Don Boelter

Don Boelter – Sleepy Eye High School – Don graduated from New Ulm High School in 1950 and Luther College in 1954. At Luther, just as he was in high school, Don was a four-year starter at shortstop in baseball and was a three-year starter at forward in basketball. In his senior season of basketball he broke the Luther College single season scoring record. In 1974, Don was selected as a charter member of the Luther College Athletic Hall of Fame. Don started his coaching career at Ceylon where he coached baseball and basketball for three years before moving to Sleepy Eye Public. There he coached baseball for 34 years, winning 309 games while losing 189, a .620 winning percentage. His teams won 9 conference titles and finished runner-up another 6 times. His teams finished lower than third place only once in the Tomahawk Conference. Being in the same district as Jim Senske’s New Ulm teams made it tough to advance, but Don’s teams advanced to the state tournament three times, winning the state championship in 1981 and finishing as runner-up in 1976. His final team in 1989 also advanced to the state tournament. Don was awarded the Jim Dimick Retired Coach Award by the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1998.

Al Cassidy

Al Cassidy – Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin High School – Al graduated from Bertha-Hewitt High School in 1950 and from Moorhead State University in 1965. Al’s first head coaching position was for two years at Verndale in 1968 and 1969. He became head coach at Butterfield-Odin in 1973 and retired after the 1999 season when the school was now Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin. In 29 years as a head coach, Al’s teams won 318 games against 203 losses, a winning percentage of .610. His teams won five Red Rock Conference championships and several district championships. His Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin team finished third in the 1993 State Tournament. When Al came to Butterfield, they had no high school or summer baseball programs. He convinced the school to start a program by offering to coach for no pay. They also had no field to play on so Al went to work getting help in enlarging the softball field into a regulation baseball field. He also started a summer baseball program for the youth of Butterfield and then started American Legion, VFW and Amateur programs, and he coached all of them. He was also the boys’ varsity basketball coach and athletic director for many years.

 

Jim Cosgrove

Jim Cosgrove – Washburn High School - Jim graduated from North High School in 1940. There was no official state tournament until 1947, but Carleton College sponsored an invitational tournament for the best teams in the state. North won that championship in Jim’s senior year with Jim pitching both the semi-final and championship game wins, including a no-hitter in the title game. Jim started his college education at St. Cloud State, but it was soon interrupted when WWII broke out and he went on active duty with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, seeing action in Europe and the Philippines. After the war, Jim returned to St. Cloud State to play baseball and get his teaching degree. Jim then played professional baseball in the New York Giants organization as a pitcher. Jim coached for only 11 years, 1959 through 1969, but during that time he won 129 games against just 27 losses, a winning percentage of .827. His teams won eight conference, seven district, and five region championships in 11 years. His Washburn teams went to the state tournament five times and won four state championships, 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1969, and finished as runner-up in 1961. He was also an assistant coach at Washburn when they won a state championship in 1958. Jim also played a role in the organization of the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association. Jim passed away in 1989.

 

Tim Kiemel, Sr.

Tim Kiemel, Sr – St. Paul Harding High School – Tim graduated from St Paul Harding High School in 1960 and from Luther College in 1965. Tim spent one year playing minor league baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization before beginning a teaching and coaching career at Harding. Tim was head coach at Harding for 33 years, 1970 through 2002. During that time his teams won 409 games with 290 losses. Since retiring Tim has spent the past six years as a volunteer assistant coach at Park High School. Tim’s teams won five conference championships, all between 1973 and 1983. His 1974 team won the District and Section championships and placed third in the state tournament, the only Harding team to ever participate in the state tournament. “The Old Soldier”, as he is affectionately called by his players, is a unique person. The amateur team that he managed and played for once played 98 games in one summer. Passion is the word that many of his supporters used in describing his love of baseball. During his career he also coached football, and those that know him from a distance will find this hard to believe, but he also coached gymnastics. Tim is also a member of the Harding High School Hall of Fame.

 

Jim Muchlinski

Jim Muchlinski – Marshall High School - Jim graduated from Ivanhoe High School in 1952 and from St. John’s University in 1956 and earned a Master’s Degree in Education at South Dakota State University in 1965. Jim started his career at Holdingford High School in 1956. After one year he moved to Marshall and was the head coach at Marshall Central Catholic High School for 10 years before moving to Marshall High School in 1958. Jim became the head coach there in 1974 and served in that position for 24 years, through the 1997 season. In 34 seasons as head coach, Jim’s teams compiled a record of 380 wins and 206 losses, a .648 winning percentage. His teams won five Southwest Conference championships and his 1976 team placed second in the State Tournament. Jim was also the Marshall American Legion coach for 15 years, 1965 through 1979, and won 242 games against just 77 losses. Jim received the Dick Siebert Award from the MSHSBCA in 1997and the Jim Dimick Retired Coach Award in 2008. Jim was also inducted into the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000. He retired from coaching in 1997and from education in 1999 after 42 years of teaching, 41 of them at Marshall Schools.

Gary Porter

Gary Porter – Maple Lake High School - Gary graduated from Bloomington High School in 1965 and Mankato State University in 1969. While at Mankato State, Gary was an outstanding catcher for the baseball team, earning all conference honors in his freshman year. Gary spent his entire coaching career, 31 years, at Maple Lake High School. During that time his teams won 250 games. They won three conference championships and two district titles. Gary has also been involved with running the Little League baseball programs in Maple Lake as well as coaching the Babe Ruth, American Legion and Amateur teams over the years. He was also instrumental in turning a rundown city baseball field into one of the finest fields in the state, one that has hosted state amateur tournaments. Gary was selected as conference Coach of the Year three times, in 1975, 1979 and 1998. Gary has also umpired high school baseball since his retirement from coaching. Gary received the Jim Dimick Retired Coach Award in 2007.

 

Jeff Reese

Jeff Reese – New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva – Jeff graduated from New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva in 1973 and from Stevens Point University in 1977. Jeff also attended Waldorf College for two years where he was an all-conference baseball player for two years. He also played one year of basketball at Waldorf. Jeff then played two years of baseball at Stevens Point. Jeff came home to New Richland and became head baseball coach in 1979, but did not start teaching there until 1985. Jeff was also the head boys basketball coach for half a dozen years. Jeff has been involved at all levels of baseball in New Richland as he started the youth summer programs and coached the Legion baseball team for 30 years. He also has coached the Babe Ruth team, and ran the youth summer recreation program. Jeff has been head coach at NRHEG for 31 years and has a record of 424 wins and 212 losses, a .667 winning percentage. His teams have won 12 conference championships, eight sub-section titles and three times they have been section runner-up.

Stan Wilfahrt

Stan Wilfahrt – New Ulm Cathedral High School - Stan graduated from New Ulm Holy Trinity High School, now Cathedral, in 1943 and from St. John’s University in 1949. His collegiate career was interrupted with service in the Navy in WWII. Stan was a captain of both the baseball and basketball teams at St. John’s, earning four letters in both sports. Stan started his coaching career at Gibbon in 1949 before moving to New Ulm Cathedral in 1956. While at Gibbon his teams won 33 and lost 17 while winning three conference titles. At Cathedral his teams won 246 games and lost 68. When Stan retired after the 1978 season, his record for 29 years as head coach was 279 wins and 85 losses for an outstanding winning percentage of .766. His teams won another 10 conference championships at Cathedral and appeared in the state tournament nine times, winning the private school state championship in 1964. Cathedral was also runners-up twice, in 1962 and in 1973 when they lost 2-0 to Cretin and Paul Molitor. That was the only loss of the year for Cathedral after 22 consecutive wins. Only twice did his teams lose more than four games in a year which was highlighted by a phenomenal decade in the 1970’s when his teams won 145 games against just 23 losses, a fantastic .863 percentage. Stan is also in the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame and the New Ulm Cathedral Hall of Fame. Stan passed away in 2005.