11/1/2006- Jim Hanson Award Presented!!!!
The annual Jim Hanson Award Banquet was recently held in a packed house at an undisclosed location. Tickets were sold out long in advance. The Jim Hanson award is given annually to the Ada A’s player that most embodies all that A’s baseball is about: grit, determination, integrity, speed, power, charisma, grilling skills, drinking skills and overall machismo. The crowd was silent as Director of Player Procurement Mike Gullingsrud stepped to the podium and announced “…….and the winner of the 2006 Jim Hanson Award is………………….Jim Hanson!!!!!!!!” The announcement was met with thunderous applause. Jim was not able to attend the ceremony due to prior commitments and a hectic touring schedule promoting his new website (www.stuff.net), but close friend Jay Baker accepted in his place. Jim has won the award every year since its inception, except in 1995 when problems with polling machines prevented accurate vote counting, and 2003 when Jim had to vacate the award due to the infamous “celebrity charity calendar incident”. Results from the years the award have been given are as follows:
JIM HANSON AWARD WINNNERS
1985- Jim Hanson 1994- Jim Hanson
1986- Jim Hanson 1995- Award Not Given
1987- Jim Hanson 1996- Jim Hanson
1988- Jim Hanson 1997- Jim Hanson
1989- Jim Hanson 1998- Jim Hanson
1990- Jim Hanson 1999- Jim Hanson
1991- Jim Hanson 2000- Jim Hanson
1992- Jim Hanson 2001- Jim Hanson
1993- Jim Hanson 2002- Jim Hanson
2003- Vacated
2004- Jim Hanson
2004- Jim Hanson2005- Jim Hanson 2006- Jim Hanson
7/25/2006- Crookston Defeats Ada in Playoff Series
Crookston exploded for ten runs in the second inning and defeated the A's 14-4 to take their playoff series two games to one. The ten run outburst came on the strength of four hits, four walks and two hit batsmen; all the runs came with two outs and were unearned. Ada came right back in the next frame to make it a 10-4 game, but could not muster any more runs. Crookston will now play East Grand Forks in a best of three series, with the winner qualifying for regional play.
7/23/2006- Ada/ Crookston Playoff Series Tied
With a thrilling 7-6 come-from-behind victory in Ada, the A's tied their playoff series with Crookston at one game apiece. Ada took leads of 1-0 and 5-3 in the game, but were facing playoff elimination with a 6-5 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Aaron Cook singled. This was followed by a triple to the gap by Mike Gullingsrud that scored pinch-runnner Tony Lee with the tying run. Kenneth Hayden followed that with a line drive to right field that plated the winning run, sending the series to a third and final game in Crookston on Tuesday night. Brian Ziegler picked up the win in relief of starter Tim Ronningern, who pitched six solid innings.
In the first game of the series on Saturday in Crookston, the A's could only muster five hits and fell to the Reds 9-1.
7/19/2006- Ada Drops Warroad 9-5
The A's overcame a mid-innings 4-1 deficit to take a 9-5 win from the Muskies in the league play-in game, played in Ada. Kenneth Hayden tied the game at four in the fifth inning with a two run triple. Ada plated three more runs in the seventh inning, and added an insurance run in the eighth to seal the win. Kenneth Hayden pitched 7 2/3 innings to get the win, while Aaron Cook closed out the game in relief.
Ada will now play either Crookston or East Grand Forks in a best of three series that will likely begin this weekend.
7/17/2006- Ada to Host Warroad in Play-In Game
By virtue of a fourth place league finish, the A's will host the Warroad Muskies in a play-in game on Wednesday, July 19. The winner will advance to the first round of league playoffs against the #1 seed in a best-of-three game series.
7/16/2006- Ada Goes 2-2 Over Weekend
The A's finished the regular season 13-19 after splitting four weekend games. Ada now awaits the completion of all league games before playoff schedules are determined. Ada's league record finished at 6-10.
On Saturday, the A's participated in the Pelican Rapids Turkey Days Tournament. Ther A's opened with the Nimrod Gnats and fell 5-3. In the second game of the day, the A's held a 1-0 lead over Pelican Rapids into the final frame, but the Lakers tied it to send it to extra innings. The A's, playing as the home team, won the game in the bottom of the extra frame when a hit by Zach Johnson plated the winning run. Keith Hanson picked up the win on the mound through the strength of various change-ups.
Sunday saw the A's travelling to East Grand Fork for a league doubleheader. On the strength of two Dusty Robinson RBI hits and the pitching of Zach Johnson, the visitors prevailed 4-2 in the opener. East Grand Forks took the second game 10-7.
7/11/2006- A's Top Bagley ThunderCats in Ten Innings
Ada held off host Bagley for an 8-6 win in 10 innings. The A's were ahead 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, but Bagley plated a run to send the game to extra innings. With two outs in the top half of the tenth, Mike Gullingsrud singled, followed by a hit from Kenneth Hayden. An Andy Kappes triple plated two runs, which was later followed by a single by Tony Lee and triple by Brian Ziegler that plated three more runs. Bagley made it interesting in the bottom of the tenth, however, with a three run homerun. Brian Ziegler, pitching in relief for the A's, was able to fan a batter for the final out, with runners being on second and third bases. Tim Ronningen picked up the win in relief for the A's. Bagley is now 9-2 on the year, with their only two losses coming to the A's.
7/9/2006- A's Drop 3 of 4 Over Weekend in Northern MN
Due to various other commitments by numerous players, the A's once again struggled to scrape together 9 able bodies for the weekend trip to Warroad and Roseau. The team battled hard, but came up short in 3 of the 4 contests.
In Warroad on Saturday, the A's broke open a 2-2 game with 7 runs in the top of the sixth inning, and held on for a 9-7 win. Kenneth Hayden picked up the win on the mound. In Game Two, Ada fought back from an early 7-0 deficit to tie the game at 10 in the top of the seventh, but Warroad plated a run in the bottom half to salvage a split.
Against Roseau on Sunday, the A's pieced together numerous hits throughout the lineup, but stranded too many runners and lacked clutch hits. The squad fell 5-3 and 5-2.
7/5/2006- Jim Hanson Buys New Shoes!!
For the first time in several decades, Jim Hanson has bought a new pair of shoes. Jim spent several days scrutinizing various charts and graphs in order to make his final decision. Rumor has it, he is so happy with his decision, he might even buy a new pair of baseball spikes.
6/30/2006- Saturday Doubleheader With Jamestown Cancelled
The doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, July 1 with Jamestown Tarno Distributing has been cancelled. Jamestown was not going to have enough players to fulfill their contractual obligations. Negotiations are in process for compensatory payments. Clubhouse Manager Jim Hanson thinks he might be able to negotiate a case of Hamm's out of the deal.
6/28/2006- Ada Tops Crookston Reds in 6-5 Thriller
Mike Gullingsrud's single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth inning scored pinch-runner Jim Hanson from second for the go-ahead run, and proved to be the game winner. Keith Hanson had previously doubled to score Brian Ziegler, who had doubled, to tie the game. Ziegler pitched the ninth inning for the save. Andy Kappes hurled eight strong innings for the win.
In other news, Jim Hanson is seriously considering buying a new pair of shoes. We will keep you apprised of the situation as it develops.
6/24/2006- A's Drop Three of Four Over Weekend
The weekend began with the A's hosting the Jamestown Merchants, one of the top teams in North Dakota. In Game One, the A's faced one of the Merchant's top pitchers, who is also the ace of the University of North Dakota staff. Ada managed to take a 4-0 through the early innings and staved off a late Merchants rally to win 4-3. Andy Kappes picked up the win on the mound. In Game Two, Jamestown's bats came alive as they took a 10-4 lead. But the A's rallied in the sixth to go ahead 13-10. The Merchants came figthing back to tie the game in the 7th, and pulled out a 15-13 win in eight innings.
Mike Kolness made his return to an A's uniform after a 7 year hiatus. The salty veteran managed several hits in the twinbill, and was a veritable wall behind the plate in Game One; he subsequently bought out the entire city of Ada of ice and ibuprofen. Also, it was announced that Jamie Aanenson was reinstated to the A's Board of Directors, after fulfilling the requirement of attending one game per year.
On Sunday, the A's were faced with a shortage of able bodies in a twinbill at home against East Grand Forks, but the hometowners were able to track down nine fellows. The Eastiders jumped out to an early lead, but the A's tied the game at six runs late in the game. There were several opportunities to plate the go-ahead run in the sixth and seventh innings, but the A's couldn't manage to get the key hit or break. Eastside went ahead 8-6 in the 8th inning, only to see the A's rally again in the bottom half of the inning. Again, the A's had chances to score the tying and/ or winning runs, but a would-be hit up the middle was deflected by the pitcher to the shortstop, to start a game-ending double play. Ada ran out of gas in the second game and fell 14-5.
6/22/2006- Ada Thunps Moorhead Miners 13-1 in 7 Innings
The A's jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the early innings and continued the assault throughout the game enrought to the victory. The home squad received production from all through the lineup. Kenneth Hayden pitched four solid innings to earn the win, while Mike Gullingsrud baffled the opposition for three innings in relief.
6/19/2006- Exciting New Announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The A’s are excited to announce a new research and development program that could provide a financial windfall, and thus ensure that the team will live on for future generations. All those who have visited The Clubhouse in recent years, have witnessed the miraculous growth of “the first tree” outside the main entrance, relative to other trees of similar vintage. What most people don’t know, is that behind the scenes, Director of Research and Development Jim Hanson has been conducting a highly controlled research experiment that could render the popular gardening additive “Miracle-Gro” virtually obsolete. Jim is currently working towards putting the finishing touches on this formula which will be marketed under the trade name “Jimmy-Gro”. Look for it soon at your local Piggly Wiggly stores. Future research and development is planned to investigate this miracle formula’s effect in the growth enhancement of beef cattle and human appendages. Jim claims that "this is great stuff!!!!!"
6/18/2006-Ada Wins 3 of 4 Over Weekend
The A's began the weekend with a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind win over Warroad on Saturday. Three runs in the bottom of the last inning tied the game at four, and Tony Lee's single in the bottom of the next frame scored Andy Kappes to win the game. In the second game, the A's jumped out to an early lead, and held on for a 15-7 win over the visiting Muskies.
The A's faced off against the Roseau Royals on Sunday, and fell in the first game 9-3. The bats came alive in the second game to take a 12-8 win.
6/15/2006- Crookston Tops A's 6-1
The Reds took advantage of 9 hits and three Ada errors to seal the victory. The A's continue to struggle to get key hits with runners in scoring position. Bad luck befell the A's again in this game, as they fell victim to a triple play in the fourth inning on a controversial catch call on a line drive with the bases loaded. In the fifth inning, a line drive up the middle was snared by the Crookston pitcher with two outs and two runners in scoring position. Ada continues to hit numerous "at-'em" balls, although the team did manage five hits in the contest.
6/11/2006- Ada Goes 1-2 in Bemidji Tournament
Ada took a win against the Hastings Hawks 6-4 on Sunday to salvage a 1-2 record in the Rossco Bemidji Tournament. Although the A's stranded 16 runners on base, they did take advantage of several hits and Hastings miscues. Andy Kappes picked up the win on the mound, with Aaron Cook in relief.
Ada opened the tourney on Friday night against Bemidji with a 4-2 loss. Saturday saw the A's fall to Wadena/ Deer Creek 6-2. In each case, the A's had good pitching performances and strung together some hits, but left many runners stranded.
6/6/2006- A's Defeat Bagley ThunderCats 7-3
Ada pitcher Aaron Cook scattered five hits and struck out ten batters in a complete game victory over Bagley. The A's had twelve hits, paced by the three hit performance of Keith Hanson followed by two hits off the bat of Brian Ziegler.
6/4/2006- Perham Tourney Not Kind to A's
Ada dropped three games over the weekend in the Perham Tournament, to very excellent competition. In Game One versus the host Perham Pirates, the score was tied at 1-1 through the middle innings. Perham broke the game open and held off some late A's runs for the win. Game Two saw things go from bad to worse for the A's as they faced the Princeton Panthers, participants in the last 8 State Tournaments, including a 2nd place finish in 2000. Princeton won in five innings, 14-0. In the tournaments final game for Ada, the A's faced the Sartell Muskies, owners of an 11-0 record heading into the tournament. The A's managed 11 hits to Sartell's 14, but Sartell took much better advantage of their base knocks in an 11-6 win.
6/1/2006- Crookston Reds Thump A's 20-2
A rain shower moved through Ada several hours before gametime, dumping a large amount of rain on Tony Sipe Field. Things went downhill from there for the A's. The opening pitch was pushed back for grounds crews to work on the field, in an attempt to dry out problematic areas. Crookston jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead, and continued to pour on runs through the evening. The Reds took advantage of 11 walks and two hit batters, while the A's managed only 3 hits.
5/28/2006- Ada Goes 1-2 in Jamestown Tournament
Ada broke in their new, all-black uniforms in style with a 9-0, five inning victory over Carlyle, Saskatchewan. Ada jumped out to a 7-0 first inning lead and added two more in the fifth inning to end the game via North Dakota's 9-run mercy rule. Chris Ellingson, KC Solum and Tony Lee had multiple hit games and Zach Johnson scattered 3 hits for the pitching win.
The A's had the table turned on them in the second game of the day, falling to the host Jamestown Merchants 0-12. Ada managed only one hit against the Merchants' hurler, and Brian Ziegler took the loss on the mound.
In a Sunday afternoon affair, the A's stormed back from a 1-5 late inning defecit, only to fall one run short at 6-7. Kenneth Hayden toook the loss on the mound, going the distance.
5/19/2006- A's to Open Season at Jamestown Tournament
Once again, the Ada Athletics will open the season playing in the Jamestown, ND Memorial Day Tournament. The tournament runs Saturday May 27 and Sunday May 28. The tournament schedule is TBA.
Look for the A's schedule to be posted in the coming days and weeks>
