It was another exciting and successful spring sports season. Annandale sent individuals to state in boys track, girls track and boys golf. A second-place finish in the WCC-West went to the girls golf team and softball took the WCC-West title and came oh-so-close to getting to the state tournament.
Baseball
The Cardinals baseball team showed some improvement this year, but I am sure the boys’ 6-16 record was disappointing to the players and fans.
There will be a very good crop of seniors next year, including Brett Wadman, Brock Fobbe, Hunter Mutterer and Cory Schmidt. Derek Tomberlin saw a lot of quality time this year as a sophomore and will surely have an impact on the 2016 team. AJ Hinz, a very athletic and talented freshman, will help next year with his very impressive pitching skills.
Just about all of the players I mentioned are three-sport athletes, which a small-town school like Annandale really needs and appreciates.
I made a mistake this past year and mentioned that baseball was not my favorite sport. Needless to say, some were not pleased with that comment. It is still not my favorite sport, but I am learning to like it and appreciate more and more what it takes to play the game.
I only played sandlot ball as a kid, never did Little League or any school ball. But as an adult I coached T-ball, pitch-ball and baseball. I have not watched a baseball game on TV since the 1991 World Series. I attended three games at Met Stadium, two games at the Metrodome and one game at the Target Field.
Not exactly a rabid fan, but I do my best to cover the game fairly and with the help of comments from Coach MacLean and players Cole Gueningsman and Brock Fobbe, I manage to put together a story each week during the season.
Softball
The Cardinal softball team was very fun to watch this year.
With superb hitting during the regular season and really good pitching by freshman pitcher Sarah Johnson, I fully expected to see the girls in the state tournament this year.
While Johnson’s pitching remained strong until the end, the bats got somewhat quiet in the Section 5-2A tournament. The Cards only scored two runs in the last 22 innings of the tournament.
The team is losing some very good seniors, including Melanie Braun, Haley Liestman and MacKenzie Borders. The leadership and skills these girls provided will be missed.
But there are some mighty talented younger players ready to step up in 2016 and make a run to the state tournament.
Besides Johnson, the pitcher, fans have to be impressed with freshman Bree Seagraves, sophomore Krissy Kalla and sophomore Brittney Manthie.
With talented young players and a coach like Skip Dolan, the future looks bright for Cardinal softball.
One more note about softball. In the four years I have been covering Cardinal athletics for the Advocate, one of my favorite Cardinals has been Marina Chapman.
This year Chapman decided not to go out for track, but to come back to softball for her senior season. It was great seeing her smiling face and bubbly personality in the field, at the plate or even on the bench.
Chapman, a four-sport letter-winner in cross country, hockey, track and softball, was awarded the 2015 Female Athlete of the Year. It could not have gone to a more talented and deserving athlete.
Chapman will be playing hockey for Gustavus next year and she will be missed by many here in Annandale.
Girls golf
I was very impressed with the girls golf team. Nicole Nelson, Haley Prewitt and Hannah Miller were all named to the WCC-West All-Conference team. Celeste Fuentes-Mattson was an honorable mention winner.
Ninth-grader Nelson and junior Prewitt both qualified to play in the second day of the Section 5-2A tournament – not an easy feat.
I really enjoy watching Coach Dave Greve interact with and coach these girls. He is a very talented golfer that also has the gift of passing his knowledge on.
The Cardinal girls golf team should be strong into the future. Back next year will be Miller and Prewitt. A junior next year will be Morgan Diers. Sophomores next year and sure to be very strong are Nelson, Emma Thomsen, Madi Marohn, Siera Dagner and Abby Mikel. Seventh-graders this year, but showing real promise, were Julia Olson and Megan Otto.
It will be fun in the next few years seeing some of these girls making it to the state tournament.
The girls team was awarded the Section 5-2A Academic All-State Award, based on the team’s GPA.
Boys golf
I was thrilled this year to be able to walk the first nine holes of the Minnesota High School League’s State Golf Championship with Annandale’s Austin Janski.
Over 80 of the states’s top high school golfers competed this year and Janski’s 30th-place finish was impressive.
Janski works hard at his golf game and it shows. He was only a sophomore this year and the outlook for the next two years is excellent.
Alex Alama plays football, basketball and golf and he is one of my favorite Annandale athletes to watch. Alama also had an excellent year of golf, making it to the second day of the Section 5-2A tournament.
Another golfer that made it to the second day of the Section 5-2A tournament was James Sherwood, a sophomore. Dave Greve, the girls golf coach, said at a recent gathering that he rarely goes to Southbrook and does not see Sherwood on the course. That hard work and dedication is sure to pay off for Sherwood in the next two years as a Cardinal golfer.
Janski, Alama and Sherwood are the anchors of this Cardinal team. I expect to see all them golfing at the state championships next spring. In order for the team to be a force in the section they will need at least one more strong golfer in the fourth position next year.
Ben Ericksen will be a sophomore next year and could fill that spot. He is a very talented young man and could be in the caliber of Janski, Alama and Sherwood by next spring.
Sage Sparks, a freshman this year, also made great progress in 2015. If he works on his game over the summer he will help the team.
Coach Myron Damberger does a wonderful job coaching the boys. He takes a personal interest in the boys and wants to see them excel and have fun doing it.
Track
The graduated seniors on the boys and girls track team will be missed in the years to come. Calisha Norgren, Jenna Loch, Lisa Neumann, Madison Kasper, Mavis Ekholm, Lance Tikkanen, Seth Johnson, Cole Olson, Spencer Ogden and Zach Chollett all made significant contributions to Annandale’s track and field team over the last few years.
Neumann has been a standout Cardinal athlete in tennis and track. A very quiet young lady, her athletic ability speaks volumes whether she is on the tennis court or throwing the shot put. I will miss our conversations about sports while she works the checkout line at Marketplace.
Ogden has been one of my favorite athletes the last couple of years. The Senior Athlete of the Year winner, Ogden was a standout in football, wrestling and track. Always with a smile, he was willing to give input into many of the sports articles I wrote this past year. I will miss him.
Not to worry though, as there is an abundance of talent that will be around for the next few years. Underclassmen to watch include Trae Bedford, Alex Steffens, Alex Hohenstein, Jarod Wilken, Jamie Kasper, Kyle Zirbes, Zach Boos, Justin Higgins, Elizabeth Schlafke, Ellie Heidebrink, Hannah Medvec, Morgan Olson, Gabrielle Ward, Bailey Loch, Emily Kasper, Heide Stang, Jessica Scheer and Kamryn D’Heilly.
Coaches Bo Wilke, Cal Froehlich, Keith Aeikens and Ryan DeRoeck do an excellent job with these young athletes.
Next
I am looking forward to the Fall 2015 sports now. Football, cross country, volleyball and tennis are just around the corner. The first football game is Saturday, Aug. 22, at Pierz. It should be fun.
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