Bruce Barron, player personnel director of the American Legion Baseball Prospects Series, was impressed with the quality of competition last weekend at two local colleges — Bethel in Arden Hills and Northwestern of Roseville.
One hundred and fifty of Minnesota’s best prospects played tournament games on two turf fields in front of hundreds of fans, plus college scouts.
“You should have seen the first game here yesterday,” Barron said Saturday morning.
One of the fans said, “The kids must have been wide-eyed.”
Barron replied, “The wide-eyed kids aren’t here.”
And so it was the entire weekend as five Junior teams and six Senior teams competed. If there was a timid player in the bunch, he kept it well-hidden.
Jim Peck, the Excelsior American Legion general manager and former head coach, was pleased to see two of his top players — first baseman Gus Berger and Lincoln Heitkamp — in the Senior half of the series.
“From what I saw, Gus and Lincoln were among the best players here without a doubt,” Peck said. “Gus has the best swing on our Excelsior team. Lincoln is very consistent. The best thing about both of them is that they come to play every day.”
Berger and Heitkamp were starters for the Minnetonka High baseball team that won the state Class AAAA consolation championship this year. In Legion ball, Excelsior fell to Eden Prairie in the Sub-State 4 finals, just missing a trip to the State Division I Legion Tournament.
Edina had two players in the Senior Prospects Series — catcher Reid LaFrenz and outfielder Ben Molitor.
“This is special,” LaFrenz said. “It makes me feel special to be selected to play in an event like this.”
“My Legion coach, Gene Larkin, was gracious enough to recommend me for the series,” Molitor said. “I told my coaches here that I would like to play anywhere in the outfield — center, left or right.”
LaFrenz and Molitor led Edina Legion to a 10-6 record and third place in the Sub-State 3 Tournament this summer. They will lead Edina’s varsity next spring as two of the key players.
Hopkins had Ethan Sawatzky in the Senior Prospects Series. He pitched and played outfield for the Hopkins Flyers Legion team and was among the elite players in the South Hennepin League.
Armstrong Legion was represented in the Senior Prospects Series by Will Hoffrogge and Luke Weisjahn.
Excelsior general manager Peck was happy to see three of his players in the Junior Prospects Series — Daschle Duwe, Henry Cheatham and Carter Storts. There is a chance for all three to join the Legion team next summer.
Three South Hennepin pitchers made Junior teams in the series — Nick Carlson of Eden Prairie, Troy Anderson of Wayzata and Liam Dalle of Hopkins. Other area players selected as Juniors are Hunter Gess of Bloomington Blue, Carter Carson of Richfield, Nolan Ihrke of Edina and Brady Anderson of Eden Prairie.
The founder and director of the Legion Prospects Series is Mike Perry, longtime Legion volunteer from Hopkins Post 320 and formerly the state Legion baseball director. Charlie Becker and Omar Navarro helped Perry and Bruce Barron make the 2024 event a success.
Among the area Division I Legion coaches who took part in the series are Marshall Dalziel of Wayzata, Ben Johnson of Osseo, Rider Lane of Hopkins and Rob Hager of Excelsior.
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