Five members of the Stillwater baseball team landed a coveted spot on the All-Suburban East Conference team after leading the Ponies to their sixth conference championship in the past seven seasons.
Senior Charley Rowan helped set the pace at the plate for the Ponies, who went 13-5 to share the league title with eventual state champion East Ridge and finished 18-7 overall after coming up short against the Raptors in the finals of the Section 4AAAA Tournament.
Rowan, who was joined by Owen Maslowski, Dylan Bloom, AJ Levy and Blake Vanek in earning all-conference honors, batted .438 with 32 hits — including five doubles a triple and a team-leading three home runs.
Rowan boasted a .533 on-base average and .658 slugging percentage while also leading the team with 15 walks, 13 stolen bases, 23 runs scored and 32 RBIs. He also struck out just three times in 90 plate appearances.
Alex Boston, Luke Adams, Joe Fredkove and Alex Oehlke each received honorable mention all-conference recognition.
Adams, Levy and Vanek landed on the All-Section 4AAAA Team.
Rowan was selected to the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Class AAAA All-State Team and was a Second Team selection to the Star Tribune All-Metro Team.
He was also named the East Metro MVP after joining Maslowski in participating in the MSHSBCA All-Star Series.
Levy led the Ponies with 36 hits and batted .419 with a team-high nine doubles and also joined Rowan in leading the team with 23 runs scored.
Stillwater batted .339 as a team and outscored its opponents by a combined 164-63 in 25 games.
Maslowski ranked among team leaders with a .397 batting average while Vanek batted .338 and ranked second on the team with 20 RBIs. Henry Mested batted .435 in 23 at bats.
The Ponies were also strong on the mound, with four pitchers throwing 29 or more innings and posted an ERA between 2.00 and 2.60.
Bloom led the way with a 5-0 record while throwing a team-high 37.1 innings with an ERA of 2.06. Boston featured a 4-2 record with a 2.60 ERA in 32.1 innings while Oehlke finished 4-1 with a 2.32 ERA in 31.0 innings. Karson Foster posted a 2-1 record with a 2.36 ERA in 29.2 innings. Levy led the Ponies with three saves and a .66 ERA in 10.2 innings pitched.
The Ponies finished with a team ERA of just 1.96, despite competing in arguably the strongest conference in the state.
East Ridge defeated conference foe Mounds View 3-2 in the Class AAAA state title game and this marked the seventh championship for the conference teams in the past 11 seasons. An SEC team has advanced to the state finals each of the past seven seasons and Stillwater (2018 and 2022), East Ridge (2019, 2023 and 2024), and Mounds View (2013 and 2014) have each won state championships since 2013.
In addition, Mounds View (2024), Park (2021) and Forest Lake (2017) have also finished as the state runner-up within the last seven seasons.
Stillwater has produced an impressive 94-26 conference record in the past seven seasons.
Rowan was also an MSHSBCA Academic All-State recipient and the Ponies received a Gold Academic Award for the first time since 2017.
Stillwater does not present a Most Valuable Player Award, but honored six players with the Sean Schoonmaker Award, which honors the player(s) who best exemplify academic achievement, a positive attitude, and commitment to team play. This year’s recipients included Alex Boston, Joshua Jensen, Pat Lundgren, Rowen, Tyler Schroeder and Grayson Zurn.
Baseball
All-Conference: Owen Maslowski, Charley Rowan, Dylan Bloom, AJ Levy and Blake Vanek; All-Conference Honorable Mention: Alex Boston, Luke Adams, Joe Fredkove and Alex Oehlke; All-Section: Luke Adams, AJ Levy and Blake Vanek; Minnesota High School Baseball All-Star Series Participant: Charley Rowan and Owen Maslowski; All-Star Series East Metro MVP: Charley Rowan; Star Tribune All-Metro Second Team: Charley Rowan; MSHSBCA Class AAAA All-State: Charley Rowan; MSHSBCA Academic All-State: Charley Rowan; Sean Schoonmaker Award: Alex Boston, Joshua Jensen, Pat Lundgren, Charley Rowan, Tyler Schroeder and Grayson Zurn; Captains elect: To be determined.
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