By Nick Gerhardt
Not a lot of chatter in this edition of the Class A poll. That seemed to get saved for X with Baseball 365, the Northwest Orioles and the burners this week. Pretty sure there’s a hashtag emerging among amateur baseball X accounts this season that might appear among trending items, though we’re not sure we want to promote it any further.
Despite the lack of chatter from our pollsters, there’s plenty to talk about with their rankings. We saw plenty of movement in the top 10 with four new teams and a perennially top 10 team dropping from the rankings.
It’s without much surprise that the two-time defending champion Miesville retained the top spot in this poll, but it wasn’t unanimous. Our rankings experts seem to want a rematch for the Miesville Mudhens against the St. Paul Mudhens a la the 2024 state tournament where Miesville prevailed 8-6 in 10 innings. There are plenty of other teams that want another crack at Miesville, including Mac’s Industrial Warriors and Champlin Park.
The Warriors plummeted from the No. 2 ranking down to No. 5 in this poll while the St. Paul Mudhens rose to the No. 2 slot after coming in at No. 4 in the last poll.
Chaska remained steady at No. 3 as its lineup continues to heat up. The pitching staff has also gotten some vintage performances from the veterans.
The St. Patrick Irish rose to the No. 4 spot as the Irish have built an impressive resume, including a 10-1 win over Elko, a 2-1 win over Burnsville and a 6-1 win over Chaska. St. Patrick did drop a 9-8 game to Waconia.
The Bobcats check in at No. 7 in the poll after not getting ranked before. They share the spot with Air Freight Unlimited, which might be late to the party, but will be around to shut it down.
We ended up with a three-way tie for the No. 9 spot with the Moorhead Mudcats, St. Anthony Hogs and Baseball 365 all claiming a share. Waconia closed out the top 10 in the final spot and will factor into the Section 2 playoffs.
Jack Hagen — St. Anthony Hogs
1. St. Paul Mudhens: 11-2 overall. Won the league series against Freight. They have rattled off a number of good wins this year. Coach Podvin and his team are going to cruise to a St. Paul League championship. Great bats, good arms and solid defense. Will they have enough to show up in August to make a run?
2. Miesville Mudhens: 15-2 overall. Everyone knows what they have. They are the team to beat in the state this year. Werner, Sweeny, and Van Der Bosch will look to do a three-peat, but I would love to see a battle of the Hens in state again this year!
3. Chaska Cubs: 14-5 overall. A ton of good ball in this league makes it hard to rank any higher. I believe they will look to build off last season’s strong performance in state and make it back to the final weekend. A few head-scratching losses so far, but nothing matters until playoffs and state.
4. St. Patrick Irish: 13-1 overall. The league is tough to win, and so far, they have handled business. I can’t say I know a ton about this team, short of that they look dangerous so far. Their second-half schedule looks much more challenging, so time will tell if they are the real deal.
5. Burnsville Bobcats: 11-5. What a staff! They have probably four to five legit state starters in rotation, and they can hit the ball hard. I don’t care about their wins and losses; they are not someone you want to run into in a single-elimination bracket.
6. Moorhead Mudcats: 9-0. Hard to gauge a team who doesn’t play many games. They could be dangerous in state. Lots of young guys on the roster and filled with NSIC players, but I can’t rank them higher until they play a game in Class A outside of their league.
7. St. Anthony Hogs: 14-6. I think the squad is good from my own personal bias, but time will tell. Go ask the teams we’ve played if we’re good or just go to complain about the new turf at home. No whiteboard material here; I just wanted to show my own team some well-deserved love.
8. Mac’s Industrial Lyon’s Pub Warriors: 12-3: A little birdie told me Spanier is BACK! Not a flashy team, but they know how to win games, and they’re hard to put away. Almost took down Miesville in state last year and would love to see them make a run again.
9. Forest Lake Brewers: 10-5: They are just a solid ball club. Have the top-end arms to do something cool, and the bats are super consistent. Should be interesting as I think the Metro Minny is between them and Twin Ports; their doubleheader coming up at Schumacher will tell a lot about the kind of squad they really have.
10. North St. Paul Snowmen: 10-5. They made quite a run last year on the back of the bats getting hot and young arms shoving. They would be higher on my list if I knew some of the players were done with the Northwoods. I’m not sure what they will have in August, but Cole is a great dude, and I would love to see them go deep again this year and help represent the Skyline.
Honorable mention: Stockmen’s Irish, Twin Ports Timbers, Moorhead Brewers, Waconia Lakers
Jon Sands — Victoria Vics
1. Miesville Mudhens
2. St. Paul Mudhens
3. Air Freight Unlimited
4. Baseball 365
5. St. Patrick Irish
6. Minnetonka Monarchs
7. Chaska Cubs
8. Champlin Park LoGators
9. Mac’s Industrial Warriors
10. Burnsville Bobcats
Jeff Amann — Sartell Stone Poneys
1. Miesville Mudhens — Still the top bird. Nobody’s done enough to knock them off the No. 1 spot.
2. St. Patrick Irish — Clean record, steady play and still looking like a legit title threat.
3. Mac’s Industrial Warriors — Warriors are still tough, even if dropping back a spot. Doesn’t diminish how dangerous they are.
4. Chaska Cubs — Cubs are heating up and could crack the top three soon. Momentum is building.
5. St. Paul Mudhens — Strong early showings keep St. Paul locked into the top five.
6. Moorhead Brewers — Brewers keep winning and keep knocking teams over in their path. One of the hottest teams in Class A.
7. Stockmen’s Irish — A couple nice wins, a couple that slipped away, but still enough to move up one spot.
8. St. Anthony Hogs — Holding steady. The Hogs stay put for now, but teams hot on their heels.
9. Minnetonka Monarchs — Minnetonka enters the chat with tough wins and a roster that’s starting to click.
10. Champlin Park LoGators — Not playing up to their potential quite yet, but there’s a lot of baseball left in July. Plenty of time to climb.
Honorable mention: Moorhead Mudcats and Dundas Dukes
Matt Marek – Champlin Park LoGators
1. Miesville Mudhens (13-3)
2. Chaska Cubs (14-5)
3. St. Paul Mudhens (11-2)
4. Macs Industrial Warriors (11-3)
5. Waconia Lakers (13-4)
6. St. Patrick Irish (12-1)
7. Minnetonka Monarchs (11-4)
8. Forest Lake Brewers (12-5)
9. Moorhead Mudcats (10-0)
10. Burnsville Bobcats (11-5)
Honorable mention: Coon Rapids Redbirds, Moorhead Brewers, North St. Paul Snowmen, Baseball 365 and St. Anthony Hogs
Class A rankings (As of July 10)(Pts)(Previous)
5. Mac’s Industrial Warriors (20)(2)
6. Minnetonka Monarchs (11)(9)
7. Air Freight Unlimited (8)(6)
Also receiving votes: Forest Lake Brewers, Champlin Park LoGators, Moorhead Brewers, Stockmen’s Irish, Coon Rapids Redbirds, North St. Paul Snowmen, Dundas Dukes and Twin Ports Timbers.
