College baseball: Ridgewater ready for a long run

The Ridgewater College baseball team limped home from Florida with a 2-6 record, then lost five of its first six games in Minnesota. At 3-11 and with its best player out with a back injury, there were signs it could be a long 2025 season for the Warriors.

But there were hints of hope. Head coach Tyler Hebrink knew his team had talent, its pitching was improved from 2024 and there were reasons for optimism about his incoming freshman class.

“They just needed some confidence,” Hebrink said.

It came quickly. The Warriors won 13 of 14 games and clinched a Region 13 playoff berth, their fourth straight. After losing three of four to Alexandria Technical & Community College over the weekend, they wrapped up the Minnesota College Athletic Conference Central Division with a 14-4 record and head into their first-round regional game with a 17-15 record.

Ridgewater plays Riverland Community College of Austin at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Cloud’s Joe Faber Field. It’s the first of what the Warriors hope is a long playoff run that includes a Super Regional berth, which they last earned in 2023.

Region 13 includes 10 teams. It’s a double-elimination tournament with four teams advancing to Super Regional play. The end of the long playoff road is the NJCAA Division III World Series May 24-29 in Auburn, New York.

Hebrink is hoping last Saturday’s two losses to Alex Tech, despite two well-played games Friday in Willmar, including a 6-3, eight-inning loss and a 3-2 win over the Legends, is merely a bump in the road. His team has played very well for the last month.

“We’ll be fine,” Hebrink said. “Everybody knows what the implications are for this week. And what I’ve seen is that to make it to the Super Regional, it’s the team that competes the best. If you compete well, you continue. If you don’t, you go home.”

Ridgewater split with Riverland on April 16 in Willmar, beating the Blue Devils 12-11 and losing 10-8.

“They swing it really well,” Hebrink said. “I know their top two pitchers are really tough and their No. 3 hitter — Karlo Aguirre — is one of the region’s top players, maybe the the top hitter. They’re the No. 3 seed for a reason.”

Riverland is 29-16. Aguirre, a sophomore first baseman, has a hitting slash line of .427/.563/.836 (average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage) with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs. He’s one of six regulars hitting .300 or better.

The Blue Devils’ top four pitchers are sophomores Alberto Rigual (7-4, 3.74 earned-run average), Carter McQuery (6-2, 4.59) and Jack Sorenson (2-2, 3.57) and freshman Riley Jax (3-5, 4.99). Sorenson is a left-hander the others are right-handed.

Ridgewater is no slouch with the bat, either. The Warriors have a .299 team batting average with a team on-base percentage of .423. Five key players are batting .333 or better, led by Joe Liebl (.400, 8 RBI), Andrew Prieve (.400, 2 HR, 35 RBI), Kael Nelson (.381, 3 HR, 22 RBI), Max Athmann (.378, 2 HR, 22 RBI) and Garrett Kelly (.333, 14 RBI).

Other key contributors include: Jayce Olthoff (.274, 1 HR, 19 RBI), Elliot Domogala (.260, 18 RBI), Sergio Fernandez (.250, 1 HR, 13 RBI), Mason Macziewski (.250, 12 RBI) and Blake Morris (.250, 18 RBI).

Liebl, Nelson, Kelly, Olthoff, Domagala, and Morris are freshmen. Athmann is from Paynesville and Fernandez is from Willmar.

Liebl (4-2, 4.29), Dominic Rose (5-3, 3.46) and Gabe Rohman (3-2, 4.64) lead the improved pitching staff. Liebl is a left-hander from Wabasso. Rose is a freshman right-hander from Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop. Rohman is a sophomore right-hander from New London-Spicer.

Athmann, Prieve, Roman and Blake Siegle, a sophomore right-hander from Waconia, are captains.

Hebrink said part of the improved play of his team was experience. His freshmen are mostly from Class A programs and small towns. The Warriors opened the season in Florida playing Kirkwood Community College in Iowa, ranked No. 5 in NJCAA Division II, a step up from Ridgewater’s Division III classification. The Warriors faced Andrew Carroll, a hard-throwing right-hander who tossed a three-hitter, striking out 16. Carroll is headed to Kansas on a Division I scholarship. Ridgewater lost 2-1.

“It’s a challenging way to start with a lot of new guys,” Hebrink said.

Ridgewater also has played the season without its best player from 2024. Nolan Eischens. A power-hitting infielder and hard-throwing pitcher, he’s from New Prague. “He’s one of the most talented kids in the state,” Hebrink said.

Eischens has played with a fracture in his back since his senior year, when New Prague won the state title. He dealt with it last year and was told to rest it after last season. He’s expected back for 2026.

“Honestly, he could probably play now,” Hebrink said.

The Warriors hope he returns with a team coming off a long ’25 playoff run.

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