| 30 June, 2003 New Kimball park is a hit Tom Elliott Staff Writer |
| KIMBALL -- You won't find a bigger fan of the refurbished Kimball Baseball Park than Brooks Marquardt. |
| If you're a pitcher for the Kimball Express like Marquardt is, anything having to do with moving the fences back and building a 13-foot steel wall is a whole lot to your liking. |
| Marquardt and the Express beat the Watkins Clippers 13-2 Sunday in Kimball's home opener in its splendidly rebuilt ballpark. |
| "The park holds them (the cheap homers) in a little bit better," Marquardt said. "I thought they (the heavy-hitting Clippers) might get a couple. Not today." |
| The old park's dimensions included a 338-foot center field fence, which was a five-foot high cyclone style. Now, it's 372 feet to center and must clear a fence from 13 feet high in left to 81/2 feet high in center. |
| Along with leveling the field (there is still a 41/2-foot slope from left to right) and planting new grass, there are further renovations planned. And, while Sunday's opener was the park's unofficial unveiling (plans are for an official opening ceremony next year), it was a big moment for the Marquardts and the Express. |
| Kimball is 12-2 in the Central Valley League this season, 22-3 overall. Sunday, the Express beat a perennial state power in Watkins (7-4, 14-6), and did so rather easily. |
| Watkins kept Kimball from the state tournament last year with a 1-0, 16-inning win. |
| "We've still got a dirty taste in our mouth from that one," Marquardt said. "Scott (Marquardt, Brooks' brother) hit one to the wall to end that game. This was a nice win." |
| Brooks Marquardt went eight innings, striking out seven, walking three and hitting one batter. He held Watkins to four hits, including a pair of doubles to Pat Geislinger and a double by Tim Haines. |
| "Actually, our defense is the big worry right now," said Clippers manager Bruce Geislinger, who spent Sunday's game in a walking cast. "Our defense, we've got to shore that baby up." |
| Watkins made two errors. Geislinger, the Clippers' ace, has a fractured bone in his foot. He has been pitching a bit, mostly in relief. Sunday, the Express had 21 hits off two Watkins pitchers. |
| "Beating Watkins without Bruce is one thing," said Kimball's Jeremy Kuechle, who had four hits and played an errorless shortstop. "But beating Watkins with Bruce is a whole other thing." |
| Kuechle christened the new, blue steel wall in the bottom of the first with a double that clanged off it. It came during the Express' three-run first that included a little looper by Pat Arnold that got just over the glove of Watkins second baseman Rick Geislinger. Arnold's hit drove in two runs. |
| "That's about all I've got; I can't hit one much farther," said Kuechle of his double, a home run under the old dimensions. At 29, he's one of the older Express players. Brooks Marquardt, who'll be a senior at Dakota State in Madison, S.D., calls him 'The Antique.' |
| "That's about what I am," Kuechle said. |
| Mike Arnold became the first player to hit a home run over the new Blue Monster, belting a three-run smash in the sixth when Kimball blew open a 5-2 lead with four runs. |
| "We played Eden Valley in a game like this (a 14-7 Kimball loss)," said Arnold, who was a little incredulous about Sunday's win. "It's kind of weird, but that's how it goes in baseball." |
| Nate Turck, Joe Pennertz, Aaron Knaus and Brian Marquardt each added three hits for Express. |
| It was a proud moment for manager Tom Marquardt, who also came in and had a pinch hit double. His pride and joy -- Kimball's town team -- has a park that's vastly improved. And, he gets to do it with three of his sons -- Scott, Brooks and Brian -- playing key roles. |
| "There's a lot of dedication here on this team," said Marquardt, who listed off a half-dozen key business donations to help with the refurbishment. "We'd have never got it all done without it; that's for sure." |
| Watkins 010 010 000 -- 2 4 2 |
| Kimball 300 114 31x -- 13 21 0 |
| WATKINS -- Tim Haines 1-2 2B RBI BB SF, Tom Frericks 0-3 R HBP, Mia Kramer 0-3 R BB, Pat Geislinger 2-2 2B-2 RBI BB, Rick Geislinger 1-2 SAC; LP-Stan Groskreutz IP-6 H-13 R-9 ER-8 BB-2 SO-6, P. Geislinger IP-2 H-8 R-4 ER-4 BB-1 SO-2. |
| KIMBALL -- Nate Turck 3-5 R-2 SAC, Jeremy Kuechle 4-5 R-3 2B-2 RBI, Tom Marquardt 1-1 2B, Scott Marquardt 1-3 R RBI-2 BB-2 SF SB, Brandon Looman 0-0 R, Joe Pennertz 3-5 R-2 RBI-3 BB, Mike Arnold 1-5 R-2 HR RBI-3, Aaron Knaus 3-5 2B RBI-2, Pat Arnold 2-5 RBI-2 SB, Brian Marquardt 3-5 R-2; WP-Brooks Marquardt (5-0) IP-8 R-4 R-2 ER-2 BB-3 SO-7, Kuechle IP-1 H-0 R-0 ER-0 BB-0 SO-0. |
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