'Take me out to the ball game'

As winter turns into spring and local high schools attempt to make the transition to spring sports, several local baseball teams are looking for the success they had from a season ago.

Class A

South Ridge: The South Ridge Panthers are coming off their best season in school history as they finished fourth in the Class A state baseball tournament, losing to Parkers Prairie in the third place game in Chaska. The Panthers lost key senior Nick Carlson to graduation, but return seven starters from last year’s state tournament team.

Joe Janke and Elias Tuominen are two of the three starting seniors on the team; both will supply depth at pitching and two solid hitters in the middle of the lineup. Juniors Logan Young, Riley Kinsley, Nick Carlson and Mason Lane provide depth in the infield and more pitching for South Ridge.

Connor Bushbaum leads a talented group of sophomores that includes Payton Gerlach and Tyler Anderson, plus freshman brothers Jaxon and Aaron Bennett — who both played key roles in last year’s state tournament — making the Panthers a favorite to repeat as section champions.

Carlton Bulldogs: A strong playoff run a year ago had the Bulldogs one win away from the boys state baseball tournament. With Ryan Gray and Kaden Crane, the Bulldogs have a strong one-two punch on the mound for Carlton.

Ryan Schmidt has a solid and deep team which should allow the Bulldogs to again go deep in the Section 7A playoffs. Peyton Schmidt, Miles Bennett, Kaleb Sitler and Scott Rousseau will provide senior leadership this season.

Wrenshall Wrens: Jared Kelley, Eli Krisak and Andrew Silverio will lead a very young Wrenshall team coming off a 9-7 record a year ago, their best overall record in several years.

Randy Wimmer will provide a solid bat in the lineup and will be a force on the mound for the Wrens. The Wrens will feature 10 freshman and sophomores on this year’s team.

Class AA

Barnum Bombers: The Barnum Bombers stumbled out of the gate as the season began last year, winning only one game in their first 10 contests before reeling off five consecutive victories heading into the section 7AA playoffs, when a strong Aitkin squad defeated the Bombers, ending their season with a 6-10 overall record.

Head coach Tony Bender returns seven starters from last year’s roster including Ryan Weller, Nathan Finifrock, Jacob Nynas, Max Salzer, Isaac Golen, Dawson Sample and Connor Buell. Those players provide a firm foundation for this year’s Bombers squad.

MLWR Rebels: Moose Lake 2012 graduate and former Rebel standout Spencer Clough takes over the reins as the first-year head coach for Moose Lake-Willow River. The Rebels are another team who started slowly a season ago, but they feature one of the top pitchers in the northland in Danny Whited.

Whited, a senior left-hander, has three pitches he can throw for strikes. While his size isn’t imposing, the way he throws strikes most certainly is. Whited will lead a group of several experienced and seasoned veterans, including three-year starter Jordan Fjosne behind home plate. The Rebels will have 4-5 pitchers on this year’s team, which will give them the depth they may need at season’s end.

Esko Eskomos: Like the Bulldogs, the Eskomos were only one game away from the state tournament last year, but Duluth Marshall stopped them, winning two straight games after Esko had defeated the Hilltoppers earlier in the section tournament. Marshall went on to a second-place finish in the Class AA state tournament.

The Eskomos will have to replace a lot of vacancies from a year ago, as the team lost seven starters to graduation. With a 21-5 record posted last year, the Eskomos will need to have veteran leadership come from all six seniors on this year’s roster: Mason Vinje, Peyton Koskela, Dawson Hoffman, Hubie Gonsorowski, Jaustin Piepho and Zach Ross.

7AAA

Cloquet Lumberjacks: The Lumberjacks will have a new look this season after losing six starters to graduation, although they do return a number of experienced players, and Rick Norrgard is back for his seventh season as head coach.

Senior twins Nick and Jon Baker, along with Gavin Rasmussen and Noah Neimi, will give the Lumberjacks a solid base to work on this season. Nick Baker, one of the hardest throwers on the mound in the Northland, had a very impressive strikeout ratio last year. Rasmussen will keep the outfield steady defensively and will provide another veteran arm on the mound. Nick Baker is a strong catcher and leader behind home plate, while Jon will patrol the middle infield at shortstop when he’s not pitching. With the senior leadership and underclassmen who could step into key roles, Cloquet should be poised again for a strong section tournament showing.

GAME TIME

In a game between Carlton and South Ridge Tuesday, Ben Wood tossed four innings and gave up just two hits while striking out seven in picking up the pitching win for the Panthers. Kristian Herman took the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs giving up seven hits and fanning five Panther batters. The final score was 6-3. Elias Tuominen, Logan Young, Joey Janke, Conner Bushbaum and Jaxson Bennett all had two hits in the game for the Panthers, while Kaden Crane hit a home run for the Bulldogs.