FDLTCC fine-tuning skills; still sitting winless

Talk about it

A winless weekend, eight hours on a bus and plenty of wet uniforms and equipment sounds like a crummy road trip for most community college baseball teams. Not for Cal Barr and the Thunder, though.

“It was a good trip for us,” Coach Barr said of he and his Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College baseball team’s recent rainy trip to the Riverland Community College Tournament in Austin, Minn., last weekend. “The results weren’t pretty, but we sure made some progress.”

The Thunder went 0-for-4 in the tourney, falling to Ridgewater, Central Lakes and Riverland twice.

Although struggling with pitching at times, the Thunder (0-8) fought throughout the weekend, explained Barr, who also said FDLTCC’s 7-1 opening day loss to Riverland was impressive.

“That game against Riverland was the best we’ve played all year. We only had one error,” Barr said. “We could have been closer, too. I think we realized we could have a good team. I thought that we really battled.”

The Thunder will next be in action against Hibbing on Saturday and Mesabi Range on Sunday. Both doubleheaders will be played at Braun Park in Cloquet at 1 and 3 p.m.

Despite a winless record, Barr remained optimistic, noting that his first-year Thunder squad is improving steadily.

“Those were some good teams we played down there last weekend,” Barr said. “We’re just focusing on getting better inning by inning.”

Tags: carlton county, sports, cloquet