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Aug. 4—PARKERS PRAIRIE — Whitey Ditterich says he and the BOLD Junior Legion baseball team have much to be thankful for, which is what you'd expect when the Blue Angels are headed to the state tournament for the first time since 2017.
"First, in our baseball community we have a lot of good people," Ditterich said. "And obviously and big part of this is the kids."
BOLD plays Ely at noon Friday in the first round of the Ninth Annual Division II State Junior American Legion Baseball Tournament.
Bird Island was host to the first junior legion tournament in 2017 which enabled Posts 186 & 430 to get their entrance into it. This time, the Blue Angels won their way in, notably beating Madison and Granite Falls in sub-state play.
Other first-round games have Royalton playing Bagley at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Caledonia playing Norwood Young America at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Sleepy Eye playing Parkers Prairie at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Play continues Saturday with the championship semifinals at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The championship game is 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
St. Charles won the state title in 2025.
BOLD brings a 12-4 record into the tournament with a roster than includes seven juniors-to-be, 10 sophomores-to-be and one future freshman. The Blue Angels are primarily made up of players from the BOLD school district, with players from Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart also on the roster.
Ditterich is the head coach. He is assisted by Jeremy Mortenson, Andrew Baumgartner and John Benson.
The team has been led by a strong pitching staff. Edgar Kopel threw back-to-back shutouts against Madison and Granite Falls in the playoffs. Grady Wegsheid is a tough left-hander. Marcus Benson, Isaac Frank and Drew Gass have all had good summers, Ditterich said.
"Our pitching has been very solid," Ditterich said. "We've held a lot of teams to not many runs.
"We gave up five runs in four games in the playoffs with two shutouts."
The Blue Angels' top hitters have been Colton Baumgartner (.439), Wegshied (.396) and Connor Blad (.371).
Ditterich credited a rejuvenated youth program, BOLD 212, with helping to keep all the various levels of baseball stocked with talent. After BOLD won a state high school title in 2019, the past couple of years have been rougher.
BOLD's senior legion team went 9-7 this summer after going 0-12 in 2024. Ditterich believes the program will be strong in the coming years.
"It's fun to be a part of this program," Ditterich said. "I expect BOLD baseball to very solid in the coming years."
Ditterich has been the head coach since 2019. He's also a coach in BOLD's junior high school program. He plans to step down after the state tournament to focus on coaching his sons' youth teams.
"Maybe I'll be back in a couple years when they get up to this age level," Ditterich said.
Continue reading...
"First, in our baseball community we have a lot of good people," Ditterich said. "And obviously and big part of this is the kids."
BOLD plays Ely at noon Friday in the first round of the Ninth Annual Division II State Junior American Legion Baseball Tournament.
Bird Island was host to the first junior legion tournament in 2017 which enabled Posts 186 & 430 to get their entrance into it. This time, the Blue Angels won their way in, notably beating Madison and Granite Falls in sub-state play.
Other first-round games have Royalton playing Bagley at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Caledonia playing Norwood Young America at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Sleepy Eye playing Parkers Prairie at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Play continues Saturday with the championship semifinals at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The championship game is 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
St. Charles won the state title in 2025.
BOLD brings a 12-4 record into the tournament with a roster than includes seven juniors-to-be, 10 sophomores-to-be and one future freshman. The Blue Angels are primarily made up of players from the BOLD school district, with players from Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart also on the roster.
Ditterich is the head coach. He is assisted by Jeremy Mortenson, Andrew Baumgartner and John Benson.
The team has been led by a strong pitching staff. Edgar Kopel threw back-to-back shutouts against Madison and Granite Falls in the playoffs. Grady Wegsheid is a tough left-hander. Marcus Benson, Isaac Frank and Drew Gass have all had good summers, Ditterich said.
"Our pitching has been very solid," Ditterich said. "We've held a lot of teams to not many runs.
"We gave up five runs in four games in the playoffs with two shutouts."
The Blue Angels' top hitters have been Colton Baumgartner (.439), Wegshied (.396) and Connor Blad (.371).
Ditterich credited a rejuvenated youth program, BOLD 212, with helping to keep all the various levels of baseball stocked with talent. After BOLD won a state high school title in 2019, the past couple of years have been rougher.
BOLD's senior legion team went 9-7 this summer after going 0-12 in 2024. Ditterich believes the program will be strong in the coming years.
"It's fun to be a part of this program," Ditterich said. "I expect BOLD baseball to very solid in the coming years."
Ditterich has been the head coach since 2019. He's also a coach in BOLD's junior high school program. He plans to step down after the state tournament to focus on coaching his sons' youth teams.
"Maybe I'll be back in a couple years when they get up to this age level," Ditterich said.
Continue reading...
