Town ball returns to Elk River thanks to Lumberjacks

Elk River Lumberjacks are in their first season in the Eastern Minny South League

by Erik Nelson

Sports Reporter

Only the best, healthiest baseball players in the world can play in MLB. That doesn’t mean those who don’t make the cut have to stop playing the sport they love.

Town ball teams for adults exist throughout Minnesota, but for several years, there wasn’t a team in Elk River.

That has changed. The Elk River Lumberjacks are in their first season of play in the Eastern Minny South League. The Lumberjacks are the brain child of Elk River High School baseball head coach Josh Juntunen and Lumberjacks head coach Jeff Brooks.

Juntunen said that when he was in high school, he played town ball in St. Michael-Albertville in the summer because there wasn’t a team in Elk River. He wanted to give Elk River area baseball players a chance to represent their community. The 26 players on Elk River’s roster range in age from 15 to 43 years old.

“That’s the beauty of amateur baseball in Minnesota,” Juntunen said. “It’s a bunch of dudes that love the game. Some are office workers. Some are construction workers. Some are college students. It’s fun.”

Brooks played town ball in Forest Lake for 12 years. Forest Lake is a 45-minute drive from Elk River.

Brooks approached the Eastern Minny South League board in February at a meeting in Mora to explain why there should be a town ball team in Elk River. That night, the board approved a team in Elk River and scheduling for the 2024 season began immediately. Scheduling began before the team had a name, a logo, jerseys, a roster and a home field.

“We had two months to put the team together before we were taking our first pitch on the field,” Brooks said. “It was exciting, but it was also overwhelming because it was time to get our stuff together. With town ball, you try and roster as many people as you can on a team so you can field at least nine guys. It was a lot at one time and it happened quickly.”

The Lumberjacks’ primary colors are red, white and black, which are the same colors of all ERHS varsity sports teams. Jason Stockman, who is the father of two Lumberjacks players, Owen and Sam Stockman, designed the logo and the jerseys.

“We actually started as the Elk River Energy,” Brooks said. “Then I found out there’s a youth volleyball team in Elk River named Elk River Energy, so we quickly switched that to the Lumberjacks. The reason why I chose ‘Energy’ out of the gate is that I wanted something relatable with Elk River and what the city was about. You Google ‘Elk River,’ and it’s ‘energy city.’ It made sense right away. When we found out that youth team had it, we didn’t want to step on their toes. I started doing some more research, and I found out that Elk River used to be a big logging town. I was talking with Josh a little more. We came up with the Lumberjacks through text messages.”

So far through six games, the Lumberjacks are 3-3. Elk River plays its home games at two fields: the Plants and Things Youth Athletic Complex for night games and Hales Field for day games. The regular season concludes on Sunday, July 21. League playoffs will begin in late July or early August.

Five players from the Elk River varsity baseball team also play for the Lumberjacks, including Sam Stockman and catcher Andrew Palm. The Lumberjacks also include former Elks Mitch Thompson and Ryan Weatherly as well as former Princeton Tiger Tyler Peters.

“It’s an interesting dynamic how people in their early 40s were raised compared to how 15-year-olds are raised today,” Brooks said. “It’s a totally different dynamic, but everyone’s there to win games. That’s the fun part about it. You can come from all walks of life. It doesn’t matter. Everyone wants to go hit a baseball and throw hard, field the ball and make plays when you get an opportunity. We’ve had a good group that when they can play, they’re there. They’re ready and they’re committed. We’re actually doing fairly well this year.”

At 43 years old, Joe Holman is the oldest player on the Lumberjacks. Holman is a right-handed pitcher and can also play in the infield or the outfield. He played baseball at Augsburg University in Minneapolis when he was a college student.

Holman said anyone can play baseball at any age.

“It’s only over when you decide it’s over,” Holman said. “I decided at the beginning of this year that I’m not done playing baseball even though a lot of people said, ‘You’re too old,’ or ‘There’s no way you’re going to be able to keep up with those guys.’ It’s only a decision that you as a human can make whether you’re done doing something or too old for something or not. I chose not [to stop playing baseball].”

Brooks said there is a rich tradition of town ball baseball in Minnesota where teams play at beautiful fields. He wants the players on the Lumberjacks to understand the importance of town ball in Minnesota and that the players represent not only themselves, but all of Elk River.

“We didn’t go get players from other teams,” he said. “This is a true start-up of guys that haven’t seen live pitching, haven’t fielded a ground ball in at least three years. It’s been fun to see them getting acclimated to it because they’re trying to knock the training wheels off.”