The Brutal Truth About The River Valley League
Posted August 8, 2012
By CJ Siewert
The West is primarily weak and dying – the Central is primarily young and growing.
Let’s face it, St. Peter is clearly the top team in the West (and it looks like that’s not going to change soon) and just got swept by the Central’s No. 3 seed Belle Plaine. Of course playoffs are all about who gets hot at that time – Belle Plaine was, St. Peter was not – but that still tells you something if the top team in the West is swept by a Central team that many people didn’t even think would have reached Regions.
Besides St. Peter, I don’t see the remaining five West teams contending for a State tourney berth anytime soon.
Arlington – The Dose’s aren’t getting any younger and the injury bug is starting to plague. Joe Lucas is a solid ace and great bat in the lineup, but even he dealt with arm issues and made just a handful of games. The A’s added a few new young guys this season, but they’ll have to prove themselves to raise any awareness around the League. And please get a website…
Fairfax – After reaching last year’s State tournament, the Cardinals went two-and-out to perhaps the League’s worst team – Winthrop. Of course they lost ace Bryce Rippentrop, who decided playing illegally for New Market was a better decision than returning to the Cardinals, and he even ripped on Fairfax during his arbitration meeting with the MBA Board, stating something along the lines of he didn’t like the way they conducted themselves. And how long can you rely on Cody Loverude to throw 200 pitches in every outing? They’ve got a few good bats in Austin Black, Angel Munoz, Jr. and Adam Buboltz, but unless they pick up some new talent, I just don’t see them contending.
Gaylord – The biggest question here is how long can Brad Walsh be a dominant pitcher? My guess is he’s still got quite a few more valuable years left, but that can only be answered down the line. Trevor Vaubel proved to be a quality pitcher as well for the Islanders, but beyond those two, there’s not much. Another concern for Gaylord is numbers. I briefly talked with Walsh prior to one of our games at the High Life Invite and he said in their previous game he turned around to congratulate the left fielder on making a play, but didn’t even know his name since the team had to sign a few high school kids to fill the field.
New Ulm – Since dropping from Class B and losing their best collegiate players, the Kaiserhoff only had high school talent remaining. They’re obviously going to deal with some growing pains over the next couple of seasons, but if they can hold their current roster together for a few years, there’s a lot of potential. New Ulm has proven it has a few talented hitters in the lineup and a ton of speed. And let’s face it, how long can a legendary baseball community like New Ulm last at the bottom of the barrel?
Winthrop – There are questions on whether Winthrop will even have a team next year. Here’s how the season ended for the Eagles this year:
- 10 guys at a home, season-deciding, playoff game
- A couple starters may or may not have been inebriated
- Five runs given up in the first inning and four in the second
- They showed some fight by not allowing a run in the following three innings, but after a strikeout by Pat O’Malley to end the sixth, he chucked his bat at the backstop, was ejected and the game was called because they had nobody on the bench
The livelihood of this team hinges on the Melius’ (Billy, Ben and player/manager Andy). I really hope they can put a team together next year because you never want to see a small town’s baseball team fold, especially when they consistently scrap together a playoff run.
And now let’s take a look at the Central…
Jordan has a storied town team baseball tradition at the Mini Met and that’s not about to change, even with the shift to Class C. The Brewers cruised through the RVL C teams during the regular season with a perfect 14-0 record, proving they’re the team to beat in the League. If they can filter in some new high school products over the next few years to coincide with the veterans, I don’t see a changing of the guard anytime soon.
Chanhassen has the biggest upside in the entire League as a very young and talented squad. Half the players aren’t even old enough to have a beer after the game. In just their third season as an organization, the Red Birds reached the State tourney behind a consistent lineup and ace Justin Thompson. Not much more to say other than the upside is huge in Chan.
Belle Plaine has shown it knows how to win come playoffs. The Tigers have reached Regions six consecutive seasons and are making their third-straight trip to State (fifth in six years). By looking at its roster, Belle Plaine doesn’t look like it’ll see much changeover in the lineup with nearly all of the starters in their seventh season or less.
Le Sueur had one of its best seasons in recent history thanks to the addition of ace pitcher Matt Lewis. The problem is that the Braves have never been known to hit the ball that well. Unless they can add a few bats to the lineup, I don’t see the Braves contending with the three previously mentioned teams. Oh, and please get a website…
Henderson is not that bad of a team and seemed to always play in tight games, but like Le Sueur, it’s going to continue to struggle against the top-three Central teams until the lineup is bolstered. And I can’t say much more about the Tigers because I simply don’t know enough about them (get a website).
Are there answers to fix our halfway aging League? Yes. But what are they? If Winthrop does fold next year (I really hope not), there have been some rumblings of the Eagles joining forces with Fairfax. In a worse case scenario, that would be a great upgrade to the West. But that of course relies on the Winthrop players actually going to play for Fairfax. A Fairfax/Winthrop combination would make for a strong team, though, with a roster that would include Black, Munoz, Jr., Buboltz, Loverude, James Panning and Scott Palmer.
Other rumblings have linked the Waseca Braves to the RVL. But what division would they join? And would that force a shuffling of teams between the two divisions?
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. You want to discuss further? Go to our Facebook page and leave a comment.
