North Dakota Preps

Its only Feb. but baseball starts next month wat are your thoughts on this upcoming baseball season what teams will do well and post any insight on players that will do well ect...

 

I think you have to look at defending state champs Minot at the Class A level. Minot has Lunde and Elgie who are really good.

How about Class B? Is Thompson still the cream of the crop?

I really dont know about Thompson. But i also think minot will be good this year also, they have a real good scrappy player in ryan hornecher or somthign and also gathman and hall coming up i think they will be really good, them along with bismark

Lundy and Elgie were both named Louisville Slugger preseason All-Americans. If Lundy has another season like last spring he will probably get drafted. Fargo North should be pretty good in the east. Bismarck too, but no Kyle Carr will hurt them in tournaments because they don't have a true ace.

I would guess some of the usual suspects in Class B i.e. Thompson, Grafton, Bishop Ryan, who all made the state tourney last year.

Ya north will be good, as for the other east teams i heard from sombody that solum and scholl are both hurt, that makes south not nearly as good because those two are really good, Devils lake has that Green kid who is decent but i dont know much about them, I dont no much about GF either but North has ebert back, thats all there is to say about them, with a guy like that thats a true ace right there, and as for west fargo i dont know much about them i just know they lost storrestum the best hitter in the state i think and they lost holmes the catcher, they have Salquest back hes decent but i dont know

This upcoming baseball season should be very intense.  I currently play for St. Mary's.  I think Minot is the clear cut favorite.  They will be very tough to beat with Lundy, Elgie, and Gathman back.  They will be loaded at every position.  I also see Dickinson and North doing pretty well.  St. Mary's will be improved with every pitcher back and 7 of the 9 starters back alsom with 6 of those starters being Juniors.

Yeah Ming, I forgot about Dickinson... They had a very good young team last year and should be improved.
The have a freshman shortstop (whose name escapes me) that is lights out...

Another stud that is returning is Tyler Liffrig from Williston. He can hit the snot out of the ball. Andy Leer is a good returner for the 'Yotes as well.

Good luck to your St. Mary's club this season - sounds like you have some good kids back.
I remember being impressed by Torey Bohan last season as a catcher, but I can't remember too much about the rest of the Saints.

I was talkign to a few buddies of mine from the fargo area over the weekend. They watch the fargo and west fargo squads closely.

They said fargo south wont be too great this year it doesnt look like. Like i said in an earlier post they lost Billy Schoel and Catlin Solum due to injury's. If i remember right those two along with Nygaard were the only three to move up to play Post 2 in their state championship season starting at second base and center field. Those two are very substantial losses for south high school. Althougth i dont know if solum ran track in the spring or not. Players that should be returning for south are Jake Olson, and Justin Hanson from post 2. Other then that they said some people who might get some playing time from the J.V./ bomber  level are Travis Beushane, Eric Manlove, i forget his first name but somthing Clapp a solid left handed pitcher, and Jake McDougall will all do there part they are thinking.

Fargo North they think will be the team to beat this season. With the return of Gabe Shockman, Tom Ebert and the up and comers for North you might see names like Bombinger, Begeron, Johnson, Sheets, Klien, and Ficek. To me that is going to be one of the more Talented teams out there (In the East that is) I really think Minot, Bismark, or Williston will take it this year, although the loss of Carr and Hennessey will hurt their respected teams.

West Fargo: I think this year more then any year they will be hurting. They lost once again to me the best hitter in the state in Storrestun and Alot of their starters from last year including Holmes, and Heitcamp. They do have a few players with some potential it seems in Gregory, Schmidt ( looks like a hitter) , and Salquest. Some other players they thougth might fill in on some duties are Renfrew looks like a decent player, Greshik heard lots of upside on him. Players from the B-legion team that ive heard some about are Odegard, Crist, Horsehauger, and Roll.  With Few returning starters i wouldn't expect much out of these guys. 

im not going to Deny that the west should probabally win this year but those are some of the summeries in the F-M area of teams. Besides shanley, i dont know anything on them.

I saw Velva's Senior Baberuth play this year i think they will do fine they have some meat on the mound what killed them when i watched was the errors but i think they will be a team to watch out for

yes, velva does have plenty of talent on their team still but they lack experience. its pretty hard for the under classmen to find playing time with 10 solid seniors in front of them. they will be good enough to make state i think.

Yeah, there was a big group of seniors. Their Sr Babe Ruth did sweep a double header against Bismarck the week before the state tourney. Bismarck is the team that won the Sr Babe Ruth tourney. They're a little streaky with the fielding, but that's gonna come around with experience. They have a good group of players that can make a run.

thompson will be pretty dominant again. they only lost 2 seniors or something. shumacher was one of them but they'll still have a stellar lineup.

Thompson will have a really good team if Jacob Wurtz is on the team.  I remember he punched his coach in state legion after he got pulled.  Pretty sure they got the same coach in high school.  Kid could be best player in the state but as coach would you want him to play on your team?  Also heard he got kicked out of some football games this year.  Great talent needs to learn some control.   

NYYANKS wrote:I was talkign to a few buddies of mine from the fargo area over the weekend. They watch the fargo and west fargo squads closely.

They said fargo south wont be too great this year it doesnt look like. Like i said in an earlier post they lost Billy Schoel and Catlin Solum due to injury's. If i remember right those two along with Nygaard were the only three to move up to play Post 2 in their state championship season starting at second base and center field. Those two are very substantial losses for south high school. Althougth i dont know if solum ran track in the spring or not. Players that should be returning for south are Jake Olson, and Justin Hanson from post 2. Other then that they said some people who might get some playing time from the J.V./ bomber  level are Travis Beushane, Eric Manlove, i forget his first name but somthing Clapp a solid left handed pitcher, and Jake McDougall will all do there part they are thinking.

Fargo North they think will be the team to beat this season. With the return of Gabe Shockman, Tom Ebert and the up and comers for North you might see names like Bombinger, Begeron, Johnson, Sheets, Klien, and Ficek. To me that is going to be one of the more Talented teams out there (In the East that is) I really think Minot, Bismark, or Williston will take it this year, although the loss of Carr and Hennessey will hurt their respected teams.

West Fargo: I think this year more then any year they will be hurting. They lost once again to me the best hitter in the state in Storrestun and Alot of their starters from last year including Holmes, and Heitcamp. They do have a few players with some potential it seems in Gregory, Schmidt ( looks like a hitter) , and Salquest. Some other players they thougth might fill in on some duties are Renfrew looks like a decent player, Greshik heard lots of upside on him. Players from the B-legion team that ive heard some about are Odegard, Crist, Horsehauger, and Roll.  With Few returning starters i wouldn't expect much out of these guys. 

im not going to Deny that the west should probabally win this year but those are some of the summeries in the F-M area of teams. Besides shanley, i dont know anything on them.

As for South they will probably struggle again this year.  Solum runs track in the spring so thats not a loss for South but losing sholl is a huge loss.  Manlove is an embarrassment to sport of baseball and football.  Beauchene is pretty solid overall.  McDougall started at 2nd for South last year as a sophomore and is very solid defensively and a very good lead off hitter.  I was talking to his bombers coach and he told me McDougall had like 30 walks and 35 hit by pitches this summer.. ouch.  Hanson and Althoff should be decent pitchers but nothing too special.  Looks like another tough year for my alma mater.                                                

I think Bishop Ryan is gonna be tough this season as always. they've had a solid program for a couple of years with good senior play returning in infielders braden bosch and all-state Jordan Huettl. i think if huettl puts together a great season complimented by a decent legion season he'll go D-1 or possibly early draft??

Huettl is a good ball player and I have nothin against him, but what makes you think he's good enough to go D-1 or get drafted. I don't think so.

No way he is going to get drafted

I'm also wondering what qualifies a person as all-state. I believe they don't have an all-state team. They have an all-tournament team for class B high school, but no all-state team.

Huettl wont get drafted or even go d-1.  Tyler Lundy from Minot High has a chance to get drafted he is a great ball player.  He was also named to the Pre-Season Louisville All-American team.

i heard solum was gonna play baseball this spring.....till he got hurt.

I guess i never heard that. I heard some talk about the [shadow=green]Packers[/shadow] actually maybe being good this year from some Fargo North dads i was talkign to, does anybody have any information on them?

Heres my picks for the WDA baseball season:
1. Minot- best team in state
2. Dickinson- tons of returning players back
3. Williston- tons of expierence on this team
4. St. Mary's- 7 of 9 starters back and top 2 pitchers.
5. Bismarck- solid returning players, must find some pitching
6. Mandan- tons of Seniors back, lacks pitching
7. Century- lost a lot of starters, except for Zach Wentz and a couple others.
8. Beulah- last year of Class A
9. Belcourt- last as usual


I dont know a lot about the east this year so heres a few teams that will contend and should do well:
Fargo North, West Fargo, and Grand Forks Central.

Y-not Daily wrote:Lundy and Elgie were both named Louisville Slugger preseason All-Americans. If Lundy has another season like last spring he will probably get drafted. Fargo North should be pretty good in the east. Bismarck too, but no Kyle Carr will hurt them in tournaments because they don't have a true ace.

I would guess some of the usual suspects in Class B i.e. Thompson, Grafton, Bishop Ryan, who all made the state tourney last year.

LOL!!! Tyler Lundy will not get drafted. Dont get me wrong he is a very good player but as a position player he does not have the skills yet to be drafted. On a draft scale-- average arm, average running speed, average power. He is a great player in North Dakota and may continue to develop but when you attend college games and see the players there that are better and not get drafted there is no way that he will be drafted. I am sure some will say "but Carr got drafted last year". Yes he did but the difference is Carr is a 6'5" Left handed pitcher who touches 90 with a very projectable frame and the ultimate draft tool, being left handed. If he was good enough to be drafted he would have signed early or have committed with a division I program and not a juco.

I think Lundy could get drafted.  Obviously you have never watched this guy play.  He wasn't named a Pre-Season All American for no reason!

I have seen him play like 10 times. I have also seen NDSU and UND play numerous times as well as Minnesota, and Nebraska, and I also attended the College World Series last year and I can promise you that he will not get drafted. There are way more talented players out there then for a major league organization to take a MAJOR gamble on a position kid from North Dakota that rarely sees pitching harder then 82. He has no physical intangible that would intreague any major league organization to draft him. Bottom line!  Like I said before I think he is a talented player and down the line after 2 years at Iowa Western and another year at a 4 year school, then who knows but he is not going to be drafted out of HS.

The last 2 kids drafted out of HS in North Dakota (Horst, Carr) both left handed pitchers. Name the last position player drafted out of HS in North Dakota??? Tough to think of one because they dont gamble on that and wait to see how they develop especially with the draft being cut down to 50 rounds.