March 5, 2019

Baseball Heads To Florida For 10 games To Start The Season

The Dakota County Technical College baseball team opens up the season in Florida. After bad weather in Nebraska and Kansas this past weekend the Blue Knights will hit Florida with a 0-0 record. They will play 10 games in a 7 day span. During the 10 game trip, DCTC will play six teams and two of them are ranked in the national NJCAA poll: #9 Heartland CC and #13 Southeastern CC. The Blue Knights will be playing in the RussMatt Invite, a tournament played throughout Central Florida. They will play at four different sites during their trip: Osceola Heritage Park (former Houston Astros spring training facility), Chain of Lakes Complex (former Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians spring training facility), Disney Wide World of Sports (Current Atlanta Braves spring training facility), and Lake Myrtle Park. The Blue Knights schedule in Florida is the following:

RussMatt Invite schedule (subject to change)

DCTC at College of Lake County, Thurs., Mar. 7, 2:15 p.m.

College of Lake County at DCTC, Thurs., Mar. 7, 6:00 p.m.

DCTC at Glen Oaks CC, Fri., Mar. 8, 12 p.m.

Glen Oaks CC at DCTC, Fri., Mar. 8, 2:00 p.m.

DCTC at #13 Southeastern CC (IA), Sun., Mar. 10, 9:00 a.m.

DCTC at Mott CC, Sun., Mar. 10, 12:00 p.m.

DCTC at #9 Heartland CC, Tue., Mar. 12, 11:00 a.m.

#9 Heartland CC at DCTC, Tue., Mar. 12, 1:30 p.m.

DCTC at Montgomery CC, Wed., Mar. 13, 8:00 a.m.

Montgomery CC at DCTC, Wed., Mar. 13, 10:30 a.m.

The Blue Knights finished 2018 as Region XIII Champions.

The team welcomes back many familiar faces as several sophomores return to the squad. Amongst these returners is Bradley Goulet (So., SS, Cottage Grove, MN), who was named Region XIII MVP in the 2018 season. Goulet batted .389 last season with 50 runs scored, 12 doubles, six triples, four home runs, 29 RBIs and 38 SB's. Trent Fredenburg (So., OF, Coon Rapids, MN) returns after hitting .276 in the 2018 season with 22 runs, six home runs, and 25 RBIs. Ian Walker (So., C, Forest Lake, MN) hit .354 in 2018 with 22 runs and 20 RBIs. Clayton Harris (So., OF, Hastings, MN) also returns to the team after hitting .280 in 2018 with 16 runs and five RBIs.

DCTC will be joined by several freshman and other sophomores looking for staring spots this season. Competing for time behind the plate are Joe Garcia (Fr., C, Hudson, WI) and Garret Hoffman (Fr., C, Anoka, MN). Competing for infield spots are Ethan Cernohous (Fr., UT, Bulverde, TX), Henry Laue (Fr., 1B, Mahtomedi, MN), Wyatt Lampel (Fr., IF, Kettle River, MN), Jonah Lewis (Fr., IF, Minnetonka, MN), Parker Savard (Fr., IF, Sudbury, MN), and Carter Wendlandt (Fr., IF, Minneapolis, MN). Competing for outfield spots are Shane Brown (Fr., OF, Mahtomedi, MN), Caleb Ditmarson (Fr., UT, Willmar, MN) Gus Newman (So., OF, Woodbury, MN) and Mike Vohnoutka (So., OF, Detroit Lakes, MN).

Returning to the mound this season are starters Jake Wensmann (So., RHP, Forest Lake, MN) and Alex Winslow (So., LHP, Ham Lake, MN) and relievers/spot starters Tanner Berwald (So., RHP, North St. Paul, MN) and Dalton Hoffman (So., LHP, Anoka, MN). These four returners collected 16 of the teams wins and claimed of half of the team's innings thrown. Wensmann went 2-5 with a 5.58 ERA in 50.0 innings with 51 strikeouts and 23 walks. Alex Winslow also returns to the team with one shutout under his belt from the previous season. Winslow went 5-4 in the 2018 season with a 5.43 ERA in 53.0 innings pitched with 62 strikeouts and 25 walks. Berwald went 2-2 last season in 24.1 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts. Hoffman, who was named to the All-Region XIII Team in 2018, went 7-4 last season with an ERA of 2.62 in 44.2 innings pitched with 47 strikeouts and 16 walks.

The team has added several freshman and several sophomores to the pitching staff this season who will all make an impact. These newcomers include John McCaustlin (Fr., RHP, Prior Lake, MN), Spencer Kopp (Fr., RHP, Hastings, MN), Jack Stoddard (Fr., RHP, Waconia, MN), Conor Merton (Fr., LHP, Perth, Australia), Zach Anderson (Fr., P, Soudan MN), Ethan Cernohous (Fr., P, Bulverde, TX), Caleb Ditmarson (Fr., P, Willmar, MN), Jonah Lewis (Fr., P, Minnetonka, MN), Gus Newman (So., P, Woodbury, MN).

Please follow the baseball team on tweet at @BaseballDCTC