Last season was a magical one for the Park baseball team. The Wolfpack went 22-8 on the season, won the Section 3AAAA championship with a 6-1 record and won two games kin the state tournament before finishing second in the state.

Park was oh-so-close to a first-ever state title last season. It started with a memorable run in the section playoffs. Park opened with a win over Hastings then had everything go wrong in a shocking 15-0 loss to Eagan. The Wolfpack regrouped and defeated Eastview, Lakeville North, Rosemount and then Eagan twice to win the section title.

In the Class 4A state tournament, Park topped Rogers 4-0 and Andover 5-4 before advancing to the state title game. There, the Wolfpack fell behind 10-2 early, rallied with four runs in the third inning and four more in the seventh, but couldn’t quite get over the top in a 12-10 loss to Farmington.

But what a ride it was. Now, however, both longtime head coach John Mc-Gowan, all-state pitcher Tucker Novotny and nine other seniors have departed. New head coach Dave Darr comes in to replace McGowan after having directed New Life Academy to Class A state titles in 2014 and 2015. Who might replace Novotny is perhaps unanswerable.

Now pitching for the University of Minnesota, Novotny was 10-1 last season with a 1.26 ERA and 114 strikeouts. He was almost as deadly at the plate, hitting .519 with five RBIS. It was no surprise he earned a spot on the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association 2021 Class 4A all-state team.

Besides McGowan and Novotny, the other departed seniors leave Darr with some significant holes in the lineup to fill, but with a solid nucleus of proven players to build around.

Starters and veterans returning – all seniors – include outfielder Micah Runion, catcher/infielder Will Smoot, pitcher/outfielder/ infielder Jackson Tessman, infielder/pitcher Josh Hatano, outfielders Blake Johnson and Noah Janski, infielder/ pitcher Brady Strand and outfielder/infielder/ pitcher Sam Janski.

“They’re going to be a year older, and the experience that they gained last year, you can’t really measure that,” said Darr. “They know what it takes. And they’ve done a pretty good job of making sure guys understand what the goal is, what they want to do and what it takes to get there. Because what they did last year, is not easy to do. Things have to go your way but it’s hard work.

“Yea, we lose guys but there’s still that expectation — that’s what a program should have – is the expectation that the next guy up is going to fill that spot and be successful,” Darr added. “We’re still going to compete for a section title.”

Smoot, Hatano and Tessman each signed to play baseball at Iowa Central Community College so obviously the Wolfpack will have some weapons this season. Runion, Johnson, Strand and Janski are baseball veterans, and each had a standout season in other Park sports this year.

The infield is pretty well set and looks solid. Smoot will again be behind the plate, Hatano will be at short, Tessman at second, Strand will alternate between first and third. With a strong bat, Sam Janski will need to be in the lineup somewhere.

Obviously, the Wolfpack will be minus its best pitcher from last season. In fact, of Park’s four top pitchers last season – Novotny, Tessman, Clayton Beaurline and Conor Mestemaccher – only Tessman returns to the mound this spring.

“We don’t have a lefthanded kid throwing over 90 miles an hour,” said Darr. “We don’t have that and that’s hard to replace. But we’ve got some guys – Jackson Tessman is doing a good job and he’s throwing hard. We’re not going to have a staff that’s really going to blow people away, but I think we’ve got enough guys that do different things. Some won’t throw as hard, but they can make the ball move and some can locate better. So, we have to do a pretty good job of plugging guys in when we think they can be successful.”

Besides Tessman, juniors Caleb Truax and Ray Drkula, seniors Hatano, Strand and Smoot will take to the mound for the Wolfpack this spring – some perhaps just for an inning or two to save arms.

“That’s the big question mark, who is going to fill in what we lost,” Darr admitted. “But you know, guys will surprise you.”

The Suburban East Conference will present its usual Murders Row lineup. East Ridge won the 2019 state title, Stillwater took the 2018 crown and Forest Lake was the state runner-up in 2017. In 2019 in fact, East Ridge won the state championship, Stillwater was third and Mounds View won the consolation title. The competition doesn’t get much tougher.

“We’re playing in the best conference in baseball in the state of Minnesota,” Darr agreed. “And we’re going to face some good pitchers.”

Even last season, with an all-star lineup, Park could do no better than tie for second in the SEC behind an undefeated Stillwater team.

Park is scheduled to open play Friday, April 8, in the Wolfpack’s only non-conference game of the season, hosting Hastings starting at 4:30 p.m. Park’s first conference game will be Monday, April 11, at Cretin-Derham Hall.

Senior Jackson Tessman returns to lead the Park pitching corps this season. Photo by John Molene.