UMD Baseball add Freshman

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth and head coach Bob Rients have added four additional commitments for the 2016 baseball season.

One of two local products in the group is 6-foot-3-inch pitcher and utility player Ryan Cunningham of Virginia High School. He started each of the past four seasons for the Blue Devils as a first baseman, centerfielder and on the mound. He also played two varsity seasons as a small forward for the Blue Devils basketball team, earning All-Iron Range Conference honors as the team’s leading scorer in his senior year. His father, Patrick Cunningham, is a former collegiate football player at the University of North Dakota and Northern Michigan. He plans to major in social studies at UMD.

A 6-foot-1-inch catcher/first baseman from New Brighton, Minnesota, Ben Danielson joins the Bulldogs after a four-year starting career at Irondale High School. He served as a team captain during the 2015 spring season after earning All-Northwest Suburban Conference honors each of the previous two seasons and being named the team’s MVP in 2014 after leading the Knights in batting average and on-base percentage. During the fall, he was named the conference’s defensive lineman of the year and an all-league selection in football. He plans to major in engineering at UMD.

Joining the pitching staff is 6-foot right-hander Jeremy Thorson of St. Cloud, Minnesota, a three-sport letterwinner for Sauk Rapids Rice High School in baseball, basketball, and football who served as a team captain in 2015. Off the field, he’s posted a 3.60 GPA and earned scholar athlete honors in each sport at Sauk Rapids Rice. He plans to major in biological studies at UMD.

The second Northland native to join the Bulldogs is Kole Zuidmulder of Hermantown High School, who also plans to play tight end for UMD football next season. In baseball, he’s a four-year starter as a pitcher and first baseman, earning All-Sea Range Conference and all-section honors in his sophomore and junior seasons as well as an All-Area selection as a sophomore. In addition to playing football and baseball for the Hawks, Zuidmolder earned All-Conference honors as a forward during the basketball season.

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