Mar. 31—MITCHELL — Off a tumultuous 2024 campaign, a veteran-heavy Mitchell High School spring baseball team is looking to take steps toward tournament contention in 2025.
All but two members of the Kernels' club team roster are set to return from last year's squad, which had a 3-14 overall record but was trending in a positive direction at the end of the season. Though Mitchell went 0-8 down the stretch in May, half of those losses came by two runs or fewer, a sign that the Kernels were much more competitive than their record indicated. That included both playoff contests in a best-of-three series against No. 3 seed Brandon Valley, which scraped by 14-seed Mitchell by scores of 3-1 and 4-3.
Mitchell is scheduled to open its 2025 slate on Tuesday with a doubleheader at Huron.
While the Mitchell High School spring club baseball team is set to take the diamond, the upcoming summer Legion season remains in flux. The South Dakota American Legion has a list of five conditions that must be met by the Mitchell Baseball Association before allowing the Legion team to be reinstated. Among the demands made by the S.D. American Legion, MBA must find a new head coach to replace longtime coach Luke Norden and completely dissolve its board of directors. Norden has refused to speak with the Mitchell Republic.
Headlining the many returning talents for the Kernels this season is Parker Mandel. Last season, Mandel primarily held down first base and was the team leader in most offensive categories, including batting average (.277), hits (11), runs bastted in (seven) and on-base percentage (.404). His bat was especially valuable in a Mitchell lineup that frequently struggled to manufacture offense, finishing the season averaging fewer than three runs scored per game with a .157 team average and .281 on-base percentage.
Hudson Borgan also appeared in all 17 games, leading the team with nine runs scored and eight walks drawn while ranking just behind Mandel in on-base percentage with a .368 mark. Fellow seniors Landen Soulek and Mason Herman were among the other top contributors at the plate last season, as were up-and-coming juniors Jaxson Hartman and Kendan Skinner. Sophomore Lincoln Bottum appeared in only half of the team's games but was the only Kernel other than Mandel to bat over .200 at a .222 average.
Mandel's arm was just as valuable as his bat, registering a 1.167 earned-run average across 18 innings, the largest workload of any returning Mitchell pitcher. Also expected to be back in the rotation, Herman, Soulek, Jacob Ebert and Tyler Christensen all pitched at least nine innings last spring. All players mentioned in this story were listed on the 2025 MHS roster found in GameChanger on Monday.
If the schedule holds, Mitchell is slated to play eight games away from home before opening its home schedule against Tea Area on April 17 at Drake Field. The Kernels are set for home doubleheaders on April 25 (Sturgis), April 29 (O'Gorman), May 4 (Brookings) and May 6 (Sioux Falls Washington).
Of note, Mitchell has a game against Grand Forks (N.D.) on the schedule for April 11 in Sioux Falls, and the Kernels will play defending Class A champion Sioux Falls Lincoln on April 22.
