Sports
St. Thomas Academy Baseball Eyes Repeat As Conference Champions
The Cadets hope their deep pitching staff can carry them past rivals Hill-Murray and South St. Paul.
ST. THOMAS ACADEMY CADETS BASEBALL
Last season: 18-4
Conference record:
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15-1 (first place in Classic Suburban Conference)
Section 3AAA tournament:
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defeated Lakeville South 7-3, lost to Eagan 5-4, lost to Eastview 8-4
The St. Thomas Academy baseball team won the Classic Suburban Conference last year by three games, finishing with a 15-1 conference record.
The Cadets return four starters but must replace catcher Alex Jurich, who was the 2010 Pioneer Press and Classic Suburban Conference Player of the Year. Jurich is currently a freshman at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Head coach Paul Weinberg admits that Jurich will be tough to replace.
“We have to get some offense,” said Weinberg. “I think that we have a talented catcher, but (Jurich) was a big power and someone that teams had to pitch around, so he was big part of our lineup.”
Key returners
Will Ratelle, who will play football and baseball at the University of North Dakota next year, will move to third base from first base this season.
“He is a key to the whole thing,” Weinberg said. “He is our ace on the mound, and we are expecting a lot of him from the offensive standpoint, plus he is just an all-around great person.”
Weinberg feels that the Cadets will have plenty of depth in their pitching staff.
“We got two three-year starters back in Will and Zach Schroeder,” Weinberg said. “We have some young kids in the program. The problem is we haven’t been able to get outside yet, so we haven’t been able to evaluate them.”
Returning starter A.J. Reid will be the designated hitter at the beginning of the season. He hurt his arm playing dodgeball, and Weinberg said he will likely not be able to pitch this season.
“That hurts because he was our number two starter,” Weinberg said.
Fellow three-year starter Ryan McManus, who was STA's quarterback and will play at Dartmouth next fall, will play center field.
Conference outlook
Weinberg expects Hill-Murray and South St. Paul, who finished second and third last season, to join the Cadets at the top of the conference standings.
“South St. Paul is young,” Weinberg said. “Hill-Murray is kind of like us, but they were mostly juniors last year. They are going to good and both teams are well-coached.”