Some of Watertown's best American Legion and high school baseball players since 1984

Editor's Note: Sports writer Roger Merriam is compiling a "20 Favorites" series highlighting some of his favorite athletes in a variety of high school sports since he started working at the Watertown Public Opinion in December of 1984. The series is about northeastern South Dakota athletes, but some played at colleges all over the state and others have moved to other areas. The series recently received a second-place honor in the Best Sports Series (for multi-day publications) in the 2023 SDNA Better News Media Contest).

With the Watertown Baseball Association's Hall of Fame weekend festivities upcoming on May 17-19, I thought this would be a good time to come up with not just one, but two, "20 Favorites" stories on Watertown Post 17 American Legion and Watertown high school baseball (2001-19).

There's no sport in Watertown and the area that I've been more connected with since I first arrived at the Public Opinion in December of 1984. I played with a number of Watertown Post 17 graduates as an amateur baseball player in Watertown from 1985-98 and later with the Castlewood Ravens (1999-2003) and have also served as an umpire in Watertown and the area since 2004.

The first story (Part A), like the others in the series, will focus on some of the best players (nearly all of these earned all-state honors). The second story (Part B) on Watertown baseball will also feature other good players and others who I remember vividly.

20. The Gauers (Alex and Eric)

Eric and younger brother Alex spent most of the decade of the 2010s coming up through the Watertown Baseball Association programs. They are the sons of Brad Gauer, a longtime umpire in the area and former president of the WBA.

Eric, an outfielder, batted .282 during his senior season with Post 17 in 2014. Alex primarily played shortstop and battled .382 with a .504 on-base percentage as a senior for Post 17 in 2018. He later played at Augustana and Northern State.

19. Kale Stevenson, Drew Denzer, Mason Evans and Nathan Gonnelly

Care to guess with these former Watertown Post 17 players have in common? They are the last four Watertown Post 17 players to be named to the South Dakota Class A All-State American Legion Baseball team.

Gonnelly, an outfielder, was honored in 2019 after batting .344 with nine doubles, nine homers, 40 runs scored and 54 RBIs. Evans, catcher, made the team in 2020 after batting .374 with seven doubles, five homers and 38 RBIs.

Stevenson was named as a second baseman in 2021 after batting .371 with nine doubles, four triples, seven homers and 49 RBIs. He also was the team's ace pitcher. Denzer earned secondteam all-state honors last summer as an outfielder after batting .349 with 17 doubles, four triples, three homers and 52 runs scored.

18. Tracy Lick, Jon Rude and Ricky Lueck

Care to guess what these former Watertown Post 17 players have in common? They are three of the first four Post 17 players (the other will be mentioned below) to earn all-state honors from the mid-1980s on.

Lick accomplished the feat in 1987 when he compiled a 10-0 pitching record for Post 17. Rude also earned all-state honors as a utility outfielder after batting .355 with 10 homers in 2001.

Lueck, a South Shore kid, played three years with Post 17 from 1999-2000 and was a standout hitter and outfielder. He hit .418 with 16 doubles on a state runner-up team in 1998,.352 in 1999 and .470 while earning all-state honors in 2000.

20 Favorites: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984

17. The Gabriels (Logan, Brennan and Jordan)

Their father Dan played amateur baseball in Watertown for a couple of years and was a pretty fair hurler. His three sons followed Dad's footsteps, and all played their way up through the Watertown Baseball Association program.

At least one of the Gabriels played for Post 17 for most of the decade of the 2010s. Logan came first, then Jordan and finally Brennan.

The Gabriels made the list over some other deserving families because Brennan, a pitcher-outfielder, earned all-state honors in 2018 when he batted .400 with 22 doubles and 51 RBIs. Logan quarterbacked Watertown High School's state Class 11AA runner-up football team in 2013 and Brennan also started at QB for the Arrows later in the decade.

16. Brendan Koistinen and Lucas Hoftiezer

Koistinen and Hoftiezer were teammates for Watertown's high school and Legion teams in the late 2000s and earned All-State honors.

Koistinen, a lefty-swinging first baseman who later played at Augustana, batted .513 while earning Class A all-state first team honors in high school baseball in 2008. In his senior year with Post 17, he battled a shoulder injury but still hit .367.

Hoftiezer, an outfielder, earned Class A all-state honors in high school (batting .540) and Legion baseball (batting .432 with a team-high 60 hits) in 2009.

15. Billy McElhany

McElhany seemed to be overshadowed by some talented teammates on Watertown Post 17's state Class A runner-up team in 1997, but he did bat .382.

This is what you need to know about Billy. He came up to play amateur baseball in 1998 and struggled mightily. A few years later as a teammate on the Castlewood Ravens, McElhany had turned himself into arguably the best overall player on a team that include Rusty Remmers and Jerod Bass. He continued his amateur career into the 2020s.

14. Jim Engels, Ryan Engels and Patrick Schuster

Time to sing the "Sesame Street" song here, you know, "One of these things doesn't belong here?" Just kidding Jim Engels, who if my memory is correct, was a pretty good outfielder on one of the first Watertown Post 17 teams I followed after arriving in Watertown in the mid-1980s. He was a good athlete.

So was his son Ryan, an infieler, who earned all-state American Legion Baseball honors with Schuster, who played all over, on a Post 17 team that went 36-13 in 2010.

Schuster set program records with a .503 batting average and 13 triples to go along with 51 runs, 121 total bases, 21 stolen bases in 22 attempts and a ridiculous .752 slugging percentage. Engels, who played third base and hit leadoff, batted .425 with 64 runs scored, 40 walks and 16 stolen bases.

Schuster later played football at South Dakota State and Engels baseball at Southwest Minnesota State.

13. The Struckmans (Lonnie and Chad)

If you remember, the three Struckman brothers (Lonnie, Justin and Chad) made the "20 Favorites" story for Watertown High School boys basketball, but we can only count two of them here. Justin played baseball in the Watertown Baseball Association but focused more on basketball when he got to high school and didn't play for Post 17.

Lonnie and Chad were two of the best defensive third basemen I've seen come through the program. They also could both pitch. Lonnie played in the early 1990s (batting .316 and compiling a 5-3 pitching record in 1993) and Chad was a member of state runner-up teams for Post 17 in both 1997 and 1998. Chad made the all-state team in 1998, batting .374 with 57 runs scored and 52 RBIs.

12. Mike Raymondi, Jim Jensen and Kolton Michalski

Not to take anything away from their defense, these three guys quite frankly were the best hitting catchers for Post 17 during these past 40 years.

Raymondi arrived in Watertown from California in 1991 when his father took over running the Minnesota Rubber plant. Raymond played four years of baseball for Post 17 before being drafted in the 34th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins. He led Post 17 by batting .405 in 1993 (earning all-state Legion honors as a first baseman) and spent three minor league seasons with the Twins and Rays but managed only 163 at-bats and a .209 average.

Jensen wasn't one of the two Post 17 players who made All-State after the incredible 1997 season, but he could have. He batted .381 with 13 homers that season.

In the mid-2010s, there was a few seasons in which no all-state teams were selected for Legion baseball which explains why Michalski didn't make it. He batted .436 for Post 17 in 2014 with 19 doubles, 10 homers, 49 runs and 65 RBIs. The year before, he batted .350 with 22 doubles. He later played at South Dakota State.

More: Neale surpasses Mitch Johnson's as program's all-time winningest coach with 207 wins

11. Bryan Barger

Bryan's mom Brenda was the mayor of Watertown for 11 years in the 1990s and early 2000s. Her son was a very talented baseball player who played center field for Post 17.

He earned Class A All-State American Legion Baseball honors in 1995 when he batted .439.

10. Jason Adams

The tall left-handed pitcher was one of the top throwers for the 1997 Post 17 team that finished second in the state Class A American Legion Baseball Tournament. He was named to the all-state team that season.

He compiled a 10-4 record with a 3.00 earned run average with 134 strikeouts. He later pitched at Southwest Minnesota State University.

9. The Fjeldheims (Dan, Brent, Eric and Adam)

The four brothers also were mentioned in the "20 Favorites" story on Watertown High School football and they also made the cut here, mainly due to Dan's exploits as a middle-of-the-order hitter on Post 17's state runner-up teams in 1997 and 1998. He earned all-state honors in 1998 by batting .386 with eight homers and 56 RBIs and added a 6-1 record on the mound.

Brent came next, then Eric and later Adam. They were all talented enough athletes to play quarterback for the Arrows so it's not hard to believe they also had some baseball skills.

8. Grant Osthus

Osthus doesn't get enough credit for how good of an all-around athlete and all-around baseball player he was. He could play the infield, he could pitch and he could hit.

You've heard the 1997 and 1998 Post 17 teams mentioned a lot already but there were other Watertown teams in the early-to-mid 1990s who were also very good. Osthus earned all-state honors on a 1994 team that went 39-20, He batted .391 with 43 walks, 55 runs and 40 RBIs and also compiled a 9-1 record on the mound with a 3.57 ERA.

7. The Danforths (Eric, Drew and Nathan)

Like the Fjeldheims, the Danforths made the list primarily on the back of Eric, who is going to be inducted into the Watertown Baseball Hall of Fame this month. They come from Huron lineage where uncle Perry made AAA with the Milwaukee Brewers and their father Mike also played amateur baseball.

That might be short-changing Drew, who came up through the WBA programs and took nearly a .400 batting average into the 2008 state Class A American Legion Baseball tournament. Nathan played some VFW ball in Watertown but didn't play for Post 17.

That brings us to Eric, who was inducted into the South Dakota High School Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021. He was a four-year letter winner for Watertown High School's baseball teams in 2008-11 and a three-year regular for Post 17 in 2009-11. The lefty-thrower and lefty-hitter batted .411 in his Post 17 career and also went 11-5 on the mound with a 4.01 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 125 2/3 innings.

The 2010 Class A high school all-stater, who batted over .600 that spring, later enjoyed a four-year career as an outfielder at South Dakota State University.

6. Spencer Waite

Another left-handed pitcher and batter, Waite was inducted into the Watertown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. A four-year member of Post 17 teams from 1993 to 1996, he earned all-state honors as a pitcher in both 1995 and 1996. His career record was 28-11 with a 3.55 ERA. He also batted .391 and drove in 143 runs.

His career continued in college where he went 17-3 in two seasons for Trinidad (Colo.) Junior College, leading the squad to the National Junior College World Series in 1998. He received NCAA Division I offers and singed with the University of Southern Mississippi. After battling injuries, he finished his career at Southwest Minnesota State.

5. Heath and Kaden Rylance

My intent was not to include any current Watertown Post 17 players on my list to avoid any sense of favoritism or retaliation when I umpire some of the team's games this summer.

This is really about Heath, who earned all-state Legion honors for Post 17 in 1989 and 1990 and was inducted into the Watertown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. The three-year regular for Post 17 finished his career with a .433 batting average with 41 doubles, 14 homers, 135 RBIs and 79 stolen bases.

Some wondered how far he could move up the ladder in baseball, but he ended up choosing football and starred as a quarterback at Augustana College before playing in the Canadian Football League. His son Kaden, only a junior at Watertown High School, has already committed to pitch at South Dakota State University and has been clocked in the 90s.

4. The Neales (Ryan, Corey and Tanner)

I've really related to the Neales and baseball, because there were also three Merriam brothers growing up around the sport. And the Merriams and the Neales were kind of undersized players who had to learn how to play the game the right way to get the most out of their ability. Ryan (a 2002 WHS grad), Corey (2004) and Tanner (2011) all played through all levels of the Watertown Baseball Assocation programs and all three went on to play at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Ryan was an infielder, Corey an outfielder and Tanner a catcher. The two older brothers also pitched. They were all good players but that's not the only reason they're on this list. Ryan hit .282 with a team-leading 36 RBIs in 2002, Corey .333 in 2004 and Tanner

Ryan is now in his second stint as the head coach of Watertown Post 17 and recently became the program's all-time career wins leader (entering this week with 207). Corey is now the WHS boys and girls golf coach and led Watertown's boys to their first state title since 1971 last fall.

Tanner is a Division I baseball coach at North Dakota State University and even spent some time playing with the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association of Independepent Professional Baseball in 2016.

1C. The Van Gilders (Ryan, Wade, Lucas and Grant)

Ryan and Wade are bothers and so are their cousins Lucas and Grant, who came to Watertown from Clark and played on both of Watertown Post 17's state runner-up teams in 1997 and 1998.

Let's start with Ryan, a member of the inaugural class of the Watertown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021. His story really started in 1993 when he broke a bone in his left wrist and couldn't wear a glove on the hand, so he had a left-handed glove, threw to the plate right-handed and then put the glove on his throwing hand.

Because he had to use his right hand so much that summer, he came back the next year throwing harder than ever and even pitched a perfect game in the region tournament, going 7-7 with 106 strikeouts in 76 innings. He walked on and pitched at the University of Kansas before eventually joining his brother Wade at Minnesota State Mankato. In 1997, he was drafted in the 12th round by the Montreal Expos and spent three years pitching minor league baseball.

Wade, who played the middle infield and pitched for Post 17, played second base for Mankato. He made the all-state Class A Legion team in 1992 after batting .327 with 38 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.

Lucas and Grant were both middle infielders who were key players on the 1997 and 1998 teams. Lucas, who went on to play football at Augustana College, played shortstop batted .417 with seven homers in 1997. Grant batted over .300 both years.

1B. The Turbaks (Andy, Blake and Alex)

Andy Turbak kicked off the run of brothers in the mid-2000s, playing for both Watertown High School (earning all-state mention as a third baseman in 2006) and Watertown Post 17 teams before embarking on a collegiate career at Mount Marty College. He was a key player on the Mount Marty team in 2010 that won a school-record 39 games and was named the South Dakota Sportswriters Association College Men's Team of the Year.

In 2019, Andy homered in eight consecutive amateur baseball games with the Castlewood Ravens, which may or may not be an all-time state record (no official record has been kept).

Blake was a three-year starter for Post 17 in 2008-2100 as a catcher and outfielder and earned all-state honors the summer of 2009 and finished his career with a .424 batting average, 46 doubles, 21 homers and 148 RBIs. He also earned all-state honors in Class A high school baseball in the spring of 2009 after hitting .486 with seven homers in 35 at-bats. He later played four years at North Dakota State University and was inducted into the Watertown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.

Alex also earned Class A second team all-state honors for Watertown in high school baseball in 2012 after batting.474. That summer, the lefty-hitting outfielder batted .415 with 15 doubles, nine homers, 42 runs scored and 37 RBIs before playing junior college baseball for Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn.

1A. The Remmers (Ryan, Rich and Rusty)

It's was too hard to separate the Turbaks and the Remmers. Their father Arlo was a long-time amateur baseball pitcher and his sons also fell in love with the game.

Ryan was an infiedler and catcher who graduated in 1992. He batted .387 with 10 doubles that year.

Rich came next and earned Class A all-state Legion honors in 1994 after batting .367 with 72 runs scored and, at the time, what was believed to be a state-record 60 stolen bases.

The baby of the bunch (Rusty) capped a four-year varsity career in by earning all-state honors for Post 17 in both 1997 and 1998. A member of the inaugural Watertown Baseball Hall of Fame Class in 2001, he batted .425 and went 10-3 on the mound in 1997 and followed by hitting .413 with 89 runs scored, 69 RBIs, 85 stolen bases and a 11-3 pitching record with a 129 strikeouts in 89 inning sin 1998, become Watertown's only American Legion Baseball Player of the Year. He later played at South Dakota State University.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: 20 Favorites series continues with a look at Watertown Baseball