It’s the final week of the spring sports season, but there is still a lot to be decided in Baseball. This week a boy’s champion will be crowned in Class AAAA baseball, and Monticello will represent the Wright County Area. You can follow the Magic throughout the state tournament and AM1360 KRWC, krwc1360.com and on our app. Below is a state preview. Good luck to the Magic!
All games subject to change.
The Teams:
#1 Seed: Farmington Tigers, 27-2, defeated New Prague, 5-0 in Section 1 finals, 6th trip to state, champs in 2021.
#2 Seed: Champlin Park Rebels, 19-6, defeated Mounds View, 4-2 in Section 5 finals, 6th trip to state.
#3 Seed: Edina Hornets, 20-7, defeated Wayzata 14-6 in Section 6 finals, 8th trip to state, champs in 1968, and 1983.
#4 Seed: Rosemount Irish, 22-5, defeated Apple Valley, 12-2 in Section 3 finals, 12th trip to state.
#5 Seed: Monticello Magic, 23-4, defeated Moorhead, 4-3 in Section 8 finals, third trip to state, but first in AAAA.
#6 Seed: Cretin Derham Hall Raiders, 19-8, defeated Woodbury, 14-2 in Section 4 finals, 21st trip to state, state champs in 1981,82,86,89,1990,92,96,97,98, and 2001.
#7 Seed: Andover Huskies, 19-7, defeated Centennial, 5-0 in Section 7 finals, 4th trip to state.
#8 Seed: Prior Lake Lakers, 13-14, defeated Chaska, 10-5 in Section 2 finals, first trip to state.
Brodie Gibart, above, will pitch for Augustana after his HS career is over at Farmington.
Players to watch:
Farmington Tigers: Brodie Gibart, 8-0 on the mound with a 0.69 ERA. Matthew Hennen, .330 BA, 13 RBI, and Ty Beck, .316 BA, 2 HR, and 28 RBI.
Champlin Park Rebels: Evan Nordby, ace pitcher, shut down Mounds View in Section final, and Micah Carlson, hitting .450.
Edina Hornets: Chase Bjorgaard, maybe the top athlete in the state, Ari Farscht, P, and Lincoln Page, top sophomore in the state, hitting .429.
Rosemount Irish: Owen Anderson, .450 BA, and Callan Romey, P, and Inf.
Monticello Magic: Cale Holthaus, .420 BA, 9 doubles, 5 triples, 2 HR, and 25 RBI. Dom Marschel, .304 BA, 4 HR, and 28 RBI. Carson Deibele, 2.45 ERA, ace pitcher.
Cretin Derham Hall Raiders: Jack Drieman, .450 BA, Isaac Feller, .333 BA, and Griffin Peterson, P.
Andover Huskies: Danny Scheller, headed to USI-Edwardsville, hitting, .365 with 14 RBI, and Jack Simpson, 6-1 with a 1.21 ERA on the mound.
Prior Lake Lakers: Jaymin Eischenss, leads team in doubles and RBI’s and Mason Goldberg, P, has a 3.89 ERA.
Chase Bjorgard, above, scored six touchdowns in the Hornets state championship win over Moorhead this fall in football. This will be the third state tournament this year for Bjorgaard.
Key Stats and Notes:
- Six teams return from the 2025 Class AAAA state tournament. The two newcomers? Monticello, first state appearance in AAAA, and Prior Lake is making their first ever appearance in state.
- Speaking of Prior Lake, they reached state with a losing record, and lost 8 of 9 coming into sections, but check this out. The Lakers are one of two teams to defeat #1 Farmington this year. Their first-round opponent? Farmington. Interesting.
- Yes, this is Cretin’s twenty first trip to state, but this is only their second appearance at state since 2001. 2001 was also the last year they won state, for Cretin a twenty-five-year drought is an eternity. Oh, and by the way, yes Joe Mauer was the catcher on the last CDH championship team.
- Edina’s Chase Bjorgaard is playing in his third state tournament this season. He led the Hornets to the Class AAAAAA state football championship as a running back. Was the goalie for the hockey team and is now the LF for the Hornets baseball team.
- It’s been forty-three years since Edina won a state championship, and you might remember their catcher as a pesky out in the 1991 World Series that the Twins won over the Atlanta Braves. That catcher was Greg Olson, who went 3-5 at the plate vs. the Twins in game five, giving the Braves a 3-2 series lead, but of course Kirby Puckett and Jack Morris took care of the rest of that series for the Twins.
Dan Gladden, above right, slams into Greg Olson at home plate during the 1991 World Series. Olson was the catcher the last time Edina won a state tournament in baseball, back in 1983.
Moving up a class, does Monticello have a chance…..
Let’s just say it won’t take an act of “Magic” for Monticello to win state. This team has three starters with an earned run avg. at 2.50 or below, in Carson Deibele, Gavin Gardner, and Carter Anderson, so they have enough pitching. The Magic have a deep lineup, led by the dynamic Cale Holthaus, and the power of Dom Marschell. The Magic play good defense, and the most important factor is out of all the state tournament’s that take place, baseball is the most unpredictable. As I stated earlier, the #8 seed Prior Lake, who finished with a losing record, and they defeated the #1 seed Farmington earlier in the year. HS baseball always comes down to pitching, and literally not making mistakes, two things the Magic do well. There is no reason Monticello can’t win three games and take home a state championship.
Monticello, above, defeated Moorhead twice to reach the state tournament from Section 8AAAA. In their first appearance at the AAAA, can the Magic win it all?
