By Nick Gerhardt
With the calendar flipping to June, that means a few things for Class A. College players have started to return and veterans have begun to knock off the rust from the offseason. Several teams have picked up where they left off while others have started to figure some things out. As such, the second round of rankings have changed a lot and in other ways it’s much the same, except one of pollsters felt one section in particular was getting overlook.
Defending Class B champion Miesville has shot out of the gates with a 5-0 start. That includes a pair of wins over Northfield, Red Wing, Hampton and MacStrength. The schedule picks up the rest of the month for the Mudhens with tilts against Minneapolis Cobras, Highland Park, St. Paul Mudhens, St. Patrick and Rochester. Miesville held down the No. 1 ranking once again, but it didn’t come unanimously.
A revamped Baseball 365 has racked up nine consecutive victories through May, including a 7-5 win over Minneapolis Cobras and 10-9 win over Chaska. Our experts took notice and moved Baseball 365 all the way up to the No. 2 spot after capturing the No. 9 ranking in the preseason poll.
Champlin Park dipped a spot to No. 3 in this poll. The LoGators lost 5-4 to Baseball 365 and 8-4 to Lyon’s Pub, plus a 12-0 shutout loss to Rochester. Our rankers felt a one spot slip enough of a demerit.
Air Freight Unlimited also moved down a slot, though that mostly had to do with a lack of data for the perpetually tardy starting squad.
Lyon’s Pub made way for Baseball 365’s ascension and dropped to No. 5 while Burnsville stayed put at No. 6. The veteran Minnetonka Monarchs checked in at No. 7 while Rochester remained at No. 8. Chaska moved into the top 10 at No. 9. Stockmen’s Irish has bolstered its pitching staff with the addition of former St. Louis Park ace Andy Davis, but remained at No. 10.
Tom Kolar — Air Freight Unlimited
1. Miesville Mudhens — 5-0 to start the season, last year’s defending champs. They will be here until proven otherwise.
2. Air Freight Unlimited — The calendar turned to June and for Freight it meant it was time for takeoff. 15-0 in Game 1. We will know more come the next rankings.
3. Baseball 365 — 7-2 start to the season, and some solid wins. Looks like the combination with St. Louis Park is paying off. Interested to see how their league season shakes out with only two bids from their section.
4. Rochester Royals — 3-1 start to the year with an impressive 12-0 thrashing of Champlin.
5. Champlin Park LoGators — Solid start to the year and their roster looks loaded. I expect them to be higher up during our next round of rankings.
6. Minnetonka Monarchs — Not too worried about the loss to Shakopee, assuming they have their guys back and reloaded their history (or lack thereof) makes them deserving of this spot.
7. Lyon’s Pub Warriors — Looks to be a solid squad this year.
8. Minneapolis Cobras — Some solid non con wins early on.
9. St. Paul Mudhens — Solid young squad should be competing for a St. Paul League title.
10. Eagan Bandits — Good run in state last year, dropped their first game of the year but if Kruzan is back they should be good.
Nate Jackson — St. Boni Saints
1. Miesville Mudhens — Mike Tyson loses eventually but they’re the kings until they’re the queens. Bulldozing through the competition. Maybe the Snakes can slow them down but the Head Hen is primed to keep winning. Let’s see how they travel. Maybe a few L’s will be hanged but it’s not going to take place in Miesville.
2. Champlin LoGators — Kings of the swamp like to mix it up. Deep schedule and they’re ready to play whoever. 7-4 with nine games on the road. They play marquee teams in a great atmosphere. Why isn’t Miesville on the schedule?
3. Lyon’s Pub Warriors — Dirtbags. A townball team playing in the city. Let me know when you find a more solid non-league/section schedule. Beer and snacks and the Pub rolls. Is the Pub going undefeated in league … again!?
4. Minnetonka Monarchs — The former Millers are keeping Minnetonka at the top. Three losses to state contenders in their respective class isn’t going to move the kingdom. Same team, different leadership. Although, leadership has been there since the days of Hoy. Millers or Monarchs, nothing is changing. Tonka is a force.
5. Baseball 365 Pirates — Super team! Anybody else want to merge? Some good wins are making Baseball 365 attractive. They have some big section games coming up so let’s revisit this in a month.
6. Burnsville Bobcats — These boys are good. Pitching, hitting, defense, speed and beer drinking are top notch. Seamlessly playing baseball like it’s a pick-up basketball game at Lifetime Fitness.
7. Air Freight Unlimited — I think Air Freight still exists but I’m not sure. The Lao Che’s Plane doesn’t really like playing baseball outside of St. Paul. They have the Shamrock vibes with a Commanding Edge. Can’t take them out of the top 10 even if they don’t play until June because of Laubscher.
8. Stockmen’s Irish — The fun is just beginning in SSP. Andy Davis is a fun add. Skyline is theirs to lose. St. Anthony and NSP might have something to say about that. Stillwater wants a piece, and, of course, the Knights want to get back in. Until then, get through the Irish if you want to participate.
9. Rochester Royals — Pilla wants to play pro ball, but who doesn’t. Not sure what that does to the pitching staff. The hitters on the team will make sure they’re contending. They’ll have to battle in a tough section in order to return to state. That shouldn’t be an issue.
10. Waconia Lakers — Did an “A” team win a “C” tournament!? These boys are good. They play all facets of the game really well. They have a great mix of youngsters and vets. Makes you wonder if population points really matter. 😊
Honorable mention: St. Anthony Hogs, Andover Aces, Shakopee Indians, North St. Paul, and Section 8.
Jon Sands — Victoria Vics
1. Miesville Mudhens
2. Burnsville Bobcats
3. Lyon’s Pub Warriors
4. Baseball 365
5. Chaska Cubs
6. Rochester Royals
7. Minnetonka Monarchs
8. Champlin Park LoGators
9. Air Freight Unlimited
10. St. Paul Mudhens
Jordan Wiggins — St. Anthony Hogs
As difficult as the preseason rankings are, the end of May rankings can be even tougher. A lot of teams are finally getting college kids back, so it’s easy to overlook a few teams or put too much weight on early season wins and look like an idiot within a few weeks. So here’s my best stab at throwing together a top-10 a month into the season.
1. Champlin Park Logators — A top-four team from last year added some boppers in Logan Jordan and Brayden Hellum from Stillwater. Hutchinson is a great arm and these guys don’t seem happy to rest on their final weekend appearance from 2024.
2. Air Freight Unlimited — It’s June 4 and these guys have played … let me count … one game? New year, same Freight — the games don’t count until August anyway.
3. Miesville Mudhens — 2024 champs. Third is probably too low but it’s more of a nod to Champlin and Air Freight than a bash on the Mudhens — who are an elite team and I’m sure will be back to repeat.
4. Baseball 365 — 365 has become a top team is Class A the last few years and they added basically the entire St. Louis Park roster from last year (minus a few). Having a few top arms will be the question with Danner still rehabbing his elbow. They’ll surely generate runs in 2025.
5. Burnsville Bobcats — Very solid Nos. 1-9 in this order and have a few good pitchers to back it up. They’ve been gaining steam the last few years and will be ready to make more noise.
6. Dundas Dukes — I’ve only ever played them once, so I tend to sleep on the Dukes. I wont let that happen again.
7. Minnetonka Monarchs — A tough team to ever beat but the age has started to show a bit. No. 7 is probably as low as I’ve ever had these guys but this class has become so deep that I mean it with no harm.
8. Stockmen’s Irish — Added Andy Davis from St Louis Park and Teddy is back in town. A great rotation of arms but they’ll need offense and defense to make a run.
9. Lyon’s Pub Warriors — Another squad that shouldn’t be this low but the top talent is so good. Pub can beat anyone and chirp anyone off a field any night.
10. Sartell Muskies — I’m not pretending to know anything about these guys. But they win a ton every year so they get included.
Matt Marek — Champlin Park LoGators
1. Baseball 365
2. Miesville Mudhens
3. Air Freight Unlimited
4. Chaska Cubs
5. Lyon’s Pub Warriors
6. Champlin Park LoGators
7. Burnsville Bobcats
8. Shakopee Indians
9. North St. Paul Snowmen
10. Andover Aces
Class A rankings (As of June 4)(Pts)(Previous)
1. Miesville Mudhens (47)(1)
2. Baseball 365 (38)(9)
3. Champlin Park LoGators (33)(2)
4. Air Freight Unlimited (32)(3)
5. Lyon’s Pub Warriors (28)(4)
6. Burnsville Bobcats (24)(6)
7. Minnetonka Monarchs (20)(5)
8. Rochester Royals (14)(8)
9. Chaska Cubs (13)(NR)
10. Stockmen’s Irish (6)(10)
Also receiving votes: Minneapolis Cobras, St. Paul Mudhens, Eagan Bandits, Waconia Lakers, Dundas Dukes, Sartell Muskies, Shakopee Indians, North St. Paul Snowmen and Andover Aces.
