New Ulm's city council took 10 minutes and with no public discussion to conduct a 5-0 vote on Friday to have the city withdraw as host for the state amateur baseball tournament scheduled to start next month.

That reversed a 3-2 decision by the council July 7 to allow the Class B and C tournaments to be played at Johnson Park and Mueller Field. The "State Tourney'' is scheduled for three weekends, starting Aug. 21 through Labor Day.

There had been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the area in recent weeks and the New Ulm Council had received pressure from the Brown County health office to pull approval for use of the city's two baseball parks. The Minnesota Baseball Association's seven-person board will meet Monday to discuss alternate plans for conducting the state tournament, which has been played continuously since 1923.

Springfield, the "third'' site along with the two ballparks in New Ulm, is also in Brown County, but has not yet made an announcement as to whether it would host a portion of the tournament.

Minnesota's current rules on public gatherings would limit host sites to crowds of 250. That would mean towns agreeing to step in as short-notice hosts would be doing so with no chance of making the profit that most previous sites have managed.

PATRICK REUSSE

Two Gophers make Maxwell watch list

Gophers receiver Rashod Bateman and quarterback Tanner Morgan were named to the Maxwell Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football.

Bateman, an All-America third-team pick last season and All-Big Ten first-team selection, has caught at least one pass in all 26 games he has played in and has made 111 receptions for 1,923 yards and 17 touchdowns. Last season, he caught 60 passes for 1,219 yards (second most in a single season) and 11 touchdowns (tied for second most in a single season).

Morgan, All-Big Ten second team last year, set school single-season records in 2019 for passing yards (3,253), touchdown passes (30), completion percentage (66.0%), passing yards per game (250.2), touchdown-interception ratio (4.28) and pass efficiency rating (178.7) .

• Morgan also was named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list earlier. Known as college football's premier award for community service, it is named after 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel of Florida.

Saints fall

Needing a victory to reach .500, the St. Paul Saints instead lost 13-12 to the Sioux Falls Canaries at the Birdcage before 1,017 fans. The first-place Canaries, who were the visitors in this game, took a 7-1 lead in the second inning. John Silviano was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer in the eighth inning and four RBI for the Saints (9-11) while recently signed shortstop Nate Samson was 2-for-3 with three RBI.