Mustangs Baseball 
Archive - Home Page - 2007/2008 Season
September, 2007 - July, 2008
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
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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
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Ben Gallagher has provided many pictures from the season-end banquet.
2008 Season-End Banquet Pictures
Thursday, May 29, 2008
2008 Seniors
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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
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.
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:
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.
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
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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."
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.
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.
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
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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.
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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)
Sunday, March 2, 2008
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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
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With the many activities at this time of the year, it is very difficult to reschedule the meeting, and not possible at all to reschedule that same week. The meeting is rescheduled for Thursday, February 28th at 7:00PM @ MVHS. This meeting will provide information about the upcoming baseball season.
Alternative Informational Meetings will be held on March 4th in the morning before school and immediately after school for any players (and parents if you want to) that are not able to attend this meeting on February 28th. These will be:
Tuesday, March 4: 7:00AM - 7:30AM in the Forum
Tuesday, March 4: 2:15PM - 2:45PM in the Forum
These Baseball Informational Meetings also serve as the Mandatory Chemical Awareness Meeting for any athlete and parent that did not participate in another sport previously this school year. This requirement for both parent and player can also be met by attending another Spring Sport's Mandatory Chemical Awareness Meeting. Chris Thielke in the Athletics Office can be contacted to learn about the dates/times of these other sport Mandatory Chemical Awareness Meetings.
After seven years of off-site games, the Mounds View High School baseball team will enjoy the home field advantage next spring (2009). In February, the School Board approved funding for a baseball field that takes advantage of portions of existing field space currently dedicated to three soccer fields. The three grass soccer fields are not fully utilized because most soccer programs are now able to play on the stadium�s larger artificial field. The new baseball field features a demountable outfield wall and fencing. Capital dollars, which by law cannot be used for classroom funding, will support a majority of the $170,000 facility with booster clubs possibly providing for bullpens, bleachers and scoreboards. Until now, the Mustangs were the only baseball team in the metro without a home field. The baseball field is the final realization from a series of recommendations made by a 2002 athletic facilities task force.
School Board Awards Bid For New MVHS Baseball Field
On Tuesday evening, February 12th, the Mounds View Schools School Board approved bids for the new
The baseball field will be placed on what is now the practice field area to the south of the High School. Construction will begin this April, with the field being ready for play in the spring of 2009.
The project will include the baseball field of play, backstop, fencing, water, and concrete dugouts. The outfield fence will be removable - making the outfield area useable for fall sports.
Athletic Director Bob Madison and Coach Mark Downey will work with the Diamond Club to develop a process for input and fundraising for items such as additional storage, bullpen mounds, batting cages, scoreboard, and bleachers.
School Board Meeting Summaries are always available at: http://www.moundsviewschools.org/school_board_2003_04.asp
The February 12th issue of the Shoreview Press contained an article on the new field. A link to the article: Shoreview Press Baseball Field Article
Mounds View Athletic Director Bob Madison announced that the District recently made a commitment to pursue bringing Mounds View baseball back to the high school campus in his remarks at the recent Diamond Club fundraising dinner. A link to the video of his remarks: Video - Bob Madison Diamond Club Dinner Remarks
More information will be forthcoming as the District moves forward with construction activities. In the meantime, questions can be directed to Athletic Director Bob Madison or Coach Mark Downey.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
MVHS Alum Mark Hamburger Reporting to Spring Training
2005 Mounds View High School graduate Mark Hamburger reports to Spring Training with the Minnesota Twins shortly. He spent 3 months with the Gulf Coast League Twins last summer after being signed by the Twins following a 2 day walk-on tryout camp.
Shoreview Press Article About Mark Hamburger
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Rod Carew Speaks at Diamond Club Fundraiser
The Diamond Club's annual fundraising dinner and silent auction held at Kozlak's on Sunday night was a huge success in raising funds in support of the Mounds View High School baseball program. Monies raised will help purchase equipment, uniforms, coaches salaries, and many other items to provide a quality and memorable experience for the players.
Mounds View Athletic Director Bob Madison announced that the District recently made a commitment to pursue bringing Mounds View baseball back to the high school campus. Plans are in place for a new field at the High School, and bids are being taken. The School Board has not approved or taken action as yet; they will likely address this in February. A link to a video of Bob Madison's remarks is below.
Video - Bob Madison Diamond Club Dinner Remarks
Baseball Hall of Fame member Rod Carew spoke about his life, what's important, his baseball career, the Minnesota Twins, and then provided many stories of his Hall of Fame career in a question and answer session. A link to a video of Rod Carew's remarks is below.
Video - Rod Carew Diamond Club Dinner Remarks
The two videos have been generously provided by Jim Radford. He is in the commercial video business, producing on-location and studio training, sales and marketing, special events, web commercials, news, music and dance, biographies, weddings, and more. The lighting at Kozlak's was not ideal, and Jim did a great job to be able to bring this video to us. Jim's website is http://radfordvideo.com, and he can be reached at 651-483-3593 or jim@radfordvideo.com.
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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 29 - March 2. The vouchers (worth 2 free tickets each) can be found at the baseball bulletin board at MVHS. Most all of the upper midwest DI, DII and DIII colleges play games in February/March in the Metrodome as well. Consult any team website of a school you may be interested in seeing for their game schedule, or visit the Metrodome's Event Calendar at http://www.msfc.com/events.cfm.
Minnesota Twins Community Fund offering scholarships
The Minnesota Twins Community Fund offers a Diamonds and Dreams Scholarship Program which provides high school baseball and softball seniors the opportunity to apply for 20 $1000 college scholarships. The first 150 applications received will be considered, with an application deadline of March 1st.
For more information: Twins Community Fund Scholarships
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
MVHS Baseball Youth Clinic March 1 and March 2
The MVHS Coaching Staff will be conducting a youth clinic on March 1st and 2nd.
The program is open to students age 9 - 14 (grade 8) interested in baseball, and is designed to enhance their fundamental baseball skills through instruction from Coach Downey and the Mounds View High School Baseball coaching staff and players.
Players will be grouped by age, and the clinics will be geared toward the skill level of each age group and individual player. Pitching from the stretch, pick-off moves and leading off will be emphasized with the Big League players.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Captains Practices Begin January 3rd
Captains Practices will be held at MVHS each Tuesday and Thursday, beginning January 3rd, 8:30PM - 10:00PM each evening.
2002 MVHS grad Andy Peters (2006 University of Minnesota MVP) and 2000 MVHS grad Steve Grasley (Creighton University and Seattle Mariners organization) have offered to help provide pitching instruction/workouts.
Joe Bothwell, Randy Reichert, and Mike Blumer are organizing parent supervision and batting practice throwing for the captains practices (members of the coaching staff cannot be involved in captains practices) -contact one of them if interested in helping out.
In an effort to maximize the use of the batting cage, the captains have requested that players hit in the cage as follows:
Tuesdays: FR/SO hit 8:30-9:15
JR/SR hit 9:15-10:00
Thursdays: JR/SR hit 8:30-9:15
FR/SO hit 9:15-10:00
(If the standard time slot doesn't work for a player, they can certainly hit during the other time slot)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Cub Foods Fundraising Pictures
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Link for pictures of players fundraising at Cub Foods on Friday, December 21st: Cub Foods Fundraising - December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Spring Trip Meeting
A meeting for all players attending the spring trip to Orlando, and their parents, has been scheduled for Monday, February 18th at 7:00PM in the Forum at MVHS. Schedules and expectations will be discussed.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Cub Foods Fundraising Change
The Diamond Club has traded Cub Foods bagging on February 2nd for this coming Friday, December 21st at the Arden Hills Cub Foods from 4:00PM - 9:00PM. Players can sign-up to help out with the Captains, Coach Downey or on the sign-up sheet on the baseball bulletin board.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Off-Season Conditioning
Any baseball player (or any student) interested in information about off-season conditioning - there is a meeting immediately after school on Thursday, November 29th in the Cafeteria. The meeting will take 15-20 minutes. Some workout routines that are geared toward baseball will be discussed.
This is for those that are interested, it is optional. 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!
Off-Season Condititioning Meeting Talking Points
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Cub Foods Fundraising Successful
Thanks to the 37 players and 10 parents for their efforts on Saturday to raise funds for the Diamond Club through bagging groceries at the Arden Hills Cub Foods. Thanks to John Colwell and the Arden Hills Cub Foods for providing the opportunity, and for feeding the players pizza following each shift. The Diamond Club will bag groceries again the day before the Super Bowl - Saturday, February 2, 2008.
Cub Foods Fundraising October 2007 Pictures
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Rod Carew to Speak at Diamond Club Dinner
The Diamond Club Fundraising Dinner and Silent Auction is being planned for the evening of Sunday, January 27th. The Minnesota Twins have helped secure Rod Carew to be a guest speaker at this event. More information will be available as plans are finalized. Much help is needed to make this event successful; contact Diamond Club President Randy Riechert (randall.reichert@wellsfargo.com) if you are interested in helping with this event.
Annual Fundraising Dinner Ticket Order Form
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Cub Foods Bagging Events Scheduled
The Diamond Club has scheduled 2 grocery bagging events at the Arden Hills Cub Foods: Saturday, October 27th and Saturday, February 2nd (day before the Super Bowl). A sign-up sheet for the October 27th event will be posted on the wall by the weight room shortly, and the captains will also each have a sign-up sheet. Shifts are 2 - 2.5 hours in length starting at 10:00AM and concluding at 5:00PM. The Diamond Club is also exploring the possibility of an additional bagging event at the White Bear Lake Cub Foods.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Recent Letters to Baseball Parents
Below are links to 3 recent letters to baseball parents:
Spring Trip Is A Go - September 7, 2007
Introductory Letter to Freshmen Players and Parents - September 25, 2007
2008 Season Spring Break Framework Letter to Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors - September 25, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Mustangs Baseball Conducts SAYB Fall Baseball Clinic
This past Saturday, the Mustangs Baseball Coaching Staff along with several senior baseball players conducted a baseball fundamentals instructional clinic for players in the SAYB Fall Baseball Program at McCullough Park. Thirty SAYB players were exposed to some of the fundamental drills the high school program uses; rotating through stations for baserunning, infield/outfield, pitching, catching and hitting.