2014 Baseball Preview

April 7th, 2014

With the weather starting to warm up, it is beginning to feel more and more like baseball outside.

This season looks to be another strong one for teams in the area. Class A will have the Section 7A champions, the Floodwood Polar Bears coming off an 18-4 season and will be returning some key players as Riley Bernsdorf, Kyle Tamminen, Willow Christensen, Jonathan Ruzynski, and Tanner Haggendahl will all be returning after playing a key role in that run to the State Tournament last season. The Section 7A runners-up, the Carlton Bulldogs will be tough after going 14-6 last season and after graduating 5. The Bulldogs are returning lone senior Bryton George, and starters Dominic Bennett and Mike Moralez, along with Evan Gray and Jackson Mickle who both saw significant time last season.

Class AA will see two area teams coming off fantastic seasons with the Hermantown Hawks and Cloquet Lumberjacks.  The Hawks will look to make it back down to the State Tournament after going 20-5 last season. This season the Hawks will be returning 7 seniors including Brendan Burnap, Jace Thomas, Jason Mozol, Brendon Mahnke, and Scott Wasbotten. The Lumberjacks, who went 12-8 last season, will be returning a nice crop of seniors as well, including Ben Merrill, Dylan McIvor, Jeff Sarkela, and Logan Towne. They also have juniors Nate Weets and Brandon Conklin as returning starters.

Other teams to watch out for in both Class A and Class AA in the area are the Two Harbors Agates, Proctor Rails, Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers, and Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com