UPCOMING EVENTS

 

Diamond Club Meeting - Tuesday, September 2, 7:00PM @ MVHS Forum

 

 

Baseball is a unique sport:

- There's no clock, you can't run out the clock...

- Batting Order: You can't give the ball to one person offensively  all the time like many team sports...

- The Defense starts play with the ball...

...Latest Mustangs Baseball News...

The Most Recent Look At The New Field

July 22nd

The concrete dugouts are being constructed this week. The aglime has been delivered and will be spread shortly.

Additional Field Construction Pictures

Friday, July 18, 2008

2008 Coaches Association All-State Teams Announced

The Minnesota Baseball Coaches Assoiciation has announced the 2008 All-State teams.  Chaska's Brad Hand was named the Class AAA Player of the Year.

2008 Coaches Association All-State Teams

Sunday, July 12, 2008

Summer Fun at the Sandlot

The Summer Fun at the Sandlot program has completed 3 weeks, and has 2 weeks remaining.  The program is provided four mornings each week at MVHS; it is an unstructured opportunity for students to practice hitting and throwing.  This summer, 104 basebal players are participating in the program.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

David Freed receives postseason honor

Mounds View's David Freed was named to the Pioneer Press All-State Honorable Mention team.  David returns for the 2009 season as a senior captain. 

Pioneer Press 2008 All-State Team

Pioneer Press 2008 Player of the Year

The Star Tribune All-Metro Team was also announced recently.  See the links below. 

Star Tribune 2008 All-Metro Team

Star Tribune 2008 Player of the Year

The Minnesota State High School Coaches Association also names an All-State team.  It will be announced later this summer.

Monday, June 16, 2008

New Field Excavation Started

Excavation on the new field at Mounds View High School began today.  The field is scheduled to be completed this summer, and ready for high school play for the 2009 season.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

2009 Captains Selected

David Freed, Ian Goldsmith and Brandon Hershey were selected by their teamates as captains for the 2009 season.  All 2008 Varsity/JV players voted for captains for the 2009 season.

Leadership is earned; it is not granted.  This applies to captains - they must now earn that role.  This applies to all others as well.  There is no limit on the number of leaders; the team needs others to step up and provide significant leadership.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

LaDuke selected to play in Lions All-Star Tournament

Ross LaDuke has been selected to play for the Metro East team in the 34th annual Minnesota Lions All-Star Baseball Tournament.  Top seniors from around the state are selected annually to play in this event.

 

2008 Lions Tournament Schedule @ Chaska Athletic Park:

 

 

Friday, June 20

4:00PM: Metro East vs. South

6:00PM: Opening Ceremonies

7:00PM: Metro West vs. North

 

Saturday, June 21

10:00AM: North vs. Metro East

12:30PM: South vs. Metro West

3:00PM: South vs. North

5:00PM: Awards Ceremony

6:00PM: Metro East vs. Metro West

 

 

Following are past Lions All-Star players from Mounds View

2007: Erik Anderson, Seth Rosin

2006: Sam Weber

2005: Billy Gazich

2004: Lex Reinke

2003: Rich Opitz

2002: Andy Peters

2001: Josh Howard

2000: Brad Baglien, Steve Grasley, Pete Wiedewitsch

1999: Matt Pilon, Billy Schneider

1997: Jeremy Beaulieu, Mark Pederson

1997: Coach Tom Schuh

1975: Coach Mick McNeely  

  

   Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Season-End Banquet Pictures

Ben Gallagher has provided many pictures from the season-end banquet.

2008 Season-End Banquet Pictures

Thursday, May 29, 2008

2008 Seniors

The 2008 seniors walked out of Mounds View High School for the last time today as students. Congratulations and good luck in all your future endeavors!

Thursday, May 27, 2008

2008 Post-Season Individual Awards

Individual accomplishments and awards are always in the context of being in support of the team's efforts.  Following are the 2008 individual awards announced at the season-end banquet:

Lions All-Star: Ross LaDuke

All-Conference: David Freed, Brandon Hershey, Ross LaDuke

All-Conference HM: Nick Barkve, Cam Dickison, Ian Goldsmith

Co-Most Valuable Defensive Players: Nick Barkve, Ross LaDuke

Co-Most Valuable Pitchers: Cam Dickison, David Freed

Co-Most Valuable Offensive Players: Brandon Hershey, Ross LaDuke

Mustang Award: Cam Dickison

Congratulations!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Mustang Mentors Announced for 2008-2009

Baseball players named as Mustang Mentors for 2008-2009 are:

Jeff Anderson

Karl Eicher

David Freed

Tony Gazich

Joe Kelly

Congratulations!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Tri-City Legion hosting Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

  Tri-City Baseball will host a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 5-8 p.m.
  Monday, June 9 at the Tri-City American Legion Post #513, 400 Old
  Highway 8 in New Brighton.  Proceeds will help support the operation of
  the Tri-City American Legion Blue and Red youth baseball teams.  Tickets
  are $7 and can be purchased at the door.  A silent auction will be held, and  at approximately 7:00 p.m., a Red and Blue uniform will ceremonially be
  retired in honor of the many contributions to all of the teams over the years
  by Elmer Buttweiler, who passed away in 2007. Members of his family will
  be present for the ceremony.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Section Playoffs Are Set

The Mustangs are the #5 seed in the 12 team Section 5AAA Baseball playoffs.  The Section playoffs begin with a double elimination sub-section format.  There are four sub-sections with 3 teams in each.  The top 4 seeds in the Section are each placed in one of the four sub-sections, and they receive a bye in their respective sub-section playoff while the other 2 teams in each sub-section play each other to begin the sub-section action. 

One winner from each subsection will advance to a 4 team double elimination section playoff format. 

The Mustangs will host a first round game at Kohler Meadows on Thursday vs. Coon Rapids, the #9 seed in the Section.  Irondale is the #4 seed, and the top seed in the sub-section; on Saturday, they will host the winner of the Mounds View vs. Coon Rapids game. Last season, the Mustangs also played Coon Rapids in the sub-section playoffs, eventually losing 2 of the 3 games played against them.  Coon Rapids returns most of their team from last season, and they have won 7 of their last 10 games.  The Mustangs lost to Irondale this last week in extra innings.  Following is the sub-section schedule for the Mustangs:

Gm 1 - Thu, 5/22, 4PM - Coon Rapids (#9) @ Mounds View (#5)

Gm 2 - Sat, 5/24, 12PM - Winner Gm1 @ Irondale (#4)

Gm3 - Sat, 5/24 - 2PM - Loser Gm2 vs. Loser Gm1 @ Irondale

(1 Team is now eliminated)

Gm4 - Tue, 5/27 - 2PM - Winner Gm2 vs. Winner Gm3 @ High Seed

Gm5 - Tue, May 27 - 4PM - Same teams as Gm4 (if necessary) 

Subsection winner advances to Section Playoffs held at Midway Stadium on May 30, June 2 and June 4.

Complete Section Seeding: 1-Maple Grove, 2-Osseo, 3-Champlin Park, 4-Irondale, 5-Mounds View, 6-Totino-Grace, 7-Spring Lake Park, 8-Centennial, 9-Coon Rapids, 10-Park Center, 11-Blaine, 12-Cooper.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Nick Barkve Receives Recognition

 

Mounds View senior Nick Barkve was named Athlete of the Week by Maplewood Toyota for his contributions to the team.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Brandon Hershey Receives Recognition

                

Mounds View junior Brandon Hershey was recently named Athlete of the Week by Maplewood Toyota, and WCCO Radio / Mainstreet Bank for his contributions to the team.

Brandon Hershey Recognition

Monday, April 28, 2008

Academic Excellence Awards Program Held

Mounds View High School held its annual Academic Excelence Awards Program on April 17th.  Baseball players recognized were Jeff Anderson, Josh Balzer, David Bothwell, David Freed, Tony Gazich, Ian Goldsmith, Jayson Hoyme, Matt Kruger, Rushi Patel, Nick Peterson.  Congrats!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Star Tribune Article - Q & A with Dan Reichert

Mustangs Baseball is featured in the North Metro High School Sports Section of the Star Tribune through a Q & A with Senior Captain Dan Reichert:

Star Tribune Article

Friday, March 28, 2008

Teams Finalized

Teams have been established to start the season.  We have a Varsity/JV team of 35 players.  Some will likely play exclusively in JV games, and some exclusively in Varsity games.  Others may jump back and forth as opportunity arises.  All are eligible to play in a varsity game as the opportunity is available and earned.  The sophomore team will start with 12 players, and is expected to grow to 15 with the addition of 3 freshmen shortly.  The Freshman team starts with 18, and will be reduced to 15 shortly. 

Eighty three (83) students participated in the tryout process.  Cutting players that have put forth significant effort in the tryout process, have done everything asked of them that they control (their effort), and really want to be a part of the baseball program is obviously extremely difficult; most significantly for the students and their families.  A couple messages have been emphasized with the players:

1) We strongly encourage all these students to continue to play and tryout again next year.  And when they do, they want your spot, and they are highly motivated.  Making a team this year does not guarantee a spot next year.  Competition is a good thing.

2) Obviously, this is a time when those students that are cut need the support of their friends the most.  This support is expected.

Uniforms will be provided on Monday.

Varsity/JV: 2:15PM - Back Gym

Sophomore and Freshman: 3:30PM - Back Gym

In addition to the uniforms that are provided, players may purchase a baseball cap (new cap this year), mock-turtleneck, and green socks.  If a player has a mock turtleneck or socks from a previous year that can be worn, they do NOT need to purchase new items.  Cash or a check to "MVHS Baseball" are both fine.  These items are sold at cost, and will be sold on Monday.  The cost for the items:

            Baseball Cap:           $14

            Mock-T:                      $12

            Socks:                        $  4

 

Coach Downey

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Juniors and Seniors Travel to Florida

Thirty-one juniors and seniors began the baseball season in Orlando, Florida this past week.  In addition to 3 scrimmages and daily practices, the players took advantage of their passes to visit the multiple theme parks at Disney World.  Coach Downey said, "They had a great time.  Years from now when they look back on their overall high school experience, I'm sure this trip will be among their many great memories."

Florida Trip Pictures

Thursday, March 13, 2008

2008 Summer Baseball Opportunities

The Tri-City Legion will sponsor 2 Legion teams this summer for students in the Mounds View and Irondale school boundary area.  This is a change from 1 Legion team that Tri-City has sponsored in the past.  This provides the opportunity for 15-18 more kids to play Legion baseball in the summer.  Registration information is currently available.

Tri-City Legion Baseball

The Legion will NOT sponsor additional teams as they have in the past; these are being sponsored by SAYB.  SAYB will support VFW (16 year-olds), Senior Babe Ruth (17-18), and other teams for 16-18 year-old students.  SAYB will post information on these programs on their website shortly.

SAYB Baseball

Thursday, March 13, 2008

2008 Season Preview

The season preview provided to the local newspapers is below

Outloook

Eight players who all contributed significant playing time graduated from the 2007 team, including All-Conference players Erik Anderson, Brian Marshik, Brandon Porten and Seth Rosin.

Seniors Andy Kurkowski (DH) and Dan Reichert (1B) return as All-Conference Honorable Mention players from last season.

Infielder Nick Barkve and outfielders David Bothwell (senior), Ian Goldsmith (junior) and David Freed (junior) also return. Senior pitchers Andy Gallagher, Matt Harris, Paul Myers and Phil Wessberg all contributed for the Mustangs last spring and look to again in 2008. Junior David Freed also looks to pitch for the Mustangs this season.

With the graduation of 8 players from 2007, we expect strong competition among several seniors, juniors and possibly sophomores for varsity playing time.

Strengths: Good team speed.

After Cretin-Derham Hall, the Suburban East Conference looks to be quite balanced - we expect to be very competitive in every game. Non-conference foes include our cross-town rivals and friends Irondale and Totino-Grace - many of our players have grown up playing with players on those 2 teams.

Feature Story Possibilities

  • Many baseball players compete in multiple high school sports at Mounds View High School; 37 of the 50 returning players are high school multi-sport athletes; 14 of those 37 compete in 3 high school sports. We encourage multi-sport athletes - they learn to compete in other sports, many skills are transferable, they learn to play different roles on those other teams, and they experience different teammates.
  • Mounds View High School will begin construction of a new on-campus baseball field this spring. It will be ready for play in the spring of 2009. Mounds View currently plays varsity and JV games at Kohler Park in Vadnais Heights. McCullough Park in Shoreview will continue to be used for Sophomore and Freshman games.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

2008 Summer Fun At The Park

The Summer Fun program that was popular last summer will be offered again this summer at MVHS.  The program will continue to provide the unstructured baseball activity as last summer, and also be expanded to include:

- A Structured pitching program on Tuesdays each week

- A program for younger kids (Grades 1 - 5)

2008 Summer Fun Information

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Final Cub Fundraiser of the Year Completed

 

The final of three grocery bagging fundraising events sponsored by the Diamond Club was completed on Saturday at the Cub Foods in White Bear Lake.  Many thanks to John Evangelist and the other parents that supervised this event!  Pictures are available at the following link:

Cub Foods Fundraiser - March 1, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Youth Clinic Conducted at MVHS for over 90 Players
The MVHS Coaching Staff and 15 MVHS baseball players conducted a 2 day clinic at MVHS over the weekend for over ninety players ages 9-14 years-old.  With limited space for indoor baseball, the clinic utilized both gyms, the stage, and the wrestling room to accomodate this large group.  All campers were provided with a souvenir Diamond baseball.  All equipment purchased in support of the clinic was donated to the MVHS High School Baseball Program.