27th Kloster Park World Series Wraps Up A Great Summer!

Kloster League players, coaches and hundreds of fans were welcomed by a warm and windy Northern Minnesota day for the 27th Kloster Park League World Series on Sunday, July 19th   at Clearbrook, MN.  The day began with regular season awards given to each league or division champion and runner up.  Before the awards presentation generous donations from Clearwater-Polk Round Up Trust, Clearbrook American Legion, Clearbrook Community Club, Gonvick American Legion, Gonvick Diamond Jubilee, Gonvick Lions, Sinclair Township, Leon Township, Garden Valley Telephone, Clearwater Trail Blazers, the Drive In, Y92, DaRoos, Bakken”s, AJ’s on Main, Strand Store, Kandi’s Kitchen, NB &C Schoolhouse Grocery and various individuals were acknowledged.  In addition, the City of Clearbrook was thanked for their upkeep of Kloster Park and Andy Anderson, Gary Prosser and numerous other volunteers for their work on the fields throughout the summer.  

The Gibeau Family and the Clearbrook Hornet class of 1971 were thanked for their donation of trees in memory of Mike Gibeau.  Attendees were encouraged to make a donation to the Kloster Park tree fund for trees for the new Field 5.  Donations may be sent to the Clearbrook City Clerk.

The following teams were presented with awards:  Northern League (girls ages 9-14)—Champion Railcats and Runner up T-Bones, Junior League (boys ages 9-11)—East Champion Red Sox and Runner up Yankees, West Champion A’s and Runner up Angels, Senior League (boys ages 12-14)—Champion Dodgers and Runner up Padres.

The new Clearbrook Veterans Memorial was recognized and then everyone joined together in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  First round games were announced and the eager players and coaches began their quest for a coveted Kloster Park League World Series title. 

The Northern League had a couple of minor upsets in the opening rounds, with the #5 Goldeyes beating the #4 Redhawks, 22-14 and the #3 Canaries defeating the #2 T-Bones 19-14.  The top ranked Railcats beat the Goldeyes to advance to the World Series final where the Canaries challenged them for five innings before falling 9-5.  The win capped off a rare undefeated season for the Railcats, finishing 14-0.  The Redhawks defeated the T-Bones in the consolation round, 22-11, and then captured 3rd place with a tight 12-11 win over the Goldeyes.

The five team Senior League tournament also started with a minor upset as the #5 Rockies beat the #4 Giants, 19-15.  The #2 Padres held off the upset-minded #3 Mets, 23-20 to gain the a berth in the championship game alongside the #1 Dodgers who had a comeback win over the Rockies, 19-11.  The Padres captured the World Series title, defeating the Dodgers, 15-9.  In the Consolation round, the Mets beat the Giants, 15-1 and then captured third place with a nail-biting 8-7 win over the Rockies.

The Junior League opening round saw the #2 Angels defeat the #3 Orioles, 8-3 and the #3 Mariners captured a wild affair, beating the #2 Yankees, 26-20.  The top seeded Red Sox snuck by the Angels in the semi-finals, 9-8, and the other #1 seed A’s took out the Mariners, 8-3.  In the consolation championship, the Orioles defeated the Yankees, 12-6 and the Mariners took third place 11-9 over the Angels.  The top dogs, Red Sox and A’s, then battled it out for the World Series title.  The A’s took a 7-1 lead but the Red Sox kept battling back, finally winning 10-9 in an exciting finish that had the large crowd cheering!

Congratulations to all our champions and the 220 participants and 25 coaches from Bagley, Clearbrook-Gonvick, Fosston, Red Lake County Central, Red Lake and Win-E-Mac!

Photos of all teams are available at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/cgsummerrec/KlosterParkWorldSeries2015#

Complete World Series pairings/results are available at:  http://www.leaguelineup.com/kpl and on Facebook (Kloster Park League).

Photos of Champions (may not show all team members and names are not in any particular order).