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2025 Minnesota High School Team Previews, Volume XI

March 22, 2025
Andy Judkins
State Director, Prep Baseball Minnesota

Prep Baseball Minnesota strives to be the most comprehensive source of player information across the state. Prep Baseball is the number one resource for high school baseball in each state that we cover through various events, boots-on-the-ground scouting staff, daily coverage, and multimedia platforms. Our multimedia platforms and events work together, creating each state's most potent high school baseball promotion source. While other organizations take a national approach, our goal is to become the authoritative voice on the ground level of each state.

As we prepare for the upcoming 2025 high school season, we will be taking a preseason glimpse at programs from around the state.

TARTAN TITANS

Head Coach: Todd Klingsporn (1st season)

Class: 4A
Conference: Metro East 
2024 Record: 8-14
X: None

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

  • Brandon Herr, 2028

Coach's Comment:
"Return six starters from 2025. Need to replace two starting pitchers and three-year started at second base. Not a load of depth so will need to stay healthy."

ST. CHARLES SAINTS

Head Coach: Scott McCready (22 seasons, 253-209)

Class: 2A
Conference: Three Rivers 
2024 Record: 7-13
X: None

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

  • Evan O'Brien

Coach's Comment:
"We have been a young team for the past few years and we look forward to that experience paying off this season. This team finished 3rd in the Junior Legion State Tournament last summer and all of those players return for this year which is good news for the Saints."

ANOKA TORNADOES

Head Coach: Shannon Blansette (12 seasons, 147-96 at Anoka, 182-154 overall)

Class: 4A
Conference: Northwest Suburban
2024 Record: 9-16, Section 7AAAA Runner-Up
X: @AnokaBaseball

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

Coach's Comment:
"This is the smallest Senior class we've had in quite some time so we will need to lean on our Juniors to help us compete in the NWSC. Thankfully, we return four juniors that all had significant playing time for us as sophomores (Ryan Tatkenhorst, Carson Nedland, Logen Jaeger, and Mason Konen). Additionally, we have also lost a pair of returning Juniors (Devon Luckas and Mason Brent) for the season due to injuries from the football season."

LYLE-PACELLI ATHLETICS

Head Coach: Brock Meyer (12 seasons, 192-72)

Class: 1A
Conference: Southeast
2024 Record: 23-4, Class A State 6th Place
X: @lyle_pacelli

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

  • Grady Meyer Fr. SS/P,
  • Dawson Jenkins Fr. UT/P

Coach's Comment:
"We have a good nucleus coming back who have played a lot of innings and have big game experience but we will have to rely on some younger players to pick up the slack of the 3 seniors we lost. We lost a couple of senior pitchers but have talented arms coming up and hopefully they can take a step or two forward this year to get us back in position to compete for another section title."

HAYFIELD VIKINGS

Head Coach: Kasey Krekling (14 seasons, 189-102)

Class: 1A
Conference: Gopher
2024 Record: 17-8
X: @thehayfield9

Impact Players:

Coach's Comment:
"We graduated a fantastic core of baseball players with four now playing college baseball, but we have a good group of strong underclassmen that are ready to play in their absence. If we can throw strikes consistently on the mound, we have a good chance to make a deep playoff run."

MOUNDS VIEW MUSTANGS

Head Coach: Nik Anderson (3 seasons)

Class: 4A
Conference: Suburban East
2024 Record: 20-9, Class 4A State 2nd Place
X: @mvvarsbaseball

Impact Players:

Coach's Comment:
"With a great group of kids, and a large chunk of our core from last year returning, we're confident we can make another deep run. A lot of these guys got a taste of what it takes last year and are hungry to come back even more competitive. Should be an exciting year for the Mustangs."

NORTH BRANCH VIKINGS

Head Coach: Matt Solberg (2 seasons, 17-28)

Class: 3A
Conference: Mississippi 8
2024 Record: 5-17
X: None

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

  • Jackson Puelston, 2027
  • Ben Herges, 2027
  • Spencer Miller, 2027
  • Peyton Minnick, 2027

Coach's Comment:
"After a challenging and injury-plagued 2024 season, our Varsity Baseball team is preparing to fill some big shoes. We’re saying goodbye to key contributors, including Andrew Orf, the best statistical hitter in program history and a four-year starter, as well as Noah Thorsen, a three-year starter. This season, a diverse group of athletes, spanning various ages and skill sets, will have the opportunity to step into major roles within our program. Several young pitchers are poised to take the mound this spring, while experienced seniors like Lucas Goggin and Carter Drill will provide stability and leadership up the middle. Our coaching staff anticipates a highly competitive atmosphere as athletes battle for open positions, a dynamic that will help them thrive under pressure once the season begins. Competing in a tough conference will provide valuable experience, allowing us to build momentum and potentially peak in time for a postseason run. This group is hungry for the opportunity to prove themselves, and we’re confident they’ll deliver a competitive and exciting product on the field this spring."

ELY TIMBERWOLVES

Head Coach: Frank Ivancich (22 seasons, 333-174)

Class: 1A
Conference: IRC & Arrowhead
2024 Record: 12-12
X: None

Impact Players:

  • Caid Chittum, SS/RHP, 2025
    .513 BA, 39 H, 26 R, 21 RBI, 9 2B
    21 IP, 3.50 ERA, 38 K, 12 W, 17 H
  • Ben Leeson, C, 2025
    .327 BA, .565 OBP, 17 H, 18 R, 24 BB
  • Hunter Halbakken, P/IF, 2026
    3-1, 1.91 ERA, 28 IP, 31 SO, 15 Walks, 21 Hits
  • Drew Johnson, 1B/OF, 2026
    .321 BA

Key Underclass Players:

  • Owen Marolt, P/2B, 2027
  • Sean Merriman, OF, 2027
  • Tyde Brecke, OF, 2027

Coach's Comment:
"We are coming off an exciting summer of Junior Legion which saw our team experience a Div II Jr Legion State Tournament down in St. Charles.  That experience last summer against mostly AA schools at state has us very excited about the upcoming 2025 high school season."

DASSEL COKATO CHARGERS

Head Coach: Justin McKinley (3 seasons)

Class: 2A
Conference: Wright County
2024 Record: 8-13
X: None

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

  • Brody Bergerren
  • Alec Anderson 

Coach's Comment:
"We have a big junior class that should help build our nucleus for the future. We have a small senior class which may open the door for a sophomore or Freshman to crack the lineup."

DOVER-EYOTA EAGLES

Head Coach: Brian DeFrang (2 seasons)

Class: 2A
Conference: Three Rivers
2024 Record: 13-9
X: @baseballdovey

Impact Players:

Key Underclass Players:

  • Caden Haag
  • Owen Ihrke
  • Kellen Andring

Coach's Comment:
"We will be a young team, but there is a lot of talent in these young players.  We expect to still be competitive, but I am sure we will make some youthful mistakes and learn from them and improve.  We lost 5 solid seniors last year so there will be a lot of new faces on the team.  The group we put on the field this year will be a solid group of young men who will come each day ready to work and improve.  Really looking forward to how this team progresses."

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