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Tribune Notebook: MACCRAY's Hebrink selected to coach All-Stars

tom elliott, west central tribune, willmar, minn.
·4 min read

May 23—RAYMOND — When Nate Hebrink was contacted about coaching in the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Series, he didn't hesitate.

"I'll tell you right now," the MACCRAY coach said. "You can count me in. I can't pass on the opportunity."

Hebrink and Winona head coach Matt Smith will coach the South All-Stars for the 2023 Play Ball! Minnesota All-Star Series, which takes place June 23-24 in Chaska.

There are six teams: the North All-Stars and then all-star teams representing the Metro West, Metro East, Metro North and Metro South.

Hebrink, in his 12th season as the Wolverines' head coach, views it as a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

"I'm pretty excited about the opportunity," he said.

Hebrink's South All-Stars team is scheduled to play a nine-inning game Friday, June 23, against the Metro East All-Stars at the Chaska Athletic Park. The All-Stars then play two seven-inning games Saturday, June 24. The All-Stars face the Metro South at 9 a.m. then, depending how they do, they'll play either at 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. of 7:15 p.m., which is the championship game. There's one day of practice on Thursday, June 22.

Hebrink's South team includes Montevideo's Brady Snell. The North All-Stars squad includes Paynesville's Grayson Fuchs and Minnewaska's PJ Johnson. That squad is coached by Alexandria's Jake Munsch and Cloquet's Tyler Olin. The North All-Stars are also the defending champions of the series.

Hebrink said he's familiar with several other members of his squad, including Snell, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton's Cody Wichmann and Wabasso's Adryen Tietz.

"We're going to get everybody into a spot where they can succeed," Hebrink said. "And we'll give everybody a chance to get on the field and show what they can do."

Hebrink said he met with a group to decide the teams and was impressed by the resumes of the players they were considering. There were some hard decisions, he said. He said he can't wait for the opportunity to coach the talented group.

"I'm super excited," he said.

Hebrink led MACCRAY to the Class A state consolation championship in 2022, the Wolverines' first state appearance since 2013. MACCRAY lost to Randolph 10-0 in five innings in the quarterfinals in St. Cloud, then beat Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 5-1 in the consolation semifinals before knocking off New Ulm Cathedral 8-7 in the consolation final.

Other South All-Stars are: Caledonia's Kyle Bechtel, Byron's Jake Coshenet, Mankato East's Dylan Kopesky and Riston Wojcik, Rochester Mayo's Mason Leimbek and Ian Regal, La Crescent's Eli McCool, Fairmont's Landen Meyerdirk, Sleepy Eye's Nick Mielke, Cannon Falls' Elliott Nelson, Rochester Century's Ryan Ohm, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva's Andrew Phillips, Red Wing's Abe Reinitz, Austin's Nick Robertson, Stewartville's Owen Sikkink, Northfield's Nolan Thompson and Winona's Ashten Vaughn.

North All-Stars of note include Brainerd's Joanthan Benson and Isaac Hanson, Alexandria's Matthew Hornstein and Jaxon Schoenrock, Little Falls' Matt Filippi and Beau Thoma, Sartell's Kade Lewis and Gavan Schulte, Rocori's Beck Loesch and Jack Spanier and St. Cloud's Elian Mezquita.

Willmar track and field athlete Avery Quinn has been named a Central Lakes Conference Performer of the Week.

Quinn threw the discus 117 feet, a personal-best, last week for the Cardinals.

* Former Willmar Cardinal star Jordyn Swoboda, has earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball honors.

The College of St. Benedict senior outfielder batted .347 in 34 games, scoring 31 runs with eight home runs, 31 RBIs, a .422 on-base percentage and .653 slugging percentage. Her home runs led the Bennies, who were 16-6 in the MIAC and 26-8 overall.

Swoboda was a graduate student for St. Ben's, having played five seasons after earning another year of eligibility in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

* Lily Reed, another former Willmar Cardinal, is part of a region championship softball team at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. Reed, a third baseball/pitcher, is batting .480 with one home run, 11 RBIs, 19 runs and five stolen bases in 30 games for the Wildcats, who are 31-13.

NDSCS is on an 11-game winning streak heading into the NJCAA Division III national tournament. The Wildcats beat Anoka-Ramsey 12-4 to win the regional. Reed is majoring in welding.

* Yet another former Willmar Cardinal, Nadir Yusuf, won the Essentia Fargo Half Marathon on Saturday. Yusuf, a former Minnesota State-Moorhead Division II All-American track and cross-country runner, finished the 13.1-mile course in 1 hour, 4 minutes and 10 seconds to win the title.

"It was good," Yusuf told Ryan Spitza of the Fargo Forum. "Good weather out there, minimal wind and we had some really good crowds."