Linda Tembreull, Hardball and Softball
Frank Weber is speaking about the cases that led to the creation of Murder Book on Saturday, June 3, at the Pierz Library at 11:00. Books will be for sale, and he will be available to sign books both before and after the 30 minute presentation (from 10:00 to 1:00). I want to dedicate my blog this week to Linda Tembreull (1947 to 1969), who was raised in Pierz but murdered while attending St. Cloud State University in 1969. The day was warm for November with the temperatures in the mid-40’s. It was the day the Beatles Abby Road album rose to #1 in the charts in the U.S. Linda Tembreull was attending a speaker at SCSU and was offered a ride by Leo Albert Kampa, age 41, back to her campus housing where she lived with 4 other female students. Linda’s body was found November 1, 1969 in a cornfield near Northfield, Minnesota. She had been shot twice in the head. Leo Kampa was arrested November 2, 1969 in Phoenix, Arizona. Kampa would later write in prison that the gun discharged by accident. This doesn’t really explain his reason for holding a loaded gun to the head of an innocent unarmed young woman.
I was a young child at the time, but my older siblings share that the message in the community at the time was “Don’t talk about it.” My older sister was friends with Linda’s sister and they never spoke of it. A change occurred in rural Minnesota in the 1960’s. In the 1950’s many teenagers still stayed around and worked in the communities they were raised in. But in the 60’s high school graduates left to larger communities and parents feared what would happen when their innocent Christian children were exposed to the dangers of the world. It would have helped everyone to have talked about it and I think it’s a disservice to Linda to not talk about her life.
The irony is that even though people had the perception that the world was safer back then, it wasn’t. The homicide rate in 1969 was almost double what it is today in the U.S. (It’s just that people didn’t talk about it.) In 2014, the homicide rate was lower than it’s been in 50 years and even though some cities experienced increases in 2016, those cities aren’t near as dangerous as they were in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Today we’ve informed everyone better of the dangers, but also scared the hell out of everyone. Parents have become content with the kids staying inside. I drive through towns in the middle of summer and sometimes see no children playing outside. People need to form a sense of community, no matter where they live, and look out for each other. When our kids were little, Brenda and I played baseball (using a tennis ball) with Nicolette, Shane and Preston every summer night. Brenda played in boys little league when she was younger. They all got good at it, but none ultimately played high school ball. They trained hard for fall and winter sports, so they all ended up in track as it fit easier with their training schedules. It was a fun family event, as baseball gives you the opportunity to talk while playing.
Let’s talk about baseball, while the Twins are still in 1st place. Baseball has always been huge in the Pierz area and there are many stories and legends. When the Brainerd paper had an article expressing concern that Brainerd was splitting their talent into 2 teams, people in the Pierz area (a town 1/16th size of Brainerd) laughed as Pierz had 5 amateur baseball teams at the time. Those teams included the Harding (Supersonics and Dinosaurs), Shady Brook Broncos, Lastrup (Lakers and Bulldogs), Center Valley, Pierz (Pirates, Cubs, Dolphins, Brewers, Bulldogs), Buckman (Bees, Bucs, Billy Goats), Genola Brewers, Daggett Brook and there even was a team that played in the area at one time called SLLGC (South Long Lake Gun Club). We played on one field that sloped so much you could only see the left fielder’s head.
The old-timers tell stories about the variety of great players who played some with the Pierz Pirates, including Leo Litke, Harold Meyer, Al Boser, Pete Newman, Rollie Schriener, Roger Terhaar, Art Preimesburger, Elmer Sitzman, Roger Hoheisel, and Lenny Pohlkamp, along with stars from other local teams like Louie Boser and Marvin Sitzman (Center Valley), Roman Miller (Buckman), Dewey Girtz, Cliff Meyer, and Blaise Boser (Genola Brewers). My dad, Leo Weber, was proud of having coached the Pierz Cubs to a league championship, back when the Pierz Pirates were the powerhouse team. The story is that catcher Tom Meyer kept a round steak in his mit to soften the blow from hard throwing hurlers.
In my time there were some great pitchers like Sev Poser (Pierz), Duane Paulson (Lastrup), Rick Sczublewski (Pierz), Larry Litke (Shady Brook), Charlie Weber (Pierz), Danny Litke (Harding), Billy Pohlkamp (Buckman),Tony Veith (Fort Ripley), Chuck Stott (Onamia), Dean Rocheleau (Lastrup and Pierz), and more recently Dan Rocheleau (Lastrup and Harding), Scott Gieger (Buckman) and Chad Weiss (Pierz and Lastrup). There were also guys who were a threat to knock it out of the park every time they stepped to the plate like: Jerry Pohlkamp, Jerry Van Kuren, Tony Veith, Bobby Britz, Bob Lochner, Jim Stott, Ron Litke, Mike Poepping, Clyde Athman, and more recently Steve Athman, Dave Rocheleau, Scott Boser, and Jason Sadlosky. (Bobby Britz—now in his mid-60’s—caught a double header for an amateur baseball team in Shakopee last summer.)
There were some very impressive teams. The Lastrup Lakers went to state 5 years in a row with all Lastrup players (a town of 100). The 1999 Buckman Billy Goats were state champions and Scott Boser was the state tournament MVP. The Lastrup Lakers have recently had a series of impressive state tournament runs. The Lastrup/Shady Brook rivalry led to fist fights with fans. When I played with the Pierz Brewers we played the Harding Super Sonics every year on Memorial weekend. People camped out and partied on the baseball field after the game in an event called “The Derelict Convention.” Notoriously tight Victor Malinoski used to fly his airplane over during the game (which I’m sure didn’t meet legal flight standards). The engine would shut off, the plane would drop, but he would eventually get it started again and resume on his way. While observing this craziness during a game, opponent Paul Froncak commented to me, “He’s so tight he looks over his glasses instead of through them, so he doesn’t wear them out.”
The longest game in the history of baseball was played by 2 Pierz teams on July 23, 2005. The Lastrup Lakers beat the Pierz Brewers 1-0 in 28 innings. Jason Sadlosky pitched the first 14 innings (193 pitches) for Pierz. Danny Saehr pitched 14 innings in relief for Lastrup. Reggie Litke caught the first 25 innings, and then came on in relief to get the win. There was a strong wind blowing straight in from center field the entire game making it difficult for anyone to generate an extra base hit. Nicolette and I were at the game for the first 26 innings, but Nicolette was teaching tennis lessons at the time so we needed to leave.
There was a time when towns would pay pitchers to throw for them. Bud Grant (Minnesota Vikings) had pitched for Pierz and Whitey Skoog (Minnesota Lakers) pitched for Little Falls. Along with Scott Boser, Little Falls residents Rich Weigel and Bob Fenske were also former state tournament MVP’s. There were some great nicknames like Kevin “the Blade” Gilbride and Bob “Banana Tanana” Litke. Most nicknames only lasted a game or 2. I remember referring to an outfielder, who managed to get hit in the groin twice in the same game by misjudged fly balls, as “ET” (the extra testicle). There were also some wonderful headlines like “Sonic Boom Levels Buckman,” written after Paul Froncak hit an extra inning homerun to lead the Harding Supersonics over the Buckman Bucs, 1-0.
I would be remiss if I did not speak of Thursday night women’s softball in Pierz, which at one point featured 12 teams and 2 leagues. Genola Bar, with Diane (Block) Scott, Trudee Preimesburger, Cathy (Trafas) Poepping, Cheri Stang, and Joy (Meyer) Leidenfrost won the league 8 years running. Great pitchers like Carol (Block) Luberts were important in unlimited arc leagues. There were some outstanding players, including Linda (Block) Pohlkamp (Lastrup and J& M Bar), Donna (Pohlkamp) Janson, Lisa (Kelzenberg) Meyer and Renee (Kelzenberg) Weber from Toby’s Tavern, Gladys Fischer (Lastrup), Eileen (Fischer) Pohlkamp (J & M Bar), Debbie (Hohiesel) Gall and Rosie (Hohiesel) Talberg (Red Rooster), Denise (Weiss) Athman and Bonnie Litke (Harding), Sandy Sullivan, Ann Gross and Shirley Andrea (Good Time Charlies).
I know I’ve missed many great players, both women and men, and I apologize for that. The Pierz men’s softball league was a Friday night event featuring 14 teams from the Pierz school district at one point. Stylist Marie (Stuckmeyer) Schafer would cut a fan’s hair during the game and everyone watched the series of games under the lights in Genola. Rhino’s Pub in Genola was where many teams went, but every pub in the area was packed by the night’s end. One of the baseball pictures below features Mike Haney as a bat boy. Mike died at age 31 from cancer. Mike has a special place in my heart as he was a super kind person which is far more significant than any records or wins. Mike knew baseball and he played on great softball team called Bootleggers. Robert Van Kuren, great hitter and great person, also died too young. Robert was one of those young men you can only remember with a smile. I want to thank Dave Fischer, Paul Froncak, Rick Grammond, Jim Fischer and John Hellie for their many contributions to amateur baseball.
Quotes:
I once asked Paul Froncak, “How do you get out of a hitting slump?”
He smiled at me and said, “I don’t know Frank, I’ve never been out of one.”
When it was suggested to Mickey Rivers that his teammate Reggie Jackson had an IQ of 165, Mickey asked, “Is that out of a thousand?”
I have to end with a Yogi Berra story. After the baseball season had ended, Yogi had raked some leaves at his cabin and was burning them. The fire got out of control so he called the fire department. When they responded, “Okay, how do we get there?”, he asked, “Don’t you still have those big red trucks?”
Thanks for listening,
Frank Weber Here are some pictures I borrowed from Leo and Rosetta’s photo album.
I had a blast playing on this Rhino’s Pub team as it was a group of men with many tales to tell. The after game stories were even better than the games. Back row: Frank Weber, Steve Athman, Charlie Weber, Tim Watercott, George Weber, Jeff LeBlanc Front row: Tom Otremba, Tom Loidolt, Rick Sczeublewski, Pat Watercott, Scott Boser, Brian Faust. Dave Fischer was also on this team. 
In my parents’ generation families often cut across fields in the horse drawn sleigh in the winter to visit. Some even had wood heaters. Unfortunately, Rosetta Kapsner’s family had the open sleigh (like the Jingle Bells song) and that would get quite cold. 
Shane had curly hair like my dad, Leo, when he was younger, but it became less curly as an adult. Leo’s grandson, Albert Leo Greene, as a child had the closest facial expressions to Leo. 
Shane in 10th grade 
Shane and Rachael Weber, 2010 
Albert Leo Greene (Dorothy and Albert Greene’s son) 
The Pierz girls softball program has become impressive. This is Jada Porter driving a hit. 
Hannah Kahl 
Breanna Meyer 
Claire Reardon 
Pierz pitching ace, Brittany Boser
I was a young child at the time, but my older siblings share that the message in the community at the time was “Don’t talk about it.” My older sister was friends with Linda’s sister and they never spoke of it. A change occurred in rural Minnesota in the 1960’s. In the 1950’s many teenagers still stayed around and worked in the communities they were raised in. But in the 60’s high school graduates left to larger communities and parents feared what would happen when their innocent Christian children were exposed to the dangers of the world. It would have helped everyone to have talked about it and I think it’s a disservice to Linda to not talk about her life.
The irony is that even though people had the perception that the world was safer back then, it wasn’t. The homicide rate in 1969 was almost double what it is today in the U.S. (It’s just that people didn’t talk about it.) In 2014, the homicide rate was lower than it’s been in 50 years and even though some cities experienced increases in 2016, those cities aren’t near as dangerous as they were in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Today we’ve informed everyone better of the dangers, but also scared the hell out of everyone. Parents have become content with the kids staying inside. I drive through towns in the middle of summer and sometimes see no children playing outside. People need to form a sense of community, no matter where they live, and look out for each other. When our kids were little, Brenda and I played baseball (using a tennis ball) with Nicolette, Shane and Preston every summer night. Brenda played in boys little league when she was younger. They all got good at it, but none ultimately played high school ball. They trained hard for fall and winter sports, so they all ended up in track as it fit easier with their training schedules. It was a fun family event, as baseball gives you the opportunity to talk while playing.
Let’s talk about baseball, while the Twins are still in 1st place. Baseball has always been huge in the Pierz area and there are many stories and legends. When the Brainerd paper had an article expressing concern that Brainerd was splitting their talent into 2 teams, people in the Pierz area (a town 1/16th size of Brainerd) laughed as Pierz had 5 amateur baseball teams at the time. Those teams included the Harding (Supersonics and Dinosaurs), Shady Brook Broncos, Lastrup (Lakers and Bulldogs), Center Valley, Pierz (Pirates, Cubs, Dolphins, Brewers, Bulldogs), Buckman (Bees, Bucs, Billy Goats), Genola Brewers, Daggett Brook and there even was a team that played in the area at one time called SLLGC (South Long Lake Gun Club). We played on one field that sloped so much you could only see the left fielder’s head.
The old-timers tell stories about the variety of great players who played some with the Pierz Pirates, including Leo Litke, Harold Meyer, Al Boser, Pete Newman, Rollie Schriener, Roger Terhaar, Art Preimesburger, Elmer Sitzman, Roger Hoheisel, and Lenny Pohlkamp, along with stars from other local teams like Louie Boser and Marvin Sitzman (Center Valley), Roman Miller (Buckman), Dewey Girtz, Cliff Meyer, and Blaise Boser (Genola Brewers). My dad, Leo Weber, was proud of having coached the Pierz Cubs to a league championship, back when the Pierz Pirates were the powerhouse team. The story is that catcher Tom Meyer kept a round steak in his mit to soften the blow from hard throwing hurlers.
In my time there were some great pitchers like Sev Poser (Pierz), Duane Paulson (Lastrup), Rick Sczublewski (Pierz), Larry Litke (Shady Brook), Charlie Weber (Pierz), Danny Litke (Harding), Billy Pohlkamp (Buckman),Tony Veith (Fort Ripley), Chuck Stott (Onamia), Dean Rocheleau (Lastrup and Pierz), and more recently Dan Rocheleau (Lastrup and Harding), Scott Gieger (Buckman) and Chad Weiss (Pierz and Lastrup). There were also guys who were a threat to knock it out of the park every time they stepped to the plate like: Jerry Pohlkamp, Jerry Van Kuren, Tony Veith, Bobby Britz, Bob Lochner, Jim Stott, Ron Litke, Mike Poepping, Clyde Athman, and more recently Steve Athman, Dave Rocheleau, Scott Boser, and Jason Sadlosky. (Bobby Britz—now in his mid-60’s—caught a double header for an amateur baseball team in Shakopee last summer.)
There were some very impressive teams. The Lastrup Lakers went to state 5 years in a row with all Lastrup players (a town of 100). The 1999 Buckman Billy Goats were state champions and Scott Boser was the state tournament MVP. The Lastrup Lakers have recently had a series of impressive state tournament runs. The Lastrup/Shady Brook rivalry led to fist fights with fans. When I played with the Pierz Brewers we played the Harding Super Sonics every year on Memorial weekend. People camped out and partied on the baseball field after the game in an event called “The Derelict Convention.” Notoriously tight Victor Malinoski used to fly his airplane over during the game (which I’m sure didn’t meet legal flight standards). The engine would shut off, the plane would drop, but he would eventually get it started again and resume on his way. While observing this craziness during a game, opponent Paul Froncak commented to me, “He’s so tight he looks over his glasses instead of through them, so he doesn’t wear them out.”
The longest game in the history of baseball was played by 2 Pierz teams on July 23, 2005. The Lastrup Lakers beat the Pierz Brewers 1-0 in 28 innings. Jason Sadlosky pitched the first 14 innings (193 pitches) for Pierz. Danny Saehr pitched 14 innings in relief for Lastrup. Reggie Litke caught the first 25 innings, and then came on in relief to get the win. There was a strong wind blowing straight in from center field the entire game making it difficult for anyone to generate an extra base hit. Nicolette and I were at the game for the first 26 innings, but Nicolette was teaching tennis lessons at the time so we needed to leave.
There was a time when towns would pay pitchers to throw for them. Bud Grant (Minnesota Vikings) had pitched for Pierz and Whitey Skoog (Minnesota Lakers) pitched for Little Falls. Along with Scott Boser, Little Falls residents Rich Weigel and Bob Fenske were also former state tournament MVP’s. There were some great nicknames like Kevin “the Blade” Gilbride and Bob “Banana Tanana” Litke. Most nicknames only lasted a game or 2. I remember referring to an outfielder, who managed to get hit in the groin twice in the same game by misjudged fly balls, as “ET” (the extra testicle). There were also some wonderful headlines like “Sonic Boom Levels Buckman,” written after Paul Froncak hit an extra inning homerun to lead the Harding Supersonics over the Buckman Bucs, 1-0.
I would be remiss if I did not speak of Thursday night women’s softball in Pierz, which at one point featured 12 teams and 2 leagues. Genola Bar, with Diane (Block) Scott, Trudee Preimesburger, Cathy (Trafas) Poepping, Cheri Stang, and Joy (Meyer) Leidenfrost won the league 8 years running. Great pitchers like Carol (Block) Luberts were important in unlimited arc leagues. There were some outstanding players, including Linda (Block) Pohlkamp (Lastrup and J& M Bar), Donna (Pohlkamp) Janson, Lisa (Kelzenberg) Meyer and Renee (Kelzenberg) Weber from Toby’s Tavern, Gladys Fischer (Lastrup), Eileen (Fischer) Pohlkamp (J & M Bar), Debbie (Hohiesel) Gall and Rosie (Hohiesel) Talberg (Red Rooster), Denise (Weiss) Athman and Bonnie Litke (Harding), Sandy Sullivan, Ann Gross and Shirley Andrea (Good Time Charlies).
I know I’ve missed many great players, both women and men, and I apologize for that. The Pierz men’s softball league was a Friday night event featuring 14 teams from the Pierz school district at one point. Stylist Marie (Stuckmeyer) Schafer would cut a fan’s hair during the game and everyone watched the series of games under the lights in Genola. Rhino’s Pub in Genola was where many teams went, but every pub in the area was packed by the night’s end. One of the baseball pictures below features Mike Haney as a bat boy. Mike died at age 31 from cancer. Mike has a special place in my heart as he was a super kind person which is far more significant than any records or wins. Mike knew baseball and he played on great softball team called Bootleggers. Robert Van Kuren, great hitter and great person, also died too young. Robert was one of those young men you can only remember with a smile. I want to thank Dave Fischer, Paul Froncak, Rick Grammond, Jim Fischer and John Hellie for their many contributions to amateur baseball.
Quotes:
I once asked Paul Froncak, “How do you get out of a hitting slump?”
He smiled at me and said, “I don’t know Frank, I’ve never been out of one.”
When it was suggested to Mickey Rivers that his teammate Reggie Jackson had an IQ of 165, Mickey asked, “Is that out of a thousand?”
I have to end with a Yogi Berra story. After the baseball season had ended, Yogi had raked some leaves at his cabin and was burning them. The fire got out of control so he called the fire department. When they responded, “Okay, how do we get there?”, he asked, “Don’t you still have those big red trucks?”
Thanks for listening,
Frank Weber Here are some pictures I borrowed from Leo and Rosetta’s photo album.
I had a blast playing on this Rhino’s Pub team as it was a group of men with many tales to tell. The after game stories were even better than the games. Back row: Frank Weber, Steve Athman, Charlie Weber, Tim Watercott, George Weber, Jeff LeBlanc Front row: Tom Otremba, Tom Loidolt, Rick Sczeublewski, Pat Watercott, Scott Boser, Brian Faust. Dave Fischer was also on this team. In my parents’ generation families often cut across fields in the horse drawn sleigh in the winter to visit. Some even had wood heaters. Unfortunately, Rosetta Kapsner’s family had the open sleigh (like the Jingle Bells song) and that would get quite cold. Shane had curly hair like my dad, Leo, when he was younger, but it became less curly as an adult. Leo’s grandson, Albert Leo Greene, as a child had the closest facial expressions to Leo. Shane in 10th grade Shane and Rachael Weber, 2010 Albert Leo Greene (Dorothy and Albert Greene’s son) The Pierz girls softball program has become impressive. This is Jada Porter driving a hit. Hannah Kahl Breanna Meyer Claire Reardon Pierz pitching ace, Brittany Boser
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