Baseball: Warriors look to surprise this season – Brainerd Dispatch

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BRAINERD — Second-year head coach Tom Fairbanks is trying to establish a culture.
Through the first three weeks of practice in 2025, he believes the six seniors have done a good job of establishing one before the Brainerd Warriors open their season Tuesday, April 15, with a doubleheader at Sauk Rapids.
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“Our players, 10th through 12th grade, have a camaraderie with each other and are helping each other get better,” Fairbanks said. “I think they’re having a lot more fun.”
The Warriors return their top three hitters in batting average from last season. Senior captain Braxton Tautges led the Warriors with a .356 average. He added eight doubles, one triple and nine RBIs. The outfielder and pitcher scored 10 runs, walked nine times and owned an on-base percentage of .441. On the mound, Tautges pitched the most innings with 40 and led the team with 39 strikeouts. He finished 2-5 with a 5.25 ERA.
Senior captain Maverick Badeaux hit .340 last year with two doubles, a triple and eight RBIs. The right fielder walked 11 times and scored seven runs with a .467 on-base percentage.
The third senior captain is Cooper Schenck. The first baseman hit .192 with two runs and two walks.
Senior Eli Tautges will hold an infield spot and hit .324 last season with one double, seven RBIs and eight runs.
Seniors Tristan Wilson and Kyler Carlson will pitch. Wilson posted a 6.58 ERA with 15 strikeouts and 12 walks in 17 innings last year. Carlson pitched two innings last year before his season was cut short with a knee injury.
“All six of those seniors saw significant playing time last year and I’ve been coaching them since they were sophomores, which helps,” Fairbanks said. “I think all six of them are really good leaders. It’s nice to have the experience and since I’ve been with them for three years, they add additional assistance.”
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Wilson, Braxton Taugtes and Badeaux hope to lead the pitching staff along with Carlson. Sophomore Tydan Guida could get some starts on the mound and sophomore left-hander Kashius Caughey could get a lot of innings as well. Junior Drew Herkenhoff is another lefty who will be used out of the bullpen.
“Braxton and Tristan stand out as starters right away,” Fairbanks said. “They’re shown to be really strong so far and I think Maverick has looked improved with location and will be effective out of the bullpen. Kyler will be out of the bullpen and I think he is going to be really good for us. Tydan Guida is going to be very impactful for us and I think he is going to get a few starts at varsity this year. He throws hard as a sophomore. The lefty that is going to surprise some people is 10th grader Kashius Caughey. His delivery is good and he locates well. Drew Herkenhoff is another lefty that is going to be good out of the bullpen. He throws really hard from the left side.”
Around the infield, Schenck mans first base while Eli Tautges will play somewhere in the infield. Up the middle will be Carlson at second base and junior Evan Bolt at shortstop. Sophomore Bodie Piepkorn is another infielder who could see playing time. Junior Shawn Robin, Guida and sophomore Michael Hagelie will also battle for infield spots.
Sophomore Griffin Bartholomaus played 11 games at catcher last year and hit .208.
“We have a good problem in that we have a lot of infielders,” Fairbanks said. “We have a lot of depth. We will have Cooper at first base and he’s been hitting the ball well. I think we will be able to interchange a lot of guys at second base, shortstop and third base. Evan Bolt, Kyler Carlson, Eli Tautges and I think we could even see Bodie Piepkorn coming up. Shawn Robin has been a really good infielder for us. Tydan and Micahel Haglie have been playing a bit of third as well for us as sophomores. So we do have a lot of depth.”
Where the Warriors might lack depth is in the outfield. Braxton Tautges will play center field when not pitching and Badeaux holds down right field. In left field, Carlson has played there, but Fairbanks said he could put anyone out there.
“We’ve told the kids as coaches to embrace their role, even if they are playing out of position,” Fairbanks said. “Maverick is pretty interchangeable, but is probably going to start in right field. That left field spot is one that we’re looking to fill. Kyler Carlson has played outfield. Shawn Robin could play out there. Sophomore Brady Vanek, who might be the best outfielder in the entire program, could potentially be out there as well. We don’t have a lot of outfielders, but I think the outfielders we have are quality ones. It just comes down to who can hit.”
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At the plate, Fairbanks hopes the Warriors can limit strikeouts. He wants to play small ball to manufacture runs.
“As a coaching staff, we will have to be creative,” Fairbanks said. “We’re going to have to bunt a lot, hit-and-run and steal. I don’t think we’re going to have anyone that can hit the long ball and hit home runs. I think we’re going to be a team that hits the ball hard and puts it in play. We’ve been working a lot with our approach and teaching kids the situations to make hitting easy for them and for them to know how to get a job done. I think a big piece is not striking out. We need to compete at the plate, which last year, I don’t think we did very well. We struck out a lot as a team, so hopefully we can reduce those strikeouts this year.”
Last season, the Warriors finished 5-9 in the Central Lakes Conference and 5-17 overall. Brainerd was the No. 8 seed in Section 8-4A and lost twice in the section double-elimination tournament. St. Cloud won the Section 8-4A title.
The Warriors’ first home game is Thursday, April 17, against Willmar.
“St. Cloud is going to be good again,” Fairbanks said. “They have a lot of quality returners as they went to state last year. They did the little things right and when you do that in baseball, good things happen. Sartell will be good and I think Elk River is going to be tough to play against. I don’t want to count ourselves out, though. We haven’t been the rich history of Brainerd baseball past the last couple of years and are maybe going through some growing pains, but I hope we compete.”
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
Head coach: Tom Fairbanks, second year
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2024 record: CLC 5-9; Overall 5-17
Captains: Cooper Schenck, Braxton Tautges, Maverick Badeaux
Assistant coaches: Joel Martin, Mike Bialka, Spenser Flaten (sophomores), Jeremiah Piepkorn, Todd Vanek, Randy Heidmann (volunteer), Bryce Flanagan (freshman)
Seniors: Maverick Badeaux (OF/P), Kyler Carlson (INF/P), Cooper Schenck (1B), Braxton Tautges (OF/P), Eli Tautges (INF), Tristan Wilson (C/P)
Juniors: Korban Bade (INF/OF), Jayden Barnum (OF/P), Micah Biermaier (OF), Evan Bolt (INF/P), Drew Herkenhoff (1B/OF/P), Joe Loschko (OF), Madon Means (1B/P), Ernie Paesler (C), Shawn Robin (INF/P), Wyatt Simonet (INF/OF)
Sophomores: Rylan Amundson (INF), Griffin Bartholomaus (C/P/INF), Liam Becker (OF), Jacob Beierman (C), Kashius Caughey (1B/OF/P), Tydan Guida (P/INF), Michael Hagelie (INF/C/P), Jackson Larson (OF), Gus Lund (1B/P), Jett Olson (OF), Bodie Piepkorn (INF/P), Ashten Smith (OF), Jayden Tautges (INF/P), Brady Vanek (OF/P)
Tuesday, April 15: at Sauk Rapids, 4 p.m. (2)
April 17: hosts Willmar, 5 p.m.
April 22: at Rocori, 5 p.m.
April 24: hosts Alexandria, 4 p.m. (2)
April 25: hosts Elk River, 4:30 p.m.
April 29: at St. Cloud, 7 p.m.
May 2: hosts Bemidji, 5 p.m.
May 6: hosts Fergus Falls, 5 p.m.
May 8: at Detroit Lakes, 5 p.m.
May 10: hosts St. Michael-Albertville, 11 a.m.
May 10: hosts Moorhead, 3 p.m.
May 13: hosts Sartell, 4 p.m. (2)
May 15: hosts St. Cloud, 7 p.m.
May 17: at Duluth East, 3:30 p.m.
May 17: at Duluth Denfeld, 5:45 p.m.
May 20: at Bemidji, 4:30 p.m.
May 21: at Grand Rapids, 4:30 p.m.
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