One of the most impressive stretches in Class A baseball history, though, happened from 2000-2009. Woitas coached the Knights to four state championships during that stretch, along with a runner-up finish in 2001 and a third-place finish in 2003. If it were pro or college sports, that run would be considered a dynasty. For Woitas and his program, it was just reloading with a new batch of talent.

The Knights watched their cross-town rivals Sleepy Eye win the Section 2A title and state title in 2000 after the Indians beat the Knights in the section finals. After that, it was the beginning of a run that saw the Knights represent the section in the state tournament in six of the next seven seasons.

“You look back at it, we had some great kids that loved the game of baseball,” Woitas said. “Those kids were part of several state tournament teams, we had Darrin Haala and Chad Armbruster in 2001 and in ’02 those two basically along with Andy Cook in Matt Mathiowetz kind of carried this team that year. Then again in 2003, we had Matt Mathiowetz and Cook and Jake Bohnen and Matt Gangelhoff. It’s just a great group of guys and you gotta get some breaks along the way. If you look back at it, you just think ‘wow’, but the group of kids that we had coming through and the assistant coaches all had great passion for the game.”

The Knights won state championships in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007. They also qualified for the state tournament in 2001 (second place) and 2003 (third place). The Knights were also section runners up in 2000 to Sleepy Eye High School, who went on to win the state title. They also were the section runners up in 2005 to eventual state champion New Ulm Cathedral, so it could be said they could have won a couple of more titles if they made it to the state tournament. They were also section runners up to New Ulm Cathedral in 2008 and 2009.

The Knights continued to re-load year after year. Because of the opportunity to play VFW, Legion, and amateur baseball as well as Bi-County baseball, many of the younger players got plenty of baseball action and they used that experience to their advantage year after year.

“I think a lot of that has to do with the summer opportunities the kids in this area have,” Woitas said. “With [amateur baseball teams] Stark, Essig, Leavenworth, Sleepy Eye, everybody’s playing. In a lot of other smaller communities, not everyone is going to get the chance to play. With those teams I just mentioned, a lot of them are from Sleepy Eye.”

2002

The first state championship saw the Knights finish the season 20-8, defeating Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin in the Section 2A championship. Once they got to state, the Knights defeated Mayer Lutheran 7-4 in the quarterfinals and then beat BEST 5-3 in the semifinals, setting up a championship bout with Menahga.

There, the Knights won 9-8, giving Woitas his first title.

Haala (8-0, 2.01 ERA) and Armbruster (7-0, 2.05 ERA) were the top two pitchers for the Knights that year. Haala (.349, 1 HR, 21 RBI), Armbruster (.333, 5 HR, 23 RBIs), Andy Cook (.394, 23 RBIs), Dusty Mangen (.333, 21 RBIs) and Randy Braun (.338, 17 RBIs) were among the tip hitters for the state champs.

“It meant a lot, we had the opportunity in ’01 and to bring a state championship back to Sleepy Eye, because Sleepy Eye Public had won it in 2000,” Woitas said. “A lot of people in the community, they way that they supported the program, whether they were public or St. Mary’s people, it was just a really fun atmosphere.”

2004

After a third-place finish in 2003, the second state title came in 2004 and the Knights knocked off Sleepy Eye High School 9-4 for the Section 2A title. The Knights finished the 2004 season 23-4.

Once state rolled around, the Knights crushed Nashwauk-Keewatin 10-3 in the quarterfinals and then defeated Goodhue 6-5 in the semifinals.

In the championship game, the Knights topped New York Mills 7-4 for their second title.

Matt Mathiowetz hit .341 with two home runs and 24 RBIs on the season and he also went 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA and 65 strikeouts. Joey Wahl was 8-1 with a 1.70 ERA and 57 strikeouts and he also hit .360 with three home runs and 25 RBIs. Matt Gangelhoff hit .408 with a home run and 21 RBIs and Jake Bohnen hit .368 with 21 RBIs.

“That year, as far as our pitching staff, Mathiowetz and Joey Wahl were our top two guys and Matt Gangelhoff was involved in some pitching as well,” Woitas said. “Just a great ride, we had high expectations coming into ’04.”

2006

After watching section rival New Ulm Cathedral win the title in 2005, it was time for the Knights to get back to representing the section and they resumed their dominance.

The Knights defeated Mankato Loyola twice in order to get to the state tournament on June 8, then had probably their best state tournament run a week later as they didn’t have a close game during that run.

The Knights opened the state tournament with a 15-4 win over Chatfield in five innings, then defeated Southwest United 12-6 in the semifinals.

In the finals, the Knights topped Bertha-Hewitt 6-1 in a rain-shortened game.

Andrew Woitas hit .467 with 21 RBIs and Alan Woitas hit .337 with 27 RBIs. Billy Cook hit .433 with a team-high 47 RBIs, Briar Braulick hit .404 with 36 RBIs and Willy Mangen hit .346. Tim Seifert hit .345 as the Knights finished the year 26-4.

Andrew Woitas was 10-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 27 strikeouts and Alan Woitas was 5-1 with 25 strikeouts. Willy Mangen (4-0) and Zac Salfer (5-2) were also factors on the mound.

It was a special title Bruce Woitas, because his sons Alan and Andrew were two of the top pitchers and hitters. They were a part of the 2004 team as well, but 2006 was their senior year and they went out on top.

“It was kind of special having your own kids be a part of that and having that relationship of being the dad and the coach,” Bruce Woitas said. “They were always very good about it and they got their feet wet in 2004, coming up and playing varsity. By the times they were seniors, they were around the game enough and it was like having other coaches on the field.”

Both Alan and Andrew are involved with coaching now. Andrew is an assistant baseball coach at Gustavus Adolphus College and Alan is the head boys’ basketball coach and head baseball coach at New Ulm Cathedral. He also serves as the school’s Activities Director, the same role Bruce has at St. Mary’s.

2007

After the 2006 season, the Knights kept their state tournament run going for another year. They defeated McLeod West to win the section title, then defeated Sebeka 8-0 in the state quarterfinals before blanking Red Lake County 6-0 in the semifinals. The Knights then delivered coach Woitas his fourth state title with a 7-4 victory over Royalton.

Salfer went 7-2 with a 3.26 ERA and 43 strikeouts on the mound and John Cook was 6-1 with a 1.51 ERA and 69 strikeouts.

Offensively, Salfer hit .418 with 35 RBIs and Bryan Milliard hit .448 with four home runs and 35 RBIs. Braulick hit .367 with 2 home runs and 31 RBIs and Tom Langer hit .367 with five home runs and 32 RBIs. John Cook also hit .346 with 23 RBIs and Jake Schwartz hit .353 with 17 RBIs.

The Knights had some new leaders on the team that year and they stepped up.

“We lost a lot of seniors in ’06, but in ’07 we come back and it was the opportunity that they got before, Zac Salfer, John Cook, Jake Schwartz, Tim Seifert, all those guys were contributing to keep that run going.”

Woitas said that the assistant coaches he had helped shape the path for the impressive run. Some of the assistants included Jeff Cook, who was important to the program because of his understanding of the game. Brian Mathiowetz, Dusty Mangen, Glen Mathiowetz and many others also helped lead the way as assistants.

Woitas more than likely won’t get to coach this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But his run from the first decade was as impressive as any in the state’s history in any sport.

“It’s very special, right now they play the championship game at Target Field and I think that’s a great opportunity, but the opportunity back then to play the games at Chaska and Jordan, and after the game celebrate on the field with the fans and the families, that to me was probably the most rewarding thing,” Woitas said. “Having everybody come onto the field and supporting the kids, some of those year it took a long time to get off the field because it was so much fun.”

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