Saints Look to Return to STATE TOURNAMENT
The DC Saints are looking
l ooking to return to the state tournament
for the first time in eight years under second-year manager
Drew Carlson.
Carlson replaced Mark “Whitey” F orsman last season, after
af ter
32 seasons at the helm for Forsman. Whitey led the Sai
Saints
to 621 wins and 12 state
sta te tournament appearances
appear ances in his
career, and led a tireless effort to turn
t urn the Dassel Ball Park
into one
on e of the top fields in the state to watch amateur
baseball.
The last state tournament appearance for the Saints was in
2011.
Team: Dassel-Cokato Saints
Manager: Drew Carlson
Year coaching this team: 2nd
Assistant coaches: Jeff Neutzling
League: North Star League – Maple Lake, Hutchinson, Buffalo,
League
Loretto, Delano, Dassel-Cokato, Howard Lake, Maple Plain,
Cokato, Litchfi eld, Waverly.
State Tournaments: 22 – 1968-B Champion, 1970, 1972, 1973-
2nd, 1974-3rd, 1975, 1976-2nd, 1978, 1991, 1992-C 3rd, 1993-
C 2nd, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2011.
Hall-of-Famers: NSL – Joe Harmala (1993); Art Hagen (1996);
Bob Erickson (1998); Robert Regal (2000); Paul Servin (2002);
Dean Gayner (2005); Dale Isaacson (2007); Dave Burns and
Brian “Bookie” Larson (2009); Mark Forsman (2010); Kevin
Nelson (2011); Jeff Neutzling (2012); John Riewer (2013).
Posthumous: Clay Calgren, Stuart Brodin, Lem Norden, Fisk
Peterson. MN Amateur Baseball – Joe Harmala (2002); Brian
“Bookie” Larson (2005); Mark Forsman (2014).
2018 fi nish: Last season, after a 10-10 regular-season fi nish,
the Saints fi nished 1-2 in the Region 12C playoffs, losing to
Loretto 3-2 in 15 innings in their playoff opener, that spanned
two days, before rallying from a 6-0 defi cit to defeat Maple
Plain 8-6.
The Saints were elminated one game later by Delano, losing
by an 11-0 score.
John Hohenstein led the team with a .327 batting average,
with a team-high 33 hits and 19 runs scored. He also led the
team in stolen bases.
Brendon Opsahl led the squad with fi ve home runs, with Tyler
Brandel adding four. Brandel also had a team-high 19 RBI,
and eight doubles.
Tyler Zweibohmer led the team with six wins on the mound,
while Jordan Flick led the team in innings pitched, strikeouts,
and ERA (3.04).
Teams to beat: [From NorthStarLeague.org] For 2019, the
North Star League managers are predicting the standings
will look a lot like the 2018 standings.
Maple Lake and Hutchinson are picked by most to compete
for the championship. Delano is expected to be healthier
and is picked third.
Buffalo and Loretto are the selections for fourth and fi fth, with
D-C slotted for the sixth slot. Howard Lake, which needed
to win a tie breaker to avoid being in the bottom four, is
predicted for seventh place, and Maple Plain, which lost
that tie breaker, is picked for eighth.
50
|
DASSEL-COKATO VISITORS GUIDE 2019-20
Photo by Brad Salmen
John Hohenstein returns in the leadoff slot for the Saints. Hohenstein
is the career leader in steals for both the Saints, and the North Star
League.
The next three teams are picked to also make the top seven
and receive a bye into the Regionals. That leaves the three
teams who fi nished as the bottom three last year, and the
managers are predicting the same fi nish with Cokato ninth,
Litchfi eld 10th, and Montrose/Waverly to be 11th.
Key returning players: Jordan Flick, Tyler Zweibhomer, and
Mike Leffl er return to anchor the staff. Top returners in the
batting line-up are John Hohenstein, Andy Haataja, and
Trent Thinesen, along with Brice Berggren, Tyler Brandel, Ben
Lindquist, J. Flick, and Jeff Janckila.
Key additions: The Saints will be looking to add some key
returning players from the DCHS squad.
Key losses: The team will lose a key bat in the lineup in
Brendon Opsahl.
Outlook: The outlook for 2019 is much more of the same as
it was in 2018 – continuing to compete for the top spots and
expecting to be up high in the standings.
DC Saints 2019 Roster
#
1
2
3
6
7
9
11
12
13
15
Player
Tyler Brandel
Jordan Flick
Andrew Carlson
Tyler Zweibohmer
John Hohenstein
Austin Zweibohmer
Andy Haataja
Brice Berggren
Michael Leffl er
Gus Flick
Pos.
INF
P, 1B
IF, P
P
CF
P
C, OF
INF, P
P
OF
#
16
21
22
23
24
26
27
28
33
Player
Collin Krick
Trent Thinesen
Ben Lindquist
Jeff Neutzling
Cy Flick
Jeff Janckila
Michael Howell
Alex Terning
James Howell
Pos.
P
SS
2B
Coach
C
INF
P/1B
P/IF
1B/C