Three batted .400 or better for Lakers this year
Sports | Published on July 8, 2024 at 2:23pm CDT
The Minnewaska Area baseball team, coached by Joe Alexander, released its season stats recently. The Lakers went 20-4-1 this season, winning the West Central Conference while also finishing as runner-up in the Section 3AA Tourney.
The 20 victories this season tied with the 2015 team that went 20-4 for the most wins in school history. The Lakers opened up the section tourney with a bye and loss before winning four-straight elimination games to reach the finals where it fell to Monte, 3-2.
The team batted .316 this season with 219 runs scored, averaging just under 9 runs per game.
Dylan Alexander led the team 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.
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.
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 were Riley Dell (.385), Thomas Poegel (.353), Austin Weber (.329) and Alex Panitzke (.306). All those players also had on-base percentages of over .400 including Riley Dell, who led the Lakers with an on-base percentage of .595
• In pitching stats, Nathan Dell led the Lakers with a 7-1 record and also had a 1.7 ERA, while 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 Connor Erickson was 1-0 with an ERA of 2.3.
• 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).
• 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.
