MADISON — Lac qui Parle Valley enters the 2023 season with plenty of fresh faces.
Darby Bjorgan enters his first season as the LQPV head coach. He replaces long-time head coach Bart Hill, who coached the Eagles for 27 seasons and had a 378-211 record. Bjorgan also was a former player and played under Hill in 1998 and ‘99.
Coming off a 14-7 season in 2022, the Eagles return one starter to their lineup in junior pitcher/outfielder T.J. Mitchell. Mitchell batted .220 his sophomore year with six RBIs and six runs scored.
“Our team will be young and inexperienced,” Bjorgan said, “But that can be just as much a positive as it is a negative.”
Dyllon Geiser returns for the Eagles after missing his sophomore season due to a knee injury.
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Other players to watch according to Bjorgan include: seniors Ethan Schommer and Joseph Ramsbacher and juniors Kaden Molden, Peyton Rademacher, Kaden Mortenson, Cael Benson and Bradyn Danzeisen.
“With little returning experience, everything will be wide open for us,” Bjorgan said. “These players have logged significant innings the last two years at the JV level and should bring good baseball IQ to the varsity level this year.”
LQPV went 7-4 in the Camden Conference last season, tying for second place. The Eagles made a long run through the Section 3A playoffs, opening with wins over Lakeview (9-1) and Yellow Medicine East (7-0). After falling to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (3-2), LQPV moved into the losers’ bracket at Milroy. They beat Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 15-2, then saw their season end with a 12-1 loss to Murray County Central.
LQPV Eagles
April 13 at RCW, 4:30 p.m.
April 14 vs. Ortonville, 5 p.m.
April 18 vs. TMB, 4:30 p.m.
April 20 vs. Hancock, 4:30 p.m.
April 25 at MACCRAY, 4:30 p.m.
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April 28 at YME, 4:30 p.m.
May 2 vs. Dawson-Boyd, 4:30 p.m.
May 4 vs. Lakeview, 4:30 p.m.
May 8 at Canby, 4:30 p.m.
May 9 vs. Morris/CA, 5 p.m.
May 11 vs. CMCS, 4:30 p.m.
May 13 vs. TBA, 10:30 a.m. at Madison
May 13 vs. TBA, 1 p.m. at Madison
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May 15 at KMS, 4:30 p.m.
May 16 at Pipestone, 4:30 p.m.
May 18 vs. Minneota, 4:30 p.m.
May 23 vs. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, 4:30 p.m.
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