The 2026 townball season is hitting its stride and the Chaska Cubs are once again establishing themselves as a team to be reckoned with. Going into their game on June 28 against the Burnsville Bandits (7-3), Chaska was ranked No. 3 in Class A. The Cubs were 12-4 on the year and had gone 6-3 in June.
Cubs ace Drake Kilber took the mound to start the game against Burnsville. Chaska scored the first run of the game when Walker Rogers hit a sacrifice fly to score Patrick Fontaine from third in the first inning. Burnsville used aggressive baserunning to score a run in the top of the third. Rogers scored for the Cubs in the fourth inning on Alex Twenge’s deep hit to left. Catcher Danny Davis stole third before scoring on Mac Born’s deep shot to right, giving Chaska a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.
With Kilber still on the mound and Chaska leading 3-1, Burnsville used a combination of stolen bases and a Cubs error to score two runs. Mac Born led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, stole second and then scored on a Burnsville throwing error to give Chaska a 4-3 lead after seven innings.
Blake Eiden took the mound to start the eighth inning. Burnsville sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. Chaska used two more pitchers to get through the inning. Walker Rogers led off the ninth with a home run over the left-field wall, giving Chaska something to cheer about despite the 10-5 loss to Burnsville.
After the game, Cubs manager Ben Hendrickson commented, “Burnsville is a good team. They got to us in the eighth, but it’s nothing to worry about. We’re still getting our lineup in place, and we’ve still got a lot of ball to play.” Team captain Griff Wurtz added, “They had some timely hitting at key moments. We don’t let games like this get to us. We look forward to seeing them again.”
Bountiful Basket was the featured community agency at the Burnsville game and collected food donations to stock its shelves. According to its website, “Bountiful Basket Food Shelf has been serving Chaska, Carver, Chanhassen, Victoria and the surrounding area for 15 years helping people and families with hunger relief. We believe a non-judgmental, compassionate experience is key as we serve our community.”
Chaska finished the month on a positive note with a 3-0 win over the Prior Lake Jays on June 30. The Cubs will play a series of road games over the holiday weekend, and their next home game is July 9 at 7:00 p.m. against the Prior Lake Mudcats.
“Drive for a Cause, Play for the Cubs” is the theme of the Cubs’ 2026 Golf Tournament, which is scheduled for July 19. Information is available Cubs website (currently undergoing maintenance for a few days), as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Chaska will be one of the hosts for the 2026 Minnesota Town Ball State Tournament on Aug. 21-23, Aug. 28-30 and Sept. 4-7.
