill!!!!!!!!!!!Get ready Alumni, the GOLD HELMETS are coming back to the young club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diamond News: We want to thank all of our Coaches, and MAYBBA for helping our baseball team in purchasing a second varsity game set of pants and jerseys. They are going to be an awesome looking set with royal blue tops trimmed in gold and white

Yes, Coach Biehn has broken down and allowed our team to get white pants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Can you believe that??????Next season's players are very excited about this.

Crusader Baseball Gleanings:  Even though it is a ways away, I am very excited for next year's club. I expect some very good things from the returning players. We have our coaching staff in place already and they are excited to work with our players. We will have very good experience in our varsity line-up, JV line-up, and we are especially excited about our young clubs at the 6th -7th-and 8th grade levels. If all our pitchers continue to develop under the guidance of Coach Landkamer, we will have a great chance to be in every game we play.

If you have any questions or baseball concerns, please contact me at school at 507-388-9344 ext. 250 or Cell 507-327-9737 or Home 507-388-2892.

Go Crusaders.....................

Friday, June 11 2008-

Mailman-just a heads up for you on the stats paragraph in case you get any mail!I had trouble finding the hats this am. I have an extra at home and will give to Noah on Friday if I can't find where Brad put them-more likely they are at his house and he is on vacation right now. 7

The Crusaders finished their season with a great run through the section playoffs. We finished third losing our last game against Sleepy Eye St. Marys'. St. Marys' scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning after we had taken the lead in the top 1-0. We threatened to score many times early in the game and had we-the outcome may have been very different. Mike Kiefer came on in relief in the first inning and really pitched well to give us a chance. New Ulm Cathedral ended up winning the section title and will be going on to the State tournament. We finished with an overall record of 18-3 and 12-0 in our conference. Going unbeaten in the conference, in any conference, in any sport,  is very tough. With the wild weather we had this past spring, I thought we played very well and adjusted to that extremely well. Congratulations to all of our players, especially the seniors on capping off their senior year the way they did.

Dugout Chatter: We had six players named to the Gopher All-Conference team. They were sr. Max Rotchadl, sr. Mike Kiefer, sr. Brian Brandt, jr. Thomas Meixl, soph.Tobias Turbes, soph. Jimmy Kiefer. We had three players named to the section tournament team. They were sr. Max Rotchadl, sr. Mike Kiefer, and sr. Brian Brandt.

Baseball Banquet news!!!!!!!!!!! At our end of the year ceremony, the following players received these awards as voted on by the coaches: Defensive player of the year-Max Rotchadl, Offensive player of the year-Mike Kiefer, Mr. Hustle Award-Jimmy Kiefer, Crusader Award-Brian Brandt, Most improved player of the year-Thomas Meixl, Most Valuable player of the year-Max Rotchadl.

Diamond Dust!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you would like a copy of this years 2008 statistics, please contact Geno Rajtar. If you send him a self addressed stamped envelope, I'm sure he would be glad to send you a copy. The coaching staff is very excited for our baseball future. This past week, we had our baseball camps up and running. We had 35 young players(5-8 grades) attend our morning camp, with 22 players, 6-12 grades attending our first ever hitting camp in the afternoon. I am excited to see so many Loyola men wanting to play baseball. Next season looks very promising for our program as we will have most of our pitching staff back. With the addition of a good freshmen class, we should be very strong from our JV program though our Varsity club. Based on what I saw this past spring, we should be able to really hit the baseball hard. I have no doubt we will pitch well. The big question mark for us next year will be defensive play up the middle again. We will need some young men to step up and step forward to want to be in that role! We should be very strong defensively in the outfield again. The interesting item here is that we most likely will only have 3-4 Seniors returning to play unless some other players decide to come out. We will be a young club in terms of grade level, not experience though. I look forward to next year already. We are planning on taking another trip down into the Nebraska area to scrimmage again. More will come on this at a later date.This will be my last posting until school starts in the fall. Thank you to all who have followed us this past spring on this site and at the various ballparks we played at. One thing is for ceratin when you watch LOYOLA BASEBALL, my guys will always play baseball the right way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are ................................................LOYOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Posted Wednesday, May 28
Last evening, the Crusaders beat Martin Luther Granada East Chain 3-1in the second round of playoffs. Tobias Turbes pitched very well for us recording 11 strikeouts with one walk. He gave up four hits and one unearned run. Thomas Meixl had some quality at bats for us during the game. I was very pleased with our "short game" bunting. We laid down some beauties including a 3-2 pitch squeeze bunt. We will be playing New Ulm Cathedral, the number 2 seed from the north subsection, at 5pm Thursday at Franklin Rogers Park. Mike Kiefer is expected to pitch for us.  New Ulm comes to town sporting a 16-4 record. There is always a rich tradition of baseball in New Ulm so we expect a very hard faught game with them. Hope to see you there!

Crusader Baseball---------------------what a hit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted Friday, May 23, 2008
CRUSADER BASEBALL! Last evening, the Crusaders opened Section 2A baseball playoffs with a convincing 17-2, 5 inning victory over Alden-Conger High School. Joseph Kopel was the winning pitcher going three innings. Tobias Turbes and Mike Kiefer each pitched an inning. Leading multiple hitters for the game were Jimmy Kiefer, Brian Brandt, Joseph DeGezelle each with a pair of hits. Jimmy had three RBIs' and scored twice. Yesterday we had five of our batters get hit by a pitch with Max Rotchadl being hit three times! 

Dugout Chatter:  Leading hitters right now for the Crusaders are as follows: Thomas Meixl-15/38=.395, Max Rotchadl-16/50=.320, Brian Brandt-11/28=.398, Mike Kiefer-22/48=.458, and Jimmy Kiefer-20/49=.408. 

Diamond Dust:     Pitching statistics for our staff is as follows: Mike Kiefer has a 5-0 record with 35 k's and a 2.10 ERA. Tobias Turbes has a 6-0 record with 52 k's and a 1.40 ERA. Joseph Kopel has a 2-0 record with 15 k's and a 2.69 ERA. Our team pitching ERA is at 2.08. Our pitchers have combined for 117 k's and 34 BB's.  This is a great strikeout to walk ratio for high school baseball.

Game schedule: We will be playing Martin Luther Granada Huntley East Chain High School next Tuesday at 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park in our next playoff game. This is the club we lost to 11-5 back in late April. Tobias Turbes is slated to pitch for us in this game. We hope to see you there!

Crusader Baseball-What a Hit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted Thursday, May 22, 2008
Today at 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park, the Crusaders will be playing Alden-Conger High School in our first section playoff game. Todays' game is an elimination game for both clubs. Sophomore Joe Kopel is going to be our starting pitcher. Alden Conger beat JWP on Monday 10-0. We hope to see you there.

Diamond Dust: The Crusaders had six players named to the All-Conference team for 2008. The following players were named: Sr. Mike Kiefer, Sr. Max Rotchadl, Sr. Brian Brandt, Jr. Thomas Meixl, Soph. Toby Turbes, and Soph. Jimmy Kiefer. 

Go Saders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted Monday, May 19, 2008
Yesterday, Friday, May 16th, the Crusaders resumed a suspended game with Blooming Prairie High School at the Loyola field with the Crusaders leading 1-0. The game started back up in the top of the fourth with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd and a 2-0 count on the hitter. Joseph Kopel who started the first time-resumed the pitching duties and finished off this game with a gem. We won this game 1-0! This means that we finished the Conference season UNBEATEN! That is very hard to do in a season and in any sport! Congratulations to our whole squad! Later that same day, at 7pm, we played St. Peter High School at Franklin Rogers Park. The Crusaders won 5-1 with Mike Kiefer pitching a complete game for us. He was very solid on the mound. We had some quality at bats during the game by Jimmy Kiefer, Mike Kiefer, and especially Brian Brandt who had three hits for us, and Adam Murray who had a pair of hits. I was very happy with our defensive play throughout both games. We need to continue this effort throughout the remainder of the year as we approach playoffs.

Friday, May 16, 2008
Last evening at Franklin Rogers Park, the Crusaders clinched another Gopher Conference Championship by beating Medford High School 4-1. Our record right now is 11-0 in the conference and 11-1 overall. Tobias Turbes pitched another gem for us. This is the Tenth Conference title in twenty years for Coach Biehns' Loyola Baseball teams. Seven were in the tough Minnesota River Conference and the last three have been in the Gopher Conference. We had very good contributions at the plate last evening with Ryan Willaert, Tom Meixl, Max Rotchadl, Joe DeGezelle, and Tom Montag all contributing to our offense. We still need to clean up our defensive play as we head towards playoffs. We had four errors last night-way too many to be considered a great team.  I still feel we can get more mentally tough. The teams that make the plays and get the outs when given to them-will be the ones advancing deep into the playoffs.

Today! The Crusaders are finishing a suspended game against Blooming Prairie at 5pm at the baseball field on the Loyola Campus. We are in the top of the fourth inning. After that game-we will be playing St. Peter High School at Franklin Rogers Park at 7pm. Tomorrow-Saturday, we will be traveling to the Twin Cities to play our last regular season game at 3pm against Bloomington Trinity High School. The game will be played at Harvey Haddux Field.

Diamond Dust: The Crusaders were given the number one seed in our division for Section 2A baseball. We will play the winner of Alden-Conger vs. JWP on Thursday, May 22 at 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park. If we win that game, we would play again on Tuesday, May 27th against the winner of WEM vs. Martin Luther East Chain at 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park.

Go Crusaders......................................

Diamond Dust: The Crusaders record right now is 13-1, 13-0 in the Gopher Conference. We lost four non-conference games to the spring weather! I cannot remember that ever happening here at Loyola as head coach in baseball. We are traveling to Bloomington today to play Bloomington Trinity High School at 3pm for our last regular season game.The game will played at Harvey Haddux Field.

Dugout Chatter: The playoff seeding has come out. Loyola has been seeded number one in the South Division of Section 2A. The whole section is just loaded with great Class A teams. The seeding goes as follows: LHS, Lake Crystal, Martin County West, WEM, Martin Luther, St.Clair, Truman, Alden Conger, JWP. Loyola will play the winner of Alden Conger-JWP on Thursday, May 22nd at 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park. The next game would be the following Tuesday between the winner of WEM-Martin Luther. The other side is set up this way. Se.St.Mary's, NU Cathedral, Sleepy Eye Public, GFW, Mcloed West, MVL, Nicollet, Lester Prairie, Buffalo Lake Hector. The great thing for us is that if we keep winning, we could play all our games in Mankato as we are hosting the Section 2A playoffs all the way through at Franklin Rogers Park! Hope to see you during playoffs.

We Are............................................................LOYOLA!

Posted Monday, May 12, 2008
CONGRATULATIONS CRUSADERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Tuesday, May 5th the Crusaders defeated Randolf High School by a score of 7-4. Toby Turbes pitched a complete game. On Tuesday May 6th, the Crusaders defeated Waterville Elysian Morristown by a score of 9-0. Mike Kiefer pitched the rain shortened 5 inning game. On Thursday, May 8th, the Crusaders played Blooming Prairie High School and were leading 1-0 when the game had to suspended because of wet playing conditions. We are trying to find a time to finish this game with them. On Friday May 9th, the Crusaders traveled to Faribault to take Faribault Bethlehem Academy High School. We won this game 10-0. Tobias Turbes pitched another gem for us. We have started to take steps forward now to clean up our defensive play up the middle which was getting to be a major concern for me. This is a great time to be doing this as the playoff part of our season is about to begin. With the win at FBA Friday, the Crusaders clinched a share of the conference title. If we can beat Medford High School this Thursday at 5pm at Franklin Rogers, we will win this title outright. This will be out third straight title. If we win Thursday, we will not finish up the Blooming Prairie game as it will not make a difference in the standings. We will then finish unbeaten in the conference which is very hard to do at any given time. This will be a very good accomplishment for our club which has two sophomore pitchers in our line-up.

Diamond Dust:  This is the tenth Conference Championship won by teams coached by 7. His baseball teams won 7 titles in the tough Minnesota River Conference and have won 3 titles in the Gopher Conference since he returned to head coaching in 2005. His career record right now is 307-123.

Our record right now is 10-1-----10-0 in the conference. We have had three nonconference games postponed that will not be made up this year. What a crazy spring!

Our next games are scheduled as follows: If we get beat by Medford Thursday , we will finish the Blooming Prairie game Friday afternoon, then play my old high school St. Peter at 7pm at Franklin Rogers. On Saturday, we travel to Bloomington to take on Bloomington Trinity High School at 3pm at Harvey Haddux Field.

PLAYOFFS: Section 2A playoffs begin on Monday May 19th. We have not had our seeding meeting yet so opponent and game times have not been established yet.

We are......................................LOYOLA

Posted Monday, May5, 2008
The Alumni game was a blast!!!!!!! I want to thank all the former players for coming back to play. It was great to see these players play and to see that their skills have not diminished very much. I'm sorry to report that the varsity team did not get the "GOLD" traveling helmets back! The alumni won 11-9 with a two run rally in the top of the ninth. The fellowship displayed during the game was awesome. The after-game barbeque was also a great time. I would encourage other former players to come to playnext year. It is so fun!!!!!!!!Some of the past players that came Saturday were: John Landkamer, Aaron Fogal, Kris Brenke, Mike Hermer, Nick Hermer, Jeffrey Biehn, Mike Schmitz, Dan Rotchadl, Tony Rotchadl(who hit a big two-run homer), Matt Haefner, Pat Haefner, Alex Haefner, Brady Smith, Dan Bastian, and Brian Willaert. It would be fun to see the guys who send me e-mails about how good they are and what they will do our team-but never show up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!hahahahahaha. Thanks to all the parents who helped with the barbeque after the game. I couldn't have done it without you! We have a big game today at the MSU baseball complex against Randolf at 5pm.. Hope to see you there! Go Crusaders!

Posted Monday, May 5, 2008
Last evening, the Crusaders beat United South Central 7-5. Mike Kiefer started on the mound and was relieved by Joe Kopel to start the fifth inning. Joe picked up his first win of the season with some very good work. As a team, we really executed at the plate and on the basepaths. I was extremely happy again with our (short-game) bunting. I have always considered that a very "BIG" part of our program. Good things will happen when you can sacrifice and make the other team play defense. Senior Brian Brandt had a huge, two out pinch hit double in the sixth inning that put us up 7-4. We gave up another unearned run in the seventh for the final score. We are still looking to clean up some things in the field especially up the middle. I know it is just a matter of time before that gets taken care of.

Diamond Dust: Our record right now is 7-1----7-0 in the conference. Our next game is this coming Monday against Randolf at 5pm. and will be played at the MSU baseball complex.

Gleanings:  Weather permitting-the Alumni game is scheduled for tomorrow-May 3rd at noon on the hill. We will be having a BBQ after the game for all involved.

Go Crusaders!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are................................................LOYOLA

Posted Wednesday, April 30, 2008
This past Monday, the Crusaders traveled to Northrop to play Martin Luther Granada Huntley East Chain High School. We lost 11-6. It was by far our worst game of the season in terms of pitching-catching the ball-hitting the ball-and running the bases. We had 7 total physical errors.  I am at a loss still trying to figure that one out. Sometimes when you lose a game-you can point to one or two things as the reason why, However, in this case, it was a big combination. No excuses, we just didn't compete like I know we can. Our guys were very disappointed. Hopefully, we will get to play them again in the playoffs down the road.

Yesterday, we traveled to New Richland to play New Richland Hartland Ellendale Geneva High School. We played very well. We escaped a late inning rally by them to win 9-7. We led at one point late in the game 8-1. We had some misplays in the infield again that gave them many extra chances and against good teams-you cannot do that. In order for us to be a very good team, and do some damage in the playoffs,  we have to clean up our defensive play up the middle. Tobias Turbes pitched an excellent game for us. Had we not had so many errors, he would've been able to pitch a complete game and they would've only scored one run. He had six strike-outs and gave up six hits over six innings. Mike Kiefer relieved Toby and finished the game. Thomas Meixl went three for three with three RBI and two runs scored. Mike Kiefer chipped in with a couple of hits.

Dugout Chatter: Loyolas' record now stands at 6-1, 6-0 in the Gopher Conference. Our next scheduled game is Thursday at home vs. USC at 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park. USC comes to town sporting a 5-1 conference record. They have some excellent hitters in their line-up and will pose some problems for our pitchers.

Diamond Dust!  Statistical leaders on our club right now are as follows: Our top hitters now are: Thomas Meixl .529(9-17), Mike Kiefer .455(10-22), Max Rotchadl ..417(10-24), Jimmy Kiefer .417(10-24). Our top three RBI men are Meixl, M.Kiefer, and Joe DeGezelle all with 9. Jimmy Kiefer leads our club with 6 stolen bases. As a team, we are hitting .383. In the pitching department, Tobias Turbes(19 innings) and Mike Kiefer(14 innings) both have a 3-0 record. One of the things we work hard on is our strike-out to walk ratio. Right now as a team it is 63 k's to 21 bb. Our team era is at 2.86. One thing I want cleaned up though is the amount of batters HBP. We have hit 7 so far in 44 innings pitched-too many.

Gleanings!!!!! We are all praying the weather holds for this weekend! It is the fourth annual Alumni scrimmage game. BP for the Alums starts at 11am with the game to follow at noon. We will also have a BBQ after the scrimmage in the parking lot to talk smart!

Hope to see you at the diamond. Go Crusaders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are..................................LOYOLA

Posted Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Last evening the Crusader baseball team traveled to Medford to take on the Tigers. The varsity came away with a 17-2, 5 inning win. Mike Kiefer started and was the winning pitcher. He gave up four hits, one walk, two runs, and had 7 strike-outs. At the plate, Thomas Meixl, Max Rotchadl, Jimmy Kiefer, Tom Montag, and Nate Hermer had multiple hit games. With the win, our record improves to 5-0. Our next game is a big one here Thursday against Blooming Prairie. Game time is 5pm at Franklin Rogers Park. Yesterday, our JV team also posted a win over Medford 15-6. Congratulations to Coaches Kennedy&Olson. Also, our 6&7 grade team and our 8th grade baseball team won at Medford, 10-2, and 6-3. Congratulations to Coaches Staloch and Kennedy. Hope to see you at the diamond! Go Crusaders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are.....................................LOYOLA!

Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Last evening the Crusader baseball team traveled to Randolf to play. We won that ball game 4-2. Sophomore Tobias Turbes pitched very well for us. He had 11 strikeouts, 1 walk, 1 hbp, and gave up 4 hits. An excellent outing for this young man. We had nine hits total with Max Rotchadl leading the way with a pair including a double. We didn't run the bases extremely well though. That is one area where we can't afford any mental lapses. I look for us to keep improving in this area however. Today, April 22nd, we travel to Medford for a 5pm game. Sophomore Joseph Kopel will be on the mound to start. We hope that you will be able to follow us today as we take on the Tigers! Alumni game is scheduled for May 3rd with BP to start at 11am for Alumni and the game to start at noon. There will also be fellowship and a BBQ after the game. Yesterday at home, our JV team posted a 15-6 win over Randolf. They also will be playing and hosting Medford today on the hill at 4:30pm.. Come cheer on the Crusaders today!!!!!!!!!!!! 

We are....................................LOYOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Loyola Coach Chris Biehn on his 300th victory as Loyola's baseball coach! Read the story from The Free Press at -
http://www.mankato-freepress.com/sports/local_story_109015809.html
Congratulations Coach Biehn!

Posted Friday, April 18, 2008
Last evening the Loyola Crusaders JV and Varsity baseball teams posted wins over Faribault Bethlehem Academy. The JV won 11-3 while the Varsity won 12-2 in five innings. Senior Michael Kiefer was the starting and winning pitcher. He threw four innnings of solid baseball. Sophomore Tobias Turbes came on in the fifth and pitched a scoreless inning. Toby also hit a "laser" two run double with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth to end the game. Collectively, we had nine hits, and really ran the bases well and were very aggressive. I thought we really executed our short game yesterday very well. Most coaches will say that their team didn't do the "little" things to win like bunting and moving runners over ect.. In our program, we constantly stress those as the "big" things that will help us win games. Our next game is tonight at 5pm at Franklin Rogers against Martin Luther Granada Huntley East Chain. We hope to see you there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Go Crusaders!

We are.................................LOYOLA!!!!!

7

Posted Tuesday, April 15-
Last evening the Crusaders posted double wins over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. The Varsity won 10-0 in six innings and the JV won 8-6. For the Varsity, Sophomore Tobias Turbes pitched four solid innings to get the win. He had 10 strike-outs with one walk. Sophomore Joseph Kopel finished the game pitching two scoreless innings. Thomas Meixl had a great day at the plate going 3-3 with a couple of RBIs and a couple of runs scored. Joseph DeGezelle blasted a two run double in the second inning to get us going for the day. Senior Max Rotchadl made one the best outfield catches I have seen in high school baseball. Our record right now is 2-0. We next play here at Franklin Rogers Park, Thursday against Faribault Bethlehem Academy, and Friday vs. Martin Luther Granada Huntley East Chain. Game times are both at 5pm.. Hope to see you there.

We are........................................................LOYOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted Wednesday, April 9-
Last evening, the Crusaders opened the 2008 season in convincing fashion with a ten-run rule 5 inning victory over JWP. It was great getting outside and even better playing the game on the hill. Many thanks to Jerry Reinbld and Mr. O'Donnell for getting our fields ready to play on.Our pitching staff really threw well last night. We combined for 10 strikeouts, 3 hits, and 1 walk. The one walk is what really excites me!!!!! Offensively we had 19 hits. Sophomore Jimmy Kiefer had 4 hits, scored 4 runs and had 3 rbi. Seniors Max Rotchadl, Ryan Hassing, Tom Montag, and Brian Brandt each had 2 hits apiece. Our JV team also posted a victory yesterday winning 10-4. Both clubs are in action Thursday with the Varsity at Randolf and the JV at home vs. Randolf. Game times are 5pm varsity, and 4:30 pm. JV. Sophomore Tobias Turbes is slated to start for the varsity on Thursday.

A reminder to all Loyola Baseball alumni-----May 3rd-alumni game----hitting for alumni starts at 11 am. at the hill. Get those arms in shape men!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are...............LOYOLA!!!!!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Crusaders are opening their 2008 baseball season TODAY on the hill vs. JWP at 4:30 pm. The tentative starting line-up is as follows: Jimmy Kiefer at short, Mike Kiefer pitching, Max Rotchadl in left, Thomas Meixl dh/Ryan Hassing at third, Joseph Kopel in right, Joseph DeGezelle at 1B, Brian Brandt catching, Adam Murray at 2b, Thomas Montag in centerfield. Our JV team is also playing on the hill today at 4:30pm.Their game may be down by the old batting cage. Even though it might be a little cold, we are anxious to get our season started. Bundle up and come on up to watch this years' edition get after it!!!!!!!!!

We are.......... LOYOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!          

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Our Varsity and JV teams spent last Friday and Saturday scrimmaging two Nebraska high school baseball teams. What a great trip for us. We played Archbishop Bergan Catholic High School and Omaha West High School. Both of these schools had played eight games already. We played very well both days and more than held our own against each club. It was great to get outside-practice-and then get some real game type experience against some very good competition. Our pitchers pitched well and are very well coached by Mr. Landkamer. Our catchers did a very nice job handling the pitchers and that is a credit to Al Kiefer as he works very hard with them. I felt we hit extremely well for the first time out considering the conditions and such. We were able to watch Creighton University play a nine innning game before we came home. What a great experience for young men to see this first hand. Things like this help to keep players "dreams" alive!!!!Our players and fans represented our school tremendously! We couldn't be more proud. Thank you to all who helped make this possible. I will always work hard for our youth to give them nothing but positive experiences like this. Plans are already in place to go back next year. Opening Day for us is next Monday-April 7, 5:00pm Varsity at the "FRANK" and JV at the hill vs. JWP. Hope to see you there! We Are..................LOYOLA!

7
Posted Thursday, March 27-
Our baseball scrimmage to Fremont, Nebraska is a go! The weather will be conducive to playing. Both squads will be scrimmaging. Practice for today(March 26th) for the varsity and JV is at 3:00pm.-4:15 due to gym conflicts. Practice Thursday will be at our normally scheduled time. There will be no morning optional hitting. The jr. hi.begin their practice season on Thursday and Friday of this week right after school. They will go from 3pm-4:15 each day. They also are scheduled for gym time practices next Tuesday and Thursday at the same time. They could also be practicing on Friday-this will be up to our coaches. It is your sons' responsibility to listen for these directions. OUR postponed PLAYER/PARENT MEETING will be next Tuesday evening in the little theater here at Fitzgerald School at 7pm. We request that at least one adult be present for this meeting. Thank you for your patience.

Posted Tuesday, March 18-
Here is the most current Varsity/JV/ jr. high baseball practice schedule. If you have any questions, please call Mr. Biehn at school or e-mail me.

March 18th Tuesday-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am MAYBA warehouse-P/C at Fitz.-5:30-8pm. March 19th Wed.-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am warehouse-P/C at Fitz.-5:30-8pm. March 20th Thursday-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am warehouse-Everyone practices starting today-9:30-12pm.-at Fitz..March 21st Friday-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am warehouse-everyone practices-9:30am-12pm. at Fitz.. March 22nd Saturday-everyone practices-9:00am-12pm at Fitz..March 24th Monday-everyone practices-5:30-8pm. March 25th Tuesday-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am warehouse-everyone practices-5:30-8pm.March 26th Wednesday-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am warehouse-everyone practices-5:30-8pm at Fitz.. March 27th Thursday-optional hitting-5:15-7:15am warehouse-everyone practices-5:30-8pm at Fitz.. March 28th Friday-TRIP TO Fremont, Nebraska, weather permitting. Bus will leave LOYOLA parking lot at 7:30am. We will return Saturday evening-Time TBD at a later date. The Varsity and JV will go on this trip.

Our Jr. hi teams will begin their practices March 24th. It is your sons' responsibility to listen in school for announced times.

Please be aware-practice times in the afternoon may change due to availability of our baseball practice field being ready to go.

We are having a player/parent baseball meeting next Tuesday evening March 25th at 7pm in the Fitzgerald theater. I would like it if there would be at least one adult present along with your son. It will be an opportunity to meet all the coaches and listen to our goals, and give you a chance to ask questions regarding the upcoming season.

Yours in baseball

Posted Friday, March 7, 2008
Congratulations to Steven Helget as he got his first college baseball hit, a double, last Monday against Concordia St. Paul College in the Metrodome. Steven has started a couple of games behind the plate for the Mavericks. This is a great accomplishment for him and his family. It is very unusual for a freshmen in Division II at Minnesota State University to come in and make an impact right away. Way to go "Dozener"! Last evening,(Thursday), I was able to go and watch two other former Crusaders play baseball for Bethany Lutheran College in the Metrodome. Former players Rod Price, and Adam Rajtar are currently on the roster. Rod is a sophomore and Adam is a freshmen. Both are going to be counted on to pitch and possibly play some infield. The first game started at 10:15 pm. and ended at 12:20am! Bethany really looked good in their first game and no doubt will win quite a few games this season. Congratulations Rod and Adam! The 2008 Loyola Baseball campaign is slated to begin on March 17th unless our Basketball team is still playing. We had a very good sign up at all levels. Please talk to your baseball players to get all the further information about practice times ect. Important Date: There will be a parent/player meeting on March 24th at 7pm. in the Fitzgerald theater. The coaching staff would appreciate it if one or both parents and their son could attend.

GO CRUSADERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Posted Thursday, February 28, 2008
Opening day practice of the 2008 baseball season will begin on March 17th for all pitchers and catchers in our Loyola Catholic School system from grades 6-12. Practice time will be from 5:30 pm.-7:30 pm. at the Fitzgerald campus gym each day. If your student/athlete is a pitcher or catcher at any of these grade levels, he is required to attend these practices to begin fundamentals and conditioning of their arms and legs through our programs philosophy. This will go on for the whole first week, with all players 9-12 only, required to show on Thursday, March 19th. We will practice on Saturday, March 21st. The time will vary depending on softball practice. If you have any questions regarding the above information, please call me at school. My number is 388-9344-extension is 250.
Go Crusaders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The first annual spring baseball scrimmage trip down into Nebraska has been tentatively scheduled for Friday March 28th and 29th. We will leave Loyola High School  Friday morning around 8:30 am by coach bus and return Saturday evening. We will be scrimmaging Archbishop Bergan Catholic H.S. which is located in Fremont, Nebraska, Friday evening.  They are a traditional power from around that area. The baseball scrimmage will start around 7 pm. and will go for approximately nine innings. We will then practice outside on Saturday from 12-5pm. There is a possibility we may be scrimmaging again also that day. Parents are welcome to come down with us. There are very good accomodations in and around the area. Please feel free to call Coach Biehn at school for further information. My extension number at Fitzgerald is 250. The only possible conflict may be that the boys BB team may be in the State Basketball Tournament. If that is the case, our trip will be postponed to a later date.
Go Loyola  Baseball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted Monday, October 15, 2007
Coach Biehn was informed Friday that recent graduate Adam Rajtar has made the varsity baseball team at Bethany Lutheran College for this coming spring. Also on that team from Loyola High School is Rod Price,  a 2006 graduate. Congratulations to both young men and their families. We are very proud of you. Coach Biehn and his wife were invited to the class of 1987's 20 year reunion this past weekend. Wow was this ever fun for us. I was able to see some past great baseball players for Loyola. It was so fun to catch up on all the good things they have done with their lives. I saw past greats, Marty Haefner, Jon Oberle, Rob Wegsheid, Nick Matejcek, to name a few. These players were on teams that won the Minnesota River Conference Championship three years in a row!!!  We are in contact now with some private Catholic schools in the Omaha area trying to set up our first ever baseball trip. Details will be posted for our trip as soon as they become finalized. For more information, please feel free to contact Coach Biehn @ cbiehn@macsmn.com or 388-9344 ext.250 at Fitzgerald Middle School.  Go Crusaders!

Posted Monday, August 27, 2007
Congratulations to Steven Helget and his family on his recent committment to continue his baseball career at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I believe this is the fifth Crusader to play baseball there and to play for Coach Bowyer. Congratulations to Adam Rajtar and his family on his recent committment to continue his baseball career at Bethany Lutheran College here in Mankato. There have been numerous Crusaders play there. Most recently, 2006 graduates Rod Price and Ryan Kennedy.

Diamond Dust: We are continuing to pursue our goal of a baseball trip down into the Omaha, Nebraska area next spring. As I firm up details, I will post them on our site.  Please contact me at school or via the internet if you have any questions about our baseball program. 

Heads up Alumni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The first Saturday in May, (May 3rd) is our Alumni vs. Varsity Baseball Scrimmage. Put it on your calendar so you can get tuned up and ready for it. The record right now is 1-1 for the past two games with one washout year. Last year's game was a beauty! The traveling "SIGNED GOLD HELMET" belongs to the Alumni for now. Coach Landkamer will bring it to the game!!! God Bless your families!~

Coach Biehn

Posted Monday, June 11, 2007
Last evening at our baseball awards banquet, the following awards were given out:
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: STEVEN HELGET
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: STEVEN HELGET
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: RYAN HASSING
"MR. HUSTLE": TOM MONTAG
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: ADAM RAJTAR
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR: BRIAN BRANDT
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: JOE KOPEL
CONGRAT'S TO THESE YOUNG MEN - AND TO ALL OF OUR TEAM ON A GREAT YEAR!

Posted Tuesday, June 5, 2007
This will be our last posting for the 2007 baseball season. I want to thank Helen Peterson for all of her help and support getting this baseball site off and running! I am very excited about next season already and have had some players tell me they wished we were starting over yesterday! Boy do I like to hear that! Again, we finished with a season record of 18-6, 8-4 in our conference tying for the conference championship. We won 2 and lost 2 in our sub-section tournament. With the exception of one game, we played very good baseball at the end.  We are having our season ending banquet this Sunday evening, June 10th, at Fitzgerald Middle School-DeSmet Hall starting at 5pm. We are honoring our Varsity and JV teams players and coaches. We will be giving out many awards to many different players. In addition, our three seniors will be speaking to our baseball crowd. Please feel free to come and attend. Menu is pizza. pop, and desert-all for $5 per person.