Patriots prepare for new conference

BY PETE MOHS Echo Journal

PEQUOT LAKES — The Pequot Lakes Patriots baseball team will have some familiar faces in their lineup while competing in a new conference this spring as they join the Granite Ridge.

The seven letterwinners for the Patriots include: Clay Erickson, Conner Quale, Ryan Fritz, Brayden Sewall, Griffin Hoffman, Ethan Quale and Owen Krueger. Others who could contribute are Taylor Morris, Brayden Dornseif, Blake Spiczka, Carter Loge and Kyle Kotaska.

“We have some returners with good experience, and some new players who will contribute at different times as we search to fill some spots in the field and on the mound,” said Pequot Lakes coach Jon Kotaska, who is starting his 11th season as head coach. “We will be playing in the Granite Ridge Conference for the first time, and see some new teams.”

Kotaska and his squad are no strangers to Section 7-2A competition, and they know some of the top challengers will be Aitkin, Duluth Marshall and defending state champion Esko. Last spring, the No. 5 seeded Patriots were upset by No. 12 International Falls 7-5 in the opening round of the section playoffs. Pequot Lakes finished 12-9 overall. The Patriots were also 5-5 in their final season playing in the Mid-State Conference. Assistant coaches for Pequot Lakes are Brett Dale, Tom Orsburn and Nate DeChaine. The Patriots were scheduled to open the season Monday, April 8, at Mora, but the game was rained out. They’ll host Foley on Tuesday, April 9. Pequot Lakes will play Granite Ridge doubleheaders this season against Little Falls, Albany and Milaca. The section playoffs are scheduled to open Tuesday, May 28.

BY PETE MOHS

Michael Dinnel will be looking for players to step up this season after the Tigers were hit with graduation losses coming off a 13-10 overall season.

“We graduated many quality seniors who were a staple of our program for the past few seasons,” said Dinnel, who is starting his seventh season as coach. “There will be a lot of learning and firsts this season as we’ll see who steps up and develops to fill the available spots in our lineup.”

Returning letterwinners for PR-B include: Nigel DeSanto, Konnor King, Chance Abraham, Caden Hamilton, Eli Abraham, Grady Mongan, Dalton Meyers, Owen Dabill, Koal Oberfell, Jonathan Shogren, Ozzy Switajewski and Andrew Volk. Others who could contribute are Brody Mongan, Torin Desmond,William Gould and Reece Trumble.

Last season, the Tigers finished 8-1 in the Northland Conference. PR-B then lost to Sebeka 11-2 in the Section 5A title game. Assistant coaches are Nick Ackerman, Matthew Casperson and Terry Holden.

The Tigers were scheduled to open Monday, April 8, with a doubleheader against Wadena-Deer Creek and Staples-Motley at Staples, but the games were rained out. They were to host Cass Lake-Bena on April 9 and BerthaHewitt-Verndale on April 11.