New Ulm Jr. Legion looks to put it together at state
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NEW ULM -- The New Ulm Junior Legion takes a 21-8 regular season record to Alexandria for the 2026 DI Minnesota State American Legion State Tournament that begins Thursday.
New Ulm will meet White Bear Lake in their first-round matchup.
Other teams in the tournament include Excelsior Red, Eden Prairie, Eagan, Bemidji, Delano and host Alexandria.
New Ulm head coach Jeff Ferrell said that his team is playing their best baseball going into the state tournament.
"No question -- we are playing our best right now," he said. "We are getting really good pitching -- our defense is solid and we are getting timely hitting."
At 21-8, Ferrell said that his team has had their peaks and valleys through the year.
"We have had our ups and downs" he said. "We have had stretches where we have not played good defense at all, but we have done a nice job of playing better defense now. We are playing better fundamentally and making sure we are in the right spots."
Ferrell said that to shine a spot on one aspect of his team as a strength is hard.
"We have had all of them go by the wayside during the course of the year," he said. "I cannot say one or the other is our strength -- I just know that when we do do all three [pitching, hitting and defense] we are competitive -- we are a tough team to beat."
As far as the New Ulm pitching staff goes, Ryler Collins, Conlin McAlpine, Owen Castleman, Miles Castleman, Paxton Johnson and Parker Ranweiler have been consistent.
"Collins is 7-0 with Miles Castleman 4-2. Conlin is 2-0 with Parker at 4-1 and Owen is 2-2," Ferrell said.
Offensively, New Ulm puts the ball in play very well, Ferrell said,
"Owen is hitting .466 and Ryler is at .418 with Trevan Thordson at .383 and Miles at .357 and Parker at .311."
Ferrell said that his team is a gap-to-gap team.
"We play some good small-ball and we try and put pressure on the other team to make mistakes," Ferrell said.
Ferrell said that the key to state tournament games are like any regular season game.
"You need timely hitting, good defense and the pitchers have to throw strikes," he said. "You get those things and it is a good thing, and even two of those three is not bad."
Ferrell said that he feels that this team has the abilities to win the state title.
"No question," he said. "We are very competitive and our kids have a drive to do well ,and when mistakes do come. they have the ability to flush it and move on to the next play."
Ferrell said that he will send Collins to the mound against White Bear Lake.