Stewartville's Haylie Strum will play two sports at Luther College
Apr. 25—STEWARTVILLE, Minn. — Stewartville senior Haylie Strum plans to compete in two sports at Division III Luther College.
Strum has signed a letter of intent to play women's basketball next school year and she also plans to compete in track and field. Strum, who led the Tigers to the Class AAA state final in basketball and was named the Post
Bulletin All-Area Player of the Year,
was a four-year starter for the Tigers.
As a senior, the 5-foot-6 guard averaged 15.5 points (50% field-goal shooting, 40% on 3-pointers), 3.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. She did that despite playing barely more than a half in many games, the Tigers with so many blowout wins.
Stewartville finished its season 29-3, including winning 26 straight games before falling in the state championship 66-60 to Benilde-St. Margaret's. Strum was selected All-State in Class AAA.
She is also a standout hurdler and sprinter in track and field. Strum has been named All-State and Academic All-State each of the past three seasons.
She was part of Stewartville's state champion 4x400m relay team as a junior. She has placed in the top four in all of her state events the past three years.
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Chatfield's Belle Berg is off to a strong start for the nationally ranked Luther College softball team this spring.
Berg, a senior, has started all 28 games at shortstop for Luther. She is batting .394 with five home runs, seven doubles, 26 runs scored and 23 RBIs. She is tied for the team lead in home runs and is second in RBIs.
Luther is currently 24-4 this season and 5-1 in the American River Conference. The Norse were ranked 24th in the nation in NCAA Division III but dropped out of the top 25 in the last poll.
Last season as a junior, Berg started all 35 games at shortstop and hit .327 with seven doubles, one triple and one home run, and ranked second on the team with 24 RBIs. She was named second-team All-Conference as well as Academic All-Conference and to the NFCA Scholar All-America team.
Teagan Hansen, a grad of Plainview-Elgin-Millville, is also a member of the team. She is a freshman utility player who has been used as a pinch runner and has scored nine runs.
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There are five area players on the Luther College baseball team.
Lake City's Joshua Matanich is a senior first baseman, Kasson's Kaleb Thiesse is a junior right-handed pitcher, Hayfield's Nolan Klocke is a freshman right-handed pitcher while junior Lewis Peters and freshman Jack Welch are both catchers from La Crescent.
Matanich is one of the team's top offensive players. He is fourth on the team in both batting average (.311) and RBIs (21) while starting 29 of the team's 30 games. He also has nine doubles and 15 runs scored.
Welch and Peters have seen part-time action at catcher. Welch has made six starts and is batting .150 with a double and three RBIs. Peters has made four starts and is hitting .077.
Klocke is just a freshman, but he has had a big impact on the pitching staff. He has pitched in nine games, made four starts and leads the team with a 1.56 ERA. He is also 3-0 and is tied for the team lead with three saves. He has struck out 48 in 34 1/3 innings and has one shutout.
Thiesse has pitched in 12 games, all in relief. He has a 0-1 record and 7.23 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings and he also has three saves.
Luther is currently 19-11, 12-3 in league play.
Guy N. Limbeck is a sports writer for the Post Bulletin. His Local Notebook appears each Tuesday. He can be reached at
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