By Nick Gerhardt
The early season gives us a glimpse into the possibilities for the rest of the season and as we take a look at our latest Class B poll we’ll see teams with big early season wins get rewarded. We saw three new teams crack the top 10 and we saw some familiar names drop in the rankings.
Delano didn’t drop in our rankings and nearly garnered all four first-place votes. One of our pollsters felt Webster’s resume looks better to claim the No. 1 spot. The rest of the pollsters felt the Sox deserved a spot and they wound up at No. 5 for the first time this season.
Previous No. 2-ranked Nisswa fell to Victory League rival Buckman and fell to the No. 7 spot while the Billygoats and new mascot cracked the top 10 for the first time at No. 4. Don’t expect them to get left out of the top 10 the rest of the year.
Perennial contender Cold Spring climbed from No. 10 to No. 3 in our latest poll while another frequent state tournament entrant Carver entered the top 10 at No. 6.
Young America dropped from No. 3 to No. 8 as it navigates through a challenging Crow River Valley League. Hutchinson and its impressive start garnered the Huskies the No. 9 slot and fellow North Star League foe Buffalo remained in the top 10 at No. 10 after dropping two spots.
Kip Kovar — Herald Journal
1. Delano A’s — It’s been a weird start to the season. No one team has really jumped out and claimed the top spot. Delano hasn’t really done anything to fall either, so I’ll keep them in the top spot for now, as its only blemishes are a loss to Young America and a non-league matchup with Waconia.
2. Buckman Billygoats — I’ll give them the No. 2 spot coming off a big win over Nisswa this past weekend. After dropping their season opener, they rattled off five wins in a row, including a 12-2 win over Sobieski.
3. Buffalo Bulldogs — Still waiting to get meaningful games underway, but Buffalo has already secured some impressive wins. They were still a Class A team to begin the season, but back in Class B, the Bulldogs are for sure a team that will make some noise.
4. Raymond Rockets — Already have a win against Bird Island this year, and despite coming off a loss to Delano over the weekend, the Rockets are still a good team.
5. Young America Cardinals — I dropped the Cardinals a few spots with the uncertainty of Josh Lenz. After leaving the game against Plato with an injury, if Young America is without him for an extended time, its state title hopes take a huge hit. If he turns out to be fine, the Cardinals can make a run.
6. Nisswa Lightning — There’s the tough loss to Buckman, but already some have some impressive wins besides that. Don’t overthink having Nisswa in the top 10.
7. Hutchinson Huskies — It’s been a strong start to the season for one of the favorites in District 6B. The Huskies hold wins over New Ulm, Plato and Watertown already.
8. Bird Island Bullfrogs — Tough loss to Raymond, but still a talented group.
9. Cold Spring Springers — Probably should be higher on my rankings. They are 5-1 on the season and coming off a 3-2 win over Nisswa.
10. Jordan Brewers — It hasn’t been the strongest of starts to the year for one of the top organizations in the state. Despite that, I don’t see a world where the Brewers don’t figure things out.
Nate Jackson — St. Boni Saints
Just over a month into the season and we’ve seen some movement across the leagues. Teams that just missed the tourney last year are making some noise to state their case. Some schedules are heavy and some are light, but we’re getting into the bulk of the season where the teams are fully loaded. A couple of wins and a couple of losses for the teams in the last poll have shifted the rankings. I expect some things to change dramatically as we progress further into the season.
1. Delano Athletics (5-2) — The CRVL is an extremely competitive exurb league. The Athletics dropped a couple CRVL games to Waconia and Young America, but they’ve held down the fort by beating Raymond and Jordan.
2. Cold Spring Springers (5-1) — The Springers dropped a tilt to Centennial but remain solid. They had the lead on St. Joes, but the game was suspended. Nothing new for this franchise. They’re always at the top.
3. Raymond Rockets (5-1-1) — Their friendly with Regal ended in a draw and they said, “Don’t ask questions.” Other than that, they’re winning besides losing to Delano by two runs.
4. Young America Cardinals (4-3) — Roughed up by Chaska and Jordan to start the season. Upended Delano but fell to Plato because of Reece … that guy can deal. They’ll stick to the league schedule from here on out. I don’t suspect them losing too many more games.
5. Nisswa Lightning (3-2) — The Lightning tend to be in the middle of the pack until districts. Then, they turn it on and will cause problems. The only Ls are the Springers and the Billygoats.
6. Webster Sox (8-1) — Not sure what happened with St. Ben’s but rebounded quickly to take out Jordan. Other than that, they’re bulldozing through their schedule.
7. Buckman Bullygoats (5-1) — It appears to be the revenge tour for the Billygoats and I don’t think the Steves will be able to slow them down this time.
8. Carver Black Sox (7-1) — It’s a simple formula. Hit the ball, speed, play defense and throw strikes. One-run loss to Watertown. I didn’t expect this, but you must give credit where credit is due.
9. Austin Greyhounds (8-1) — Slipped up against the Rochester Royals but have been consistent in taking teams to the cleaners.
10. St. Martin Martins (8-2) — A couple loses and a couple of good wins over Maple Lake and Buffalo have the Martins in the top 10.
On deck: Hutchinson Huskies, Maple Lake Lakers, Bluffton Braves, Union Hill Bulldogs, Watertown Red Devils, Bird Island Bullfrogs and Stewartville-Racine Sharks.
Tom Elliott — West Central Tribune
1. Delano Athletics — It’s early, but Delano is off to a good start.
2. Raymond Rockets — A 3-1 win over the Bird Island Bullfrogs in Corn Belt League play was a big early test..
3. Cold Spring Springers — Besides winning in the Sauk Valley League, Cold Spring has a 4-3 win over Nisswa.
4. Carver Black Sox — Starting the Crow River Valley League schedule with a 6-0 record catches people’s attention.
5. Webster Sox — Starting the Dakota-Rice-South League scheduled with a 6-0 record catches
people’s attention, too.
6. Buckman Billygoats — The Victory League’s Class B Division is awfully good and Buckman just beat Nisswa 9-3.
7. Nisswa Lightning — Nisswa is off to a 3-1-1 start in the Victory B.
8. Union Hill Bulldogs — Another fine Dakota-Rice-Scott team that’s 5-0-1 in league play.
9. Austin Greyhounds — Austin is 4-0 in the Twin Rivers League and 5-1 overall.
10. Maple Lake Lakers — It’s early, but the North Star League’s top teams are always really good statewide and right now, that’s the Lakers.
Justin Plein – Red Wing Aces
1. Webster Sox — A 7-1 record gets you noticed. Wins over Elko and Jordan, with a matchup Friday against a quality Union Hill team.
2. Delano Athletics — 5-2 to start the season playing a difficult schedule. They will continue to be at the top of the rankings all season
3. Carver Black Sox — 8-1 and scoring a bunch of runs. Their schedule gets tougher as June continues.
4. Cold Spring Springers — 5-1 record with a win over Nisswa last week. A team that no one is excited to match up with come state tournament time (speaking from experience).
5. Hutchinson Huskies – A team I was intrigued with preseason jumped out to an 8-3 record. A couple hiccups early, but eight wins at this point in the season is impressive.
6. Buckman Billygoats — Some nice early season wins puts them at 5-1. The B teams in the Victory lead may be a revolving door in the rankings this summer.
7. Raymond Rockets — 6-1-1 to start the season with a big win over Bird Island.
8. St. Boni Saints — This team will play anyone, anytime. An 8-3 to start the year, but a big matchup looms this Thursday against Delano.
9. St. Martin Martins — 9-2 is a good start. A top 10 matchup Friday night when Hutchinson comes to town.
10. Maple Lake Lakers — Death, Taxes and state tournament appearances. 6-2 through the first month.
Class B rankings (As of June 10)(Pts)(Previous)
1. Delano Athletics (39)(1)
2. Raymond Rockets (28)(6)
3. Cold Spring Springers (26)(10)
4. Buckman Billygoats (23)(NR)
5. Webster Sox (21)(NR)
6. Carver Black Sox (18)(NR)
7. Nisswa Lightning (15)(2)
8. Young America Cardinals (13)(3)
9. Hutchinson Huskies (10)(9)
10. Buffalo Bulldogs (8)(8)
Also receiving votes: Bird Island, Jordan Brewers, Austin Greyhounds, St. Martin Martins, Union Hill Bulldogs, Maple Lake Lakers, St. Boni Saints, Bluffton Braves, Watertown Red Devils and Stewartville-Racine Sharks.
