Eagles to feature deep line up, pitching staff

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

If the weather ever decides to make the transition from winter to spring, the New York Mills baseball team will return a potent line up featuring 11 letter winners to the baseball diamond. 

Last year the Eagles ended their season at the Class A state championship game at Target Field. It was the second season in which the Eagles competed in the state championship game as they also took second place in 2019 (the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The 2021 team finished with a record of 23-3 and will look to once again compete in one of the top sections in all of Class A. 

Returning to the line up for the Eagles will be seniors Jacob Guck, Bren Salo, Jonah Johnson, Cody Barthel and Breck Hensch. 

One of the big keys for the Eagles will be their overall depth. Head coach Dustin Geiser has 12 juniors and 14 freshmen and sophomores who will all be ready to make an impact on varsity this season should their number be called into the line up.

While NY Mills will return a large portion of their team from last year they will need to replace some of their top starters on the mound from last season. While the Eagles lost some of their top starters on the mound from last season they will return a deep pitching staff to the mound, something that will come in handy when their season gets underway. Since teams must deal with pitch counts, as well as monitor innings pitched, having such a deep pitching staff will be incredibly important when the season finally gets underway later this spring. 

Among the preseason favorites in the conference will be Wadena-Deer Creek and Sebeka, while the preseason favorites in the section will be Kerkhoven-Murduck-Sunburg, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Ashby and Upsala-Swanville. 

NY Mills was ranked as the second team in Class A in the state preseason poll, while Ashby is ranked fifth and KMS is ranked seventh. The Sebeka Trojans are currently ranked 11th in the state.