The Minnewaska Area baseball team has been one of the most consistent Laker sports programs over the years.  Last year was no exception as the Lakers went 20-4-1 overall and earned the WCC title with a 13-0-1 record.

The Lakers fell to Montevideo in the Section 3AA title game, 3-2 after edging the Thunderhawks in an earlier doubleheader, 4-0 and 4-3.  Those two teams will be the conference favorites again this year.

The 20 victories last season tied with the 2015 team that went 20-4 for the most wins in school history.  

The Lakers, coached this year by Joe Alexander with help from assistants, Chris Lence, Andy Goracke, Drew Olsonawski, Hunter Infanger and Shane Radermacher, opened up the section tourney with a bye and loss before winning four-straight elimination games to reach the finals where it needed to beat Montevideo twice to earn a state berth.

Minnewaska, which reached state in 1992 and 2000, losing twice both times, was set to open up the season Thursday, April 3 at home with a doubleheader against Morris Area-CA.

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

All the seniors were instrumental members of the baseball team and will be greatly missed.  However, the team does return at least five members of  last year’s team who all played key parts in the Lakers’ run to the conference title. 

Last year’s stats-awards

The team batted .316 last season with 219 runs scored, averaging just under 9 runs per game. Graduate Dylan Alexander led the team last year with a .442 batting average, 38 hits and eight doubles.  He also had an on-base percentage of .538, 31 RBI and 23 runs scored.

Current senior Noah Jensen had a batting average of .400 and on-base percentage of .529, while also leading the team with eight homeruns, 35 RBI and 23 walks/hbp.

Graduate Jack Majerus also batted .400 with an on-base percentage of .477 while leading the team with 109 plate appearances, 95 at-bats, 38 hits, eight doubles, 33 runs and 18 stolen bases.

Other players batting over .300 last year were current junior Riley Dell (.385), graduate Thomas Poegel (.353), graduate Austin Weber (.329) and graduate Alex Panitzke (.306).  All those players also had on-base percentages of over .400 including Dell, who led the Lakers with an on-base percentage of .595.

•  In pitching stats last spring, graduate Nathan Dell led the Lakers with a 7-1 record and also had a 1.7 ERA, while graduate Ryland Martin was 6-1 with a 2.1 ERA, Alex Panitzke was 5-2 with a 2.1 ERA, Jack Majerus was 2-0 with a 3.7 ERA and current junior Connor Erickson was 1-0 with an ERA of 2.3.

•  The Lakers won last 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).

•  Earning the Most Valuable Player award for the Lakers last 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.

•  In addition to the great success of the Lakers last 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 last season (Swenson had five) and 35th RBI last year (breaking Austin Ver Steeg’s old record of 34); and Jack Majerus scored his 33rd run (breaking the old season record of 30 by Matt Hammer) while also setting a school record for career stolen bases.

•  The Lakers had six All-Conference players last season as Dylan Alexander, Jack Majerus, Noah Jensen, Alex Panitzke, Austin Weber and Ryland Martin all earned All-WCC honors and 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.

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

Other Laker notes

•  Minnewaska Area first played baseball in the WCC in 1992 and has now won or tied for the championship 11 times.  

Overall, the Lakers have won WCC baseball titles in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2023 and 2024.