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...Latest Mustangs Baseball News...
Monday, June 15, 2009
2009 Alumni Game Played
Mounds View High School baseball alumni played to a 3-3 tie in a nine inning game on Sunday. Alums from the classes of 1997-2002 played against more recent alums. It was a beautiful day to play, and all agreed that they wanted to do it again next year. Thanks to the Diamond Club and specifically the Reichert's, Grasley's and Harris' for the cookout and music! Thanks to Gail Kalata from Tri-City Legion for the pictures below!
"Old Guys" Team
Matt Carter - 2002
Mark Pedersen - 1997
Andy Peters - 2002
Shea McGinnity - 2002
Joe Petersen - 2002
Jon Kruse - 2002
Nate Genung - 2002
Drew Espeset - 2002
Dan Genung - 2000
"Young Guys" Team
Adam Runkel - 2007
Paul Myers - 2008
Anthony Tallarico - 2008
Matt Harris - 2008
Phil Wessberg - 2008
Erik Anderson - 2007
Brett Theisen - 2006
Jordan Moberg - 2006
Tyler Savat - 2005
Tuesday, June 8, 2009
2009 Class Graduates
The 2009 senior class graduated last evening. Congratulations and good luck in all your future endeavors!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Baseball Players Receive Mounds View High School Athletic Awards
Congratulations to the following senior baseball players who received recognition from Mounds View High School:
MVHS Athlete of the Year
Ian Goldsmith
Mustang Award
(Athletes competing in 3 sports all 4 years)
Josh Balzer, David Freed, Ian Goldsmith, Andy Osborne
MVHS AAA Award
(For excellence in Academics, Arts and Athletics)
Karl Eicher
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Goldsmith selected to play in Lions All-Star Tournament
Ian Goldsmith has been selected to play for the Metro East team in the 35th annual Minnesota Lions All-Star Baseball Tournament. Top seniors from around the state are selected annually to play in this event.
2009 Lions Tournament Schedule @ Chaska Athletic Park:
Friday, June 19
4:00PM: Metro East vs. South
6:00PM: Opening Ceremonies
7:00PM: Metro West vs. North
Saturday, June 20
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
2008: Ross LaDuke
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
Thursday, June 4, 2009
2010 Captains Selected
Tony Gazich, Jay Porten and Billy Turner were selected by their teammates as captains for the 2010 season. All 2009 Varsity/JV players voted for captains for the 2010 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.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
2009 Post-Season Individual Awards
Individual awards are provided in proportion to a team's success, and individual accomplishments and awards are always recognized in the context of being in support of the team's efforts.
Lions All-Star
Ian Goldsmith
All-Conference
David Freed, Ian Goldsmith, Jesse Nickols
All-Conference Honorable Mention
Andy Osborne
Baseball Team Mustang Award Winners
Ian Goldsmith, Andy Osborne, Bill Thompson
Congratulations!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Mustang Mentors Named
Mustang Mentors at MVHS for 2009/2010 were recently announced. Baseball players that are Mustang Mentors next school year are:
Jeff Anderson, Tony Gazich, Jason Hagemann, Joe Kelly
Congratulations!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Season-End Banquet Held
The end of the season Banquet for all teams was held at Jimmy's. All teams were recognized, including the sixteen seniors for their contributions over their 4 years of high school baseball.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Seniors and Parents Recognized
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Seniors and their parents were recognized before the final game of the regular season. The Mustangs defeated Woodbury in the game 8-1. Click on the link below for pictures of the Senior Day event, as well as other games throughout the season.
Senior Day Pictures
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Academic Excellence Awards Program Held
Mounds View High School held their annual Academic Excellence Awards Program tonight.
Congratulations to the following baseball players that were recognized!
Freshmen: Brett Burckhardt, Pat Dewitt, Tyler Hansen, Nick Helgeson, Matt Herringshaw, Alex Peterson, Ross Teney, Jake Thompson, Ryan Vijums, Matt Wilson.
Sophomores: Nik Anderson, Brett Becker, Eli Bucsko, Jayson Hoyme, Matt Kruger.
Juniors: Jeff Anderson, Tony Gazich
Seniors: Josh Balzer, David Freed, Andy Osborne.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Field Dedication Held Prior to Game vs. Irondale
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A brief ceremony was held to dedicate the new field prior to the Mustangs taking on Irondale this past Saturday. A good crowd was on hand to see a 10-9 victory for Mounds View.
Mustangs Game Day Recaps and Pictures
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Tri-City Legion Baseball Spaghetti Dinner is June 4
The annual Tri-City Legion's Summer baseball Season Kickoff Spaghetti Dinner is set for Thursday, June 4th, 5:00PM - 8:00PM at the Legion. A brief program will occur at 7:00PM which will include honoring Jeff Larson for his many valuable and successful years in running and coaching the Tri-City Legion program.
Tri-City Legion Spaghetti Dinner
Saturday, March 28, 2009
T-Shirts Commemorating New Field Available
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T-Shirts commemorating the new baseball field at Mounds View High School are available. Contact Diamond Club member Bob Freed if interested.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Field Setup Day A Success
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Players from all 4 teams and more than 20 parents setup the field on Saturday; it's now ready for play this spring when the weather decides it is ready... Many hands got the batting cage up, windscreen and polycap on the outfield fence, and a number of other tasks completed in about 3 hours. Thanks to the many parents who helped with the field and who fed all the participants! It was a breautiful morning, and the field looks great! Thanks to John Hoffman for the pictures!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Teams Finalized to Start the Season
Teams have been established to start the season.
We have a Varsity/JV team of 30 players. Some will likely play exclusively in JV games, and some exclusively in Varsity games. Others may jump back and forth as needs and opportunities arise. All are eligible to play in a varsity game as the opportunity is available and earned. Section playoff rosters are limited to 18 players; we will determine which 18 players we feel gives the team the best chance to win following the regular season.
The Sophomore team has 16 players. The number of players available for JV games may be limited, thus we expect sophomores to have the opportunity to earn some JV playing time as well.
The Freshman team has 15 players.
Thus, the total number of players on all 4 teams is 61. Eighty six (86) students participated in the tryout process.
Rosters on the TEAM pages of the website.
I've said it before, but I think it is worth repeating: Cutting players that have put forth significant effort in the tryout process, that have done everything asked of them that they control (their attitude and effort), and that 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 that made a team:
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.
Sunday, March 21, 2009
Varsity Season Preview
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The local newspapers request a varsity season preview. Below is what Coach Downey sent to them:
Season Outlook
Thirteen players who all contributed significant playing time graduated from the 2008 team, including Lions All-Star and All-Conference player Ross LaDuke, and All-Conference Honorable Mention players Cam Dickison and Nick Barkve.
Seniors David Freed (OF/P), Ian Goldsmith (OF) and Brandon Hershey (1B) return as All-Conference players from last season. Seniors Brad Blumer (IF/P), Karl Eicher (IF), and Jesse Nickols (OF) also return.
With the graduation of 13 players from 2008, we're looking forward to a great deal of opportunity and competition for varsity playing time this spring. On the mound, we return one pitcher with significant varsity experience, so we're excited to see which of the dozen or so junior and senior pitchers will emerge to give us the consistent pitching we need to give our team a chance to win.
We expect to have significant team speed, so we definitely want to use that offensively to put pressure on our opponents.
We expect to be very competitive in what appears to be a very balanced Suburban East Conference in 2009, and we want to play our best baseball at the end of the season. We expect to see a number of different players earn some varsity playing time in the first half of the season as they compete for playing time in the second half of the season and on into the playoffs.
Non-conference foes include cross-town rivals and our friends at Irondale and Totino-Grace - many of our players have grown up playing with players on those 2 teams.
Story Possibilities
* Many baseball players compete in multiple high school sports at Mounds View High School; 36 of the 51 returning players are high school multi-sport athletes; including all 3 captains for 2009. 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.
* MVHS will open home play in 2009 on a new baseball field on the campus of MVHS. Mounds View previously played varsity and JV games at
Thursday, March 19, 2009
New Section Playoff Alignment
Every 2 years, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) realigns the section opponents based upon geography. The 2009 Section playoffs are the second year of the current section alignment. Thus, in 2010, the Mustangs will have new section opponents - they have been announced this week by the MSHSL.
2009 Section Opponents: Blaine, Centennial, Champlin Park, Coon Rapids, Irondale, Maple Grove, Mounds View, Osseo, Park Center, Robbinsdale Cooper, Spring Lake Park, Totino-Grace.
2010 Section Opponents: Cretin-Derham Hall, East Ridge, Mahtomedi, North, Roseville, South St. Paul, Stillwater, Tartan, White Bear Lake, Woodbury
Monday, March 2, 2009
2009 Summer Fun At The Field
The Summer Fun program that has been popular the last 2 years will be offered again this summer at MVHS.
The program is intended to provide unstructured baseball activity for grades 6-12. As hockey players get better and learn to enjoy the game through being a "rink rat," and basketball players likewise by being a "gym rat," so too do baseball players by being "field rats." without a coach or parent structuring it for them. The program is flexible - you show up on days that you want, when you want, do what you want, and stay as long as you want.
The program offers instruction for those that want it, and unstructured activity for those that want that. Students can request instruction from Coach Downey on any aspect of baseball, take some swings, throw a pitching bullpen, field some balls, play Home Run Derby, play hotbox, play whiffle ball, or do whatever they want to do to get better and just have fun!
The program is conducted at the Mounds View High School Baseball field: batting cages, baseballs, batting tees, and other baseball instructional/training equipment is provided.
A program is also offered for grades 1-5 - It is similar to the Baseball Fun At The Sandlot Program for grades 6-12; it differs in that this program for the younger students will provide more structured activity each day. Each day will provide some baseball drills to improve the student's skills, as well as finishing with a game of some kind
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
MVHS Baseball Alumni Game Scheduled
An alumni game will be played on June 14th at the new baseball field on the campus at Mounds View High School. More details will be available in the coming months.
Letter Sent to MVHS Baseball Alumni Regarding Alumni Game
Monday, February 2, 2009
Cub Foods Fundraising Successful
Thanks to the 45 players and many parents for their efforts on Super Bowl weekend to raise significant funds for the Diamond Club through bagging groceries at the Arden Hills Cub Foods! Thanks also to the Arden Hills Cub Foods for providing the opportunity, and for feeding the players pizza following each shift!
Monday, February 2, 2008
Coach Downey Letters to Parents
Below are links to letters to parents regarding the upcoming high school season and summer baseball opportunities:
Downey Letter Regarding Season - January 30
Downey Letter Regarding Summer Baseball - February 2
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
College Baseball in the Metrodome
For anyone interested in watching college baseball, the Minnesota Gophers offer free ticket vouchers for the DQ Classic games on February 27 - March 1. Most all of the upper midwest DI, DII and DIII colleges play games in February/March in the Metrodome as well. Several Mustangs alums play baseball at local colleges - see MVHS College Players. Consult the team website of a school you may be interested in seeing for their game schedule, or visit the Metrodome's Event Calendar: Metrodome Calendar.
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Captains Practices for all students 9-12 begin on Tuesday, January 6, 8:30PM - 10:00PM at MVHS (both gyms).
They are scheduled for every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30PM - 10:00PM through Thursday, March 12.
These are unstructured opportunities for players to hit and throw as they see fit.
High School coaches are not involved.
Diamond Club Vice-President Mark Anderson has secured parent supervision for all sessions.
Any Mounds View student interested in information about off-season conditioning opportunities for baseball, there is an optional meeting immediately after school on Thursday, November 20 in Room 103; 2:10PM - 2:30PM. Baseball coaches will not be involved in organizing or conducting offseason conditioning workouts. This meeting will just provide some workout options for students to consider. Baseball players that play a winter sport, focus on the winter sport!
A copy of the talking points that will be covered in the meeting:
Offseason Conditioning Meeting Summary
(IF YOU play a winter sport, focus on the winter sport!)
Some notes from the meeting held October 25:
** The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) has had discussion about possible changes to high school game limits as a result of the real or perceived amount of class time missed by students for athletic events. Discussion is of reducing the number of games by 10% for all sports. That would move baseball's contest limit from 20 to 18. Most everyone at the baseball coaches meeting said they miss no class for baseball. The Baseball Coaches are opposed to this proposal; feeling that missed class time is not an issue for baseball. Another option - of reducing the number of contest dates to 18, while leaving the games limit at 20 - would be more acceptable; teams could schedule double-headers/tournaments on a Saturday and still get 20 games in.
** The MSHSL has had preliminary discussion about the possibility of moving the spring sports high school season start dates later in the spring, and therefore further into the summer (like Iowa). This is as a result of the missed class time issue mentioned above, as well as the weather issues in the spring. What's been discussed is moving back 1 week in 2010, 2 weeks in 2011 and 3 weeks in 2012. (As an aside, the Legion program is planning to shorten their season by 1 week to be more accommodating to the fall high school sports.) The Baseball Coaches are opposed to this proposal as the Legion programs would be virtually eliminated (very little time left for them), and thus the baseball players' ability to develop as baseball players with 18 or 20 games per year (versus 50+ combined high school and summer schedules today) would be significantly reduced. The Legion and other summer programs (Senior Babe Ruth, VFW, etc) are important to the development of baseball skills for high school students, and they are fun for the students. If the high school game limit were increased significantly once school was over, such that it would be more like the Legion schedule, then this argument goes away. All of the coaches present said they would continue to coach if this proposal was enacted; the guess is that some of the assistant coaches might not be interested in coaching.
** The MSHSL is discussing some modifications to the summer waiver provisions that allow high school coaches to work with their athletes in the summer. A blackout period was discussed, but appears to be too difficult to work reasonably with all sports affected. They may go to something like a number of contact days for each sport in the summer.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Ray Brooker Remembered
Monday afternoon we were informed that Ray Brooker passed away. Funeral arrangements are being planned for Monday. Ray volunteered significant time at
"If you didn't know Ray, you probably saw him here at Mounds View driving the John Deere Gator," said Mounds View AD Bob
Ray is best known for his unbelievable contributions to the football team. He also loved baseball; several years ago when there was a baseball field at Mounds View High School, Ray spent many hours working on the field and making sure the baseball players had what they needed. In the spring of 2007, Ray and his friends constructed a batting cage behind the high school; it was invaluable the last couple of years to the
There are many Ray Brooker stories, of course. One of my favorites is from former Mounds View Baseball Coach Chris Schwartz: "Our 2000 team was practicing at Midway Stadium in preparation for our appearance that year in the State Tournament. During BP on the field, all of a sudden I notice Ray out in the infield kneeling down in various spots and digging his fingers into the infield dirt, seemingly oblivious to the baseballs flying all over the field. I guess when you're a WWII veteran, a few baseballs screaming by are no big deal, and I just assumed maybe Ray had finally lost it. The next day, I learned what he was doing - Ray spent the entire day grooming the MVHS field's infield dirt to be exactly the same as Midway's - thus, we would practice that day at MVHS on an infield exactly like that which we would be playing on at Midway Stadium in the state tournament."
Ray was one of those "greatest generation" people that served in WWII; many Mounds View students have heard how he lost his finger... He was very active in the VFW organization; including serving as Commander of the New Brighton VFW. One of my favorite quotes is, 'Give of your gifts for free and expect nothing in return.' That pretty much defined Ray Brooker.
Coach Downey
Ray Brooker - MVHS Football Web Site Information and FSN Interview
Friday, October 10, 2008
Baseball Participation High Nationally and State-Wide
For the 19th consecutive year, the number of students participating in high school athletics increased nationally. Participation for the 2007/2008 school year was 7.4 million. Nationally, Baseball is offered at 15,720 schools (3rd largest of all boys sports) with 478,029 participants (4th largest of all boys sports). In Minnesota, 438 of the 489 member schools offer baseball, with 15,206 participants. This is an increase from the 2006/2007 school year where there were 431 schools that offered baseball and 14,078 participants.
Monday, September 29, 2008
2009 Season Schedule Information
Information about the 2009 season can be found in a letter from Coach Downey to parents - see the link below.
2009 Season Schedule Information
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
2009 Pre-Season Training From Pitch 2 Pitch
Pitch 2 Pitch will be providing a pre-season training program on Sunday evenings from January 4 - March 8 for Mounds View High School students(Grades 9-12). This program is designed by Pitch 2 Pitch as preparation for the high school season, but it is not designed nor run by the high school coaches. The Tuesday and Thursday evening Captains practices will also continue as in past years and begin on January 6th.
Pitch 2 Pitch Pre-Season Training Flyer
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
National Honor Society Induction Ceremony
Mounds View High School recently inducted 127 new members into the National Honor Society (NHS). NHS members must maintain a 10.75 GPA (12 point scale) and exhibit Leadership, Service and Character. Congratulations to the baseball players among those inducted!
Jeff Anderson
Tony Gazich
Andy Osborne
Nick Peterson
TJ Scheele
Matt Stoltman
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Bert Blyleven to speak at annual Diamond Club Dinner
Bert Blyleven will be the featured speaker at this winter's Diamond Club fundraising dinner and silent auction. The date for this year's event is Sunday, January 25th. Last year's event with Rod Carew was very successful, and the Diamond Club expects this year's event to be equally entertaining and successful. The Diamond Club is currently working on the details for this event.
2009 Diamond Club Dinner Information Flyer
Monday, September 8, 2008
2008 Grads Off To School
The 2008 graduates are now off to their new endeavors. We wish them well!
Nick Barkve - Luther College
David Bothwell - University of Wisconsin
Cam Dickison - Univeristy of Minnesota Duluth
Andy Gallagher - St. Thomas University
Matt Harris - Century College
Andy Kurkowski - Hibbing Community College
Ross LaDuke - University of Minnesota - Duluth
Justin Moline - Moody Bible Institute
Paul Myers - University of Minnesota - Crookston
Dan Reichert - St. Thomas University
Chris Szymanski - Oklahoma State University
Anthony Tallarico - Anoka-Ramsey Community College
Phil Wessberg - Bethany Lutheran
Chris Wise - University of Iowa
Friday, August 22, 2008
New Baseball Field Construction Completed
The District construction of the field is complete. The field looks great! Additional components such as bleachers and a scoreboard will be provided through fundraising efforts. A Fundraising Committee has been formed and is being led by Dave Stacy. More information on this will be forthcoming this fall.
Additional Field Construction Pictures
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