For many college baseball players, the season doesn’t end after their last written final. Many of these ball players are eager to get their names in scouts’ notebooks and face new competition before the beginning of fall practice. To do this, they put on a new uniform in the Northwoods League.[/text_output]
[image type=”none” float=”none” link=”true” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” src=”3775″ alt=”Reed Pfannenstein North Dakota State University Bison baseball starting pitcher”]
[text_output]As a freshman, Reed Pfannenstein was named the 2014 Summit League tournament MVP after the Bison won their first conference title in their short Division I history. He said he entered the 2015 season with high expectations of himself, but didn’t feel like he reached his potential.
At the end of the college season, he signed a temporary contract to play for the St. Cloud Rox hoping to regain the confidence he held after his freshman season.
“I’m learning what hitters are thinking, knowing what pitch to throw when, when to bury a curveball in the dirt or when to throw one for a strike,” Pfannenstein said.
The power-throwing right-hander threw 12.1 innings this summer for the Rox, striking out 13.
“We come out here and just have fun,” Pfannenstein said. “Anything can happen and you have people watching you at all times so it gets you excited when you see scouts in the stands and you just realize why you’re here and you’re meant to be here.”[/text_output]
[image type=”none” float=”none” link=”true” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” src=”3776″ alt=”Sean Terres North Dakota State University Bison baseball starting pitcher”]
[text_output]Sean Terres entered his redshirt sophomore year with a stress reaction in his elbow, causing him to miss the first two and a half months of the season. Once he got back on the mound, he was lights out throwing 9.1 scoreless innings in his first four appearances. Terres finished the season throwing six scoreless innings against Omaha.
The success has carried over to the Northwood’s League. Terres ended the season with an ERA of 1.90 over 28.1 innings and had 30 strikeouts.
“The biggest thing I took from this league back to school was that I can play with anybody,” the second-year Alexandria Blue Anchors’ starter said. “I’m playing against guys that are from Florida State, California-Berkley, those are bigger schools, if you can get those guys out, there’s no reason you can’t go up to school and have more success.”
The Blue Anchors’ manager is former Minnesota Twins and World Series Champion Al Newman and he has helped set the tone for the college players this summer.
“He knows his stuff,” Terres said. “He treats it like we’re a Minor League team because he knows that’s where we all want to be.”[/text_output]
[image type=”none” float=”none” link=”true” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” src=”3777″ alt=”Drew Fearing North Dakota State University Bison baseball infielder”]
[text_output]Drew Fearing was one of the many young Bison baseball players to get an early opportunity to show head coach Tod Brown what they can do on a baseball diamond.
“I think I just played hard every day and I gave it my all and I think he saw that,” Fearing said. “I just showed my talent.”
Fearing cracked the starting lineup for the Bison the third game of the season and spent most of the year splitting his time at shortstop and second base. He ended the year hitting .276 with nine stolen bases and a .937 fielding percentage.
The success sparked the interest of the Alexandria Blue Anchors’ organization, which was only 10 miles away from Fearing’s hometown of Osakis, Minn.
Fearing has been used as an extra middle infielder for the Blue Anchors this season, playing in 39 games and only committing one error. [/text_output]
[image type=”none” float=”none” link=”true” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” src=”3778″ alt=”Blake Stockert North Dakota State University Bison baseball relief pitcher”]
[text_output]Sophomore left-hander Blake Stockert is one of the rising stars on the young Bison pitching staff. In his first season, he saw the majority of his work out of the bullpen making, 16 appearances with a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
“Going from high school to college ball is definitely a huge jump,” Stockert said. “I had one or two bad outings but besides that I was happy with it. I was able to adapt to how good everyone was.”
Stockert grew up just three miles east of Knute Nelson Memorial Park, where the Alexandria Blue Anchors play their home games. Now, he’s living out his childhood ambition and playing for his hometown team.
Stockert has converted four saves for the Blue Anchors this summer but is patiently waiting for his opportunity to show he belongs in the starting rotation.
“(I) just keep doing what I do,” Stockert said. “I think I impressed them the first year and if I stay on the right path hopefully I can convince them I can throw.”[/text_output]
