Feeling the Heat
Published 9:20 pm Wednesday, August 17, 2011
HAYFIELD — When Kasey Krekling decided to start an amateur baseball team in Hayfield last summer, he knew it was best to start with those closest to him.
A year later, Kasey’s Hayfield Heat are headed to the Class ‘C’ state amateur baseball tournament and he couldn’t know his teammates much better.
Besides seeing his younger brother, Tyler, in the outfield, Kasey also sees plenty of other familiar faces when the Heat take the field.
“My college roommate is at short, I’m pitching to my same catcher I had in high school and my high school coaches are first and DH,” Kasey said. “We’ve all been together for so many years and it’s nice to finally go to a state tournament.”
When the Heat first started last summer, some of Kasey’s recruits were a little skeptical, but they came together when they realized the team was actually coming together.
“When he first approached me, I thought it was just one of Kasey’s crazy schemes,” Heat catcher Travis Kauffman said. “Then the ball started rolling and pretty soon you’re playing with your friends and high school coaches. It’s a great thing and the community has really gotten behind us.”
Perhaps one of the Heat’s biggest pick-ups was Rochester Mayo grad Shawn Palmer — who played with Kasey for three years at Waldorf College. The two also roomed together for a year and are close friends.
Palmer, who plays shortstop and pitches, had played for the Rochester Blues, but figured the Heat could use a little help in starting their squad.
“It’s been a lot of fun getting to know these guys,” Palmer said. “I’ve never really been to the small towns all of my life until this past summer and I love them. It’s a great time over here.”
Tyler, who will play at Riverland this spring, has improved while playing over the summer, but he’s mostly glad to do one thing he just missed out on during the high school season — play in a state tournament.
Hayfield’s high school team was one game away from the Class ‘A’ state tournament this past spring when it lost to Wabasha/Kellogg. Tyler was on the mound in that loss and he started to have flashbacks when the Owatonna Aces jumped out 3-0 over the Heat in the state qualifying game this past weekend.
“When we were down to Owatonna, I was thinking ‘not again.’” Tyler said. “I didn’t want to be one win away again, but we came back and it’ll be fun to go to state with some veteran leaders, who can show us what to do.”
While getting to state has been great for the Heat, it has also been a little bittersweet for their founder. After missing several games due to a bout with pneumonia, Kasey wasn’t able to find his rhythm on the mound and he’s spent most of the playoffs off the field in a managerial role.
“I wasn’t doing my team justice by being out there, so I took myself out,” he said.
Being strictly a coach is a good experience for Kasey — as he will be the varsity coach at the high school next spring and he’s also going to run the summer recreation baseball programs.
He hopes to build baseball as much as he can in his hometown over the coming years.
“I want to start them little, where they see me at the t-ball stage and then they can end with me as adults on the amateur team,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll all play in Hayfield for years.”
The Heat will open state tournament play against Hanska, which finished second in Class ‘C’ two years ago and played as a Class ‘B’ team last year. The first two rounds of the 32-team tournament are single elimination and Hayfield opens play Sunday at 11 a.m. in Glencoe.
“It’s a big honor (to play in the state tournament),” Kauffman said. “Town team baseball is huge in Minnesota and the fact that we’re playing with some of the best in the state is great. It’s going to be a challenge, but it’ll be fun.”
While playing in state will be a thrill for the Heat, just having a team in Hayfield is a pretty big deal to most of the team — which features a lot of recent Hayfield grads.
“It’s very important for guys like me, Tyler Nelson, and Ben Pollock,” Tyler Krekling said. “We’ve got nothing better to do in the summer and we love playing baseball. It’s a fun team and everyone gets along.”