Three seasons ago, Park’s baseball team finished as the Class AAAA runner-up, falling 12-10 in the state championship game to Farmington.
In 2022, Park again advanced to state, losing to Farmington 3-2 in the Class AAAA quarterfinals before coming back to defeat St. Louis Park 10-0 and then Sartell-Stephen 5-3 for the consolation title.
But last season the Wolfpack went just 7-15 overall, finishing 7-11 and eighth in the Suburban East Conference and went 0-2 in the Section 3AAAA playoffs.
Park went just 1-8 in its last nine games a year ago. Ironically the one win was a 2-0 decision over an East Ridge team which went on to win the state championship.
So what does the 2024 season hold?
Third-year head coach Dave Darr is optimistic the Wolfpack can return to their winning ways.
“We’ve got a lot of seniors that we’re going to rely on this year,” said Darr. “We do have a few young guys that I think are really going to help, too, guys like Charlie Brooke and Adam Tait, Luke Hatano and Anson Dockter are all guys that saw a lot of time last year. Charlie hit really well last year and Luke did too as the year went on. They’re going to be our leaders and if we’re going to be successful they’re going to have to really play well and I think they’re ready for that. They’ve worked really hard over the last year in the weight room and extra hits, swings on their own and things like that and it’s pretty encouraging. And it’s been a lot of fun the first couple of weeks.
Park graduated several key players off last year’s team but have a strong nucleus of seniors retuning. Back for the Wolfpack are Tait, Brooke, Dockter, Hatano. Brett Salmonson, Jamison Fick and David and Nolan Rolf.
Hatano and junior Max Kaplan are battling to play either at third or shortstop. David Rolf will also see time at third. Dockter, Salmonson and Jamie Fick will play in the Park outfield. Defensive ace Sam Nienow will catch.
“We really like the makeup of that we can do,” said Darr. “As far as we’ve got four or five outfielders we feel can do the job for us. And we’ve got four or five infielders we can move around depending on who’s pitching or if somebody’s not hitting and we feel pretty comfortable with that. I think we have more depth this year that we had even two years ago when we went to the state tournament. Just guys that defensively can handle the job for us. And I think we’re going to hit pretty well.”
Lefthander Tait will likely be the No.1 pitcher. Kaplan, Brooke, twins Nolan and David Rolf and sophomore Ryan Roy will also see time on the mound.
Park will be athletic, a solid defensive team, and opportunistic on offense, Darr feels. “I think we’re going to make a lot of plays. I really think we’re going to field it really well. I don’t think we’re going to hurt ourselves too much defensively. I think we’re going to be able to put the ball in play and we’ll be able to do some things on the basepaths. I don’t think we’re going to hit the ball out of the ballpark like we did two years ago.”
Darr believes the Suburban East Conference will be extremely strong again. Defending state champion East Ridge (20-8 a season ago) is once again loaded with talent including three Division I pitchers. Mounds View also qualified for the state tournament. Cretin-Derham Hall went 20-6 last season and won the conference crown. Stillwater, Woodbury, White Bear Lake are also expected to field good teams. Cretin-Derham Hall, East Ridge, Stillwater and Woodbury were all ranked in the Class 4A top 10 at the end of the season last year.
In the section playoffs. Rosemount (19-7 in 2023) finished as the Class AAAA runner-up a year ago.
“It’s a good challenge,” Darr said. “It will be fun to see what we can do.”
Park is scheduled to open the 2024 season at home Friday, April 5, hosting Hastings in a game at Granville Smith Field starting at 4:30 p.m.
