The Minnewaska baseball team had one of the best seasons in school history in 2024.  The Lakers went 20-4-1 overall to tie for the most wins in school history and Minnewaska was also 13-0-1 in the WCC to claim a 11th league title since 1992.

Minnewaska just missed out on a trip to state, losing 3-2 to Montevideo in the Section 3AA title game.  The Lakers have reached state in 1992 and 2000, losing twice both times.

Seniors lost to graduation from this year’s team are Dylan Alexander, Jack Majerus, Alex Panitzke, Nathan Dell, Austin Ballhagen, Ryland Martin, Thomas Poegel and Austin Weber.

•  The Lakers won this year’s WCC title with a perfect 13-0-1 record, followed by Montevideo (11-3), Morris area-CA (10-3-1), Melrose Area (9-5), BOLD and Sauk Centre (both 4-10), and Benson and West Central Area (both 2-12).

•  In addition to the great success of the Lakers this spring, the team also set a number of school records including:  Minnewaska Area tied the 2015 team for the most wins in a season with 20 (2015 team went 20-4); Noah Jensen set records with his 11th career homerun (Brant Swenson had 10), eighth homerun this season (Swenson had five) and 35th RBI this year (breaking Austin Ver Steeg’s old record of 34); and Jack Majerus scored 33 runs this year (breaking the old season record of 30 by Matt Hammer) while also setting a school record for career stolen bases.

Team awards and honors

The Lakers had six All-Conference players this season as Dylan Alexander, Jack Majerus, Noah Jensen, Alex Panitzke, Austin Weber and Ryland Martin all earned All-WCC honors this season while Nathan Dell was named to the honorable mention team.

In addition, Alexander was named the Most Valuable Player in the WCC and Majerus was named the WCC’s Best Defensive Player.

Alexander led the Lakers this season with a .442 batting average and was second with a .538 on-base percentage.  He also had a team-best 38 hits and eight doubles along with 31 RBI and 23 runs scored.  Complete stats for the team will be highlighted next week.

Earning placement on the All-Section 3AA team for 2024 were Jack Majerus, Marc Gruber, Dylan Alexander, Nathan Dell and Noah Jensen.

•  Alexander also was named to the “Play Ball!” Minnesota High School All-Star series and to the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches’ Association Class AA All-State team.

In academic-related awards, the Lakers earned an Academic All-State Gold Team Award and 10 players were named Academic All-Conference — Dylan Alexander, Jack Majerus, Alex Panitzke, Ryland Martin, Thomas Poegel, Levi Johnson, Caden Larson, Connor Erickson, Marc Gruber and Miles Wildman.

•  Earning the Most Valuable Player award for the Lakers this spring was Dylan Alexander, while Riley Dell was named the Most Improved Player, Jack Majerus earned the Best Defensive Player award and Noah Jensen won the Best Offensive Player honor.

•  For the JV team, Tyson Metz earned Most Improved, Marc Gruber was named MVP and Luke Danielson earned Best Defensive Player.

For the C-team, Miles Wildman earned the MVP honor, Ben Toohey was named the Best Defensive Player and Marshall Nichtern earned the Most Improved Player award.

•  The Lakers started out with 3-0, 11-1 and 16-2 records before tying with Morris in the final regular-season game to close out the regular season.  

In the playoffs, Waska had a first-game bye before losing to NLS at home, 14-4.  The Lakers came back with wins over Paynesville (7-4), NLS (5-4), Fairmont (9-7) and Windom (12-0) before losing to Montevideo in the title game, 3-2.

Other Laker notes

•  For some history, Minnewaska Area reached state in 1992 and 2000, losing two games both times.

•  Minnewaska has won or tied for the WCC title 11 times in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2023 and 2024.

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!