Austin BlueSox

Historic Marcusen Park

Welcome to the Austin BlueSox homepage - home of the 2007 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball runner-ups. Historic Marcusen Park is home to many area teams including the BlueSox, Greyhounds, VFW Post 1216 14's, 15's, 16's, Post 91 American Legion, and High School teams.

Your home for ALL Austin baseball information

BlueSox Unveil New Look

The Austin BlueSox unveiled their new look for 2009 for the first time today. The new uniforms sport a white hat with red piping and a raised SOX logo. The jerseys don a retro BLUESOX name across the chest. White pants with a single blue pipe down the side complete the new look. Along with the Sox's new look, they will combine some new faces along with the old this summer. Check back soon for a complete 2009 roster and schedule. Once again, the SOX would like to say "Thank You" to our sponsors for 2009.

Season Opener

The Austin BlueSox open up the 2009 season at "The Old Ballpark by the River" against the Kasson Coyotes of the Twin Rivers league. The first pitch for the Friday night under the lights game is scheduled for 7:30PM. BlueSox ace, Joe Huffman is expected to take the start while home-run leader, Dan Swift is geared to once again anchor the Sox lineup in the cleanup spot. Please take time to thank and visit our 2009 sponsors.

14-2 Opening Win

On a perfect Friday night at Marcusen Park, the BlueSox fired on all cylinders as they stymied the Coyotes of Kasson 14-2. The 2009 opener gave fans a first look at the new uniforms on display as the game ended in the mercy rule after 7 short innings. The Sox offense scored in every frame as they racked up double digit hits. The pitching trio of Brady Banse, Nels Nelson and Joe Huffman shut down the opponents bats after 2 unearned runs in the first. The Sox travel to Owatonna on Wednesday night to battle the Aces; first pitch is schedule for 7:30PM at Dart Park.

Rumble at the River

The first meeting in 2009 between the two Austin powerhouses did not disappoint. Hounds hurler, Dave Meyer, had a no-hitter into the 8th inning, however Sox starter, Joe Huffman, matched him pitch for pitch through 6 innings before handing the ball over to the masterful relief of Mitch Jaeger and Ryan Palmer. The BlueSox used their speed and grittiness to muster a 3-2 win, including a 2-run rally in the 8th. Dan Swift broke up the no-hitter to score Joe Kroc, and Brian Voigt singled to score Zach Vliestra. It was all the Sox needed to take the series lead 1-0. Join the Sox on Wednesday as they take on the Colonels of Albert Lea at Marcusen Park; first pitch 7:30PM.

Albert Lea Colonels in Town

The Blue Sox hosted Albert Lea at Marcussen Park. Although starting out slow, the Blue Sox's bats showed up in the bottom of the 3rd where they put up 9 runs against the Colonels. The game ended in the 7th with a score of 5-16. Tomorrow, the Blue Sox will travel to Chaska.

FAN APPRECIATION

BlueSox 5-0

Fan appreciation day was a success despite the gloomy weather. The fans enjoyed the fifth win of the season for the hometown team as the Sox downed the Lakers of Faribault 6-0. The game was highlighted by a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth by clean-up hitter Dan Swift. Kids enjoyed on the field activities between innings including bean-bag toss to win Twins tickets, a timed activities gauntlet and "Deal or No Deal". A full golf membership to River Oaks and an 8GB iPod Touch were the key prizes. The Sox would like to say a big thanks to all their fans and sponsors!!! The Sox resume play at Blue Earth on Wednesday at 7:30PM.

Keep on keepin' on

The BlueSox continued to find a way to stay unbeaten on Sunday night as they pulled out a 10-9 win over the Blues of Rochester. The grittiness of the BlueSox was on full display at Hudson Field as there were a total of 15 walks and hit-by-pitches recorded by the Sox offense. The combination of Ryan Palmer, Mitch Jaeger and Nels Nelson stymied the Blues as Mitch was the beneficiary and Nels picked up his 3rd save of the season. The BlueSox scored in every inning but two as they scrapped out the 7th straight win of the season. Join the Sox as they turn around to play the Blues again at home on Wednesday at 7:30PM.

Postponed

The view from Marcusen Park was an unexpected one on Wednesday night as the BlueSox prepared to host the Rochester Blues. The game was postponed in the 2nd inning due to rain and was eventually cancelled due to the site above. The tornado was reported to have touched down approximately a mile from Marcusen Park. All BlueSox players are safe and sound. Join the Sox this weekend as they host Rosemount on a Friday night/Saturday afternoon series.

2 More Wins

The BlueSox defeated Rosemount BlackSox this weekend at Marcussen Park. On Friday night, Rosemount was able to score 4 runs against the BlueSox. However, it was not enough to match the 14 runs on 17 hits. The BlueSox faced Rosemount again Saturday afternoon and the story was not much different. Rosemount was able to score 8 runs against a thin BlueSox team. Aaron Port started on the hill for the BlueSox, followed by Nate Johnson and Dan Swift. Regardless of the pitching, the BlueSox bats stayed hot on Saturday afternoon allowing another 14 runs. For the weekend, the BlueSox had 28 runs on 33 hits giving the BlueSox another 2 wins.

SPAMTown

Despite a 2-1 record in Pool Play, the BlueSox failed to advance to the Championship day of the SPAMTown Challenge. The Sox beat Cold Spring 1-0 and Prescott 6-1, but ended up losing to the Wildcats of Chicago who advanced out of the pool and ended up winning the tourney. Game 1 against the Wildcats was the first loss of the season for the 12-1 Sox. Game 2 saw Joe Huffman shut down state powerhouse Cold Spring in a 1-0 gem. Even though game 3 was a meaningless tournament game, the Sox fired on all cylinders to defeat the Pirates of Prescott. This week the Sox travel to New Ulm on Tuesday and host the Rochester Royals on Wednesday.

Win at New Ulm

Big night for the BlueSox. The BlueSox had 17 hits scoring 9 runs against New Ulm. Brian Voigt was the starting pitcher for the bluesox holding them to one unearned run. Ryan Palmer came in the game in the 8th to shut down New Ulm. The BlueSox will take on Rochester Royals Wednesday, July 1 at Marcussen Park. The game will start 7:30 p.m.

Higbe Walk-off

When it appeared that the BlueSox would drop their second contest of the season, Duell Higbe came up big in the clutch. Entering the 9th inning, the Sox were down 5-1 to the Rochester Royals. After a couple of hits and walks, the stage was set for Higbe. Higbe ripped an 0-2 fastball down the left filed line for a bases-clearing, game winning double. With the 6-5 win, the Sox secured the drivers seat in the Southern Minney East division as they have now beaten both the Hounds and Royals once. Nels Nelson [pictureed above - photo courtesy of the Rochester PB], pitched 5 masterful innings before giving way to Joe Huffman and Mark Harber [W 1-0].

Blue Sox Drop Close Game

The Blue Sox flipped back and forth with the lead throughout the game, however were unable to end on up top. The Blue Sox dropped a close game to Blue Earth 5-4. There were many valiant efforts in game, one of which was by Josh Kunze who hit a 2 run home run to give the Blue Sox one of their leads. Despite these valiant efforts, the Blue Sox were unable to string things together.

Blue Sox Defeat Albert Lea

The Blue Sox snap a two game losing streak on Friday against Albert Lea. Ryan Palmer was the starter for the Blue Sox allowing 5 hits in 5 innings. In those same innings Ryan struck out 6 and walked 4. Overall, the Blue Sox were in complete control of the game scoring 12 runs to defeat Albert Lea 12-9.

Blue Sox Defeated by Marshall

The Blue Sox traveled to Marshall on Sunday afternoon. The three hour road trip turned out to be too much for the Blue Sox. Marshall defeated the Blue Sox 7-2 due to the inability to bring runners in while in scoring position. Duell Higbe started on the mound for the Blue Sox providing seven solid innings. It was the offense that caused the Blue Sox to stumble.

Blue Sox Win Shortened Game

The Blue Sox were able to put up 10 runs against Owatonna Aces before the game was called in the top of 7th. Nels Nelson captured the win for the Blue Sox on the hill. Nels held the Aces to a 4 hit shut out. The key to tonights win came down to batters executing in all situations, especially with runners in scoring position. The Blue Sox travel to Waseca tomorrow night.

Blue Sox Take Care of Business in Waseca

Joe Huffman started on the hill for the Blue Sox throwing 7 innings against Waseca on Wednesday night. Although the offense for the Blue Sox was slow out of the starting gate, they were able to put up 9 runs; of which one was a solo home run by Dan Swift. Once again it seemed as if the Blue Sox were able to execute at the plate which contributed to the successful night. Following Huffman on the mound was Mitch Jaeger who also shut out the Braves leaving with a final score of 9-0. The Blue Sox will face off against Rochester Royals on Wednesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Rochester.

Blue Sox secure #1 seed

Joe Huffman was able dominate the Rochester Royals on Wednesday night by throwing out of a few jams while limiting the opponents to 2 runs over 9 innings. With the complete game victory by Huffman, the BlueSox secured the #1 seed into the Section 2B playoffs. The top of the order did the damage as they combined for all 10 hits and 6 runs. After the dust settled the final was 6-2. The Sox take on the Hounds tonight at 7:30 in a meaningless Section game.

SWEEP!

On team-yellow-undershirt-day, the Sox closed the regular season with a sweep of the Section 2B foes. The BlueSox overcame a 3-run deficit to defeat the Austin Greyhounds 5-3 on Thursday night under the lights. Dan Swift started the scoring with a solo blast to left while the Sox used timely hitting to put up 4 more runs. Ryan "Palm-dawgg" Palmer started the game on the hill while Nels Nelson shut the door with 5 masterful shutout innings. Next up are the Section 2B playoffs (August 9, 12, 15).The Sox have a first round bye while the Hounds and Royals square off for a chance to play the Sox. The winner of the Hounds/Royals & Sox game receives a State berth.

State-bound

After a devastating extra-inning loss to the Rochester Royals in the Section 2B Championship game on Wednesday night, the BlueSox found what they were made of. On Friday night, the Sox defeated the Austin Greyhounds 4-2 to lock up a birth to the State tournament as the second-seed. Joe Huffman threw a masterful complete game and the Sox offense did just enough. This marks the second time that the Sox have made the State tournament since they were formed in 2004. The BlueSox now travel to Arlington on Tuesday at 8:30PM to take on the Section 5 championship team; Elko. You can view a bracket of the 2009 State Tournament [HERE}. 2009 State site [HERE}