Hovde pleased with Stars’ progress in his first season – Rapid City Journal

This season didnt end how Rapid City Post 320 wanted it to.

The Stars weathered plenty of ups and downs in Year 1 of head coach Lane Hovdes tenure. They started the season 0-4 but found ways to win against in-state competition and clinched a home regional against Harrisburg Maroon.

The Tigers got the best of Post 320 in the regional last weekend, but Hovde left the field proud of the way his team pushed through adversity and laid a foundation for the future.

Changing the culture is always hard in Year 1, Hovde said. I appreciate everyone welcoming me and allowing me to try new things that this program hasn't done before. But we're not done.

Post 320 finished the season 26-33 overall and 17-9 in South Dakota.

The Stars regional loss signaled the end of legion careers for five college freshmen.

Mason Mehlhaff, Jett Wetzler, Jace Wetzler, Noah Popken and Ryan Rufledt soaked in their final moments in uniform at Pete Lien Memorial Field after their season finale last Friday.

Post 320's Mason Mehlhaff fields a grounder to short during the first game against Sturgis Post 33 during a doubleheader on July 12 at Pete Lien Memorial Field.

For Mehlhaff, this season may have been his last in competitive baseball. The shortstop played at Dakota Wesleyan this past spring but decided to move back to the area and pursue an education closer to home.

There are a lot of ups and downs in baseball, Mehlhaff said. If you fail seven out of 10 times in this sport, youre a good hitter. I learned to keep a level head and be a leader this yearthere are always other things in life. This isnt everything.

Popken played at Presentation College this spring and suffered an arm injury. Then the college in Aberdeen shut its doors for good.

He wasnt planning on playing legion ball this summer, but the coaching staff convinced him to come out.

Coach convinced me to come play and I dont regret a single thing, the pitcher said. (Lane) is a great guy and theres so much potential for this program under his name. Hes going to do some great things.

Stars pitcher Noah Popken fires a pitch in the first round of the Veterans Classic June 2, 2022 at Pete Lien Field.

Hovde set out to build a new culture in the Stars clubhouse this season and felt like this years team laid a solid foundation for the future.

We're only going to keep building, he said. This place is going to be different and people are gonna see some different things around here.

The Post 320 coach relocated from Colorado to the Black Hills this season after a stint training college student-athletes for the Colorado Rogue.

The transition to coaching high schoolers again taught Hovde some lessons along the way.

Sometimes I come across as a grouch, Hovde said. I just have so much passion and fight for this game and I learned to have patience getting back into the high school game. Its a little different than coaching college students and grown adults.

Mehlhaffs younger brother, Colton Mehlhaff, played for the Post 320 Risers this season. Mason said that hes excited for the future of the entire organization and is looking forward to watching Colton move up the ranks.

Theyre young and there are going to be a lot of learning moments over the next few years, Mason said. But overall I think in a couple years when they mature, this will be a really good program and theyll have a really good team.

Popken also left the field confident about the future of his club because he saw maturity in the younger players at practice this season.

Theres so much potential for the younger kids, he said. This year the older guys tried to coach them up and they listened. As long as they keep listening, theyll be able to grow and be better than any of us could have ever been.

The Stars arent taking much time off before training gets rolling in the fall. The team will be back at Pete Lien for fall ball in a months time.

Well be back at it and back to the drawing board, Hovde said. We dont want to feel like this next year, we want to be fighting for one more week. So its back to building.

Harrisburg Maroon Pop up out to Stars Mason Mehlhaff

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Hovde pleased with Stars' progress in his first season - Rapid City Journal