Jordan Hubmen Baseball Preview: Motivated team seeks to ride chemistry, versatility to success
By Andy Buckner
It is time for baseball, arguably the premier sports tradition in the community of Jordan, to return with the opening of Jordan High School’s baseball season. Entering another season in the strong Wright County East Conference, the Hubmen, led by head coach Brandon Arnold, have made it a point to be especially prepared to succeed this season.
“A lot of our guys have actually trained pretty much since the fall,” Arnold said, “whether that’s in the weight room, or playing other sports. It’s been really cool to see the jumps that they’ve made in certain areas that maybe weren’t a strength for them last year. They have shown in the first three weeks of our season so far that they are doing things a lot more consistently this year.”
Since MSHSL rules forbid its participating programs to coordinate official practices in the offseason, the initiative to informally train in the fall and winter had to be taken on by the players.
“Our coach has taken a good step in making it (known) that it’s good to go work in the offseason if you want to be good,” said Senior captain Jackson Lewis.
“A lot of us are just tired of losing. We want to fix that,” added Senior co-captain Shawn Klehr.
A key part of preparing for the season was a team trip to Florida during the Jordan Public School district’s spring break. In Florida, the entire high school program had a chance to scrimmage against teams from New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. In addition to capitalizing on the Florida weather to enjoy higher-quality practice before the season, the Hubmen also had great opportunities to bond off the field.
“I think the players might say that that was more enjoyable for them just because they got to hang out on the beach one day, got to mess around,” Arnold noted, “They had a lot of fun. There were definitely some sore bodies from baseball, but a handful of sore bodies from lack of sunscreen use!”
With the graduation of their top two pitchers in Conner Larson and Nick Krautkremer, many young Hubmen players will have an opportunity to prove themselves on the mound as contributors to a winning baseball team. That is no easy task, but the athletes the Hubmen baseball team currently boasts have showcased much versatility on the field, leading to confidence from Coach Arnold that those potential holes in the rotation can be aptly filled.
“We have some infielders that can play all over the infield. We have outfielders that can play all over the outfield. I don’t know if we have the high-end number one (pitcher), but we have six, seven guys that we feel comfortable putting out there and throwing. Our depth this year, while it may not be 20 guys deep, the 12, 13, 14 we have, a lot of them are interchangeable,” said Arnold.
The ultimate potential of this team remains to be seen, but no matter how high the potential is, Coach Arnold noted, “none of those things really happen until you put together so many building blocks and pieces.”
Therefore, the Hubmen will be sure to stay true to their mantra of getting “1% better” each day. There is little doubt that their pursuit of that goal will be aided by playing their home games at the Mini-Met, where the team hopes the electric atmosphere will present itself on a regular basis.
“I just think that the atmosphere is great to play in and Arnold has made it a point to move games to the night so we can play under the lights and I think that’s been really cool.” Klehr said.
Agreeing with his co-captain, Lewis pointed out that “with the ballpark itself and all the fans, it brings the game to life. It (brings) a lot more energy. It’s just a great place to play.”
The Hubmen baseball team kicks off their season at the Mini-Met against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 4. The full schedule for Hubmen baseball can be found on the official website of the Minnesota State High School League. For the most up-to-date info on scheduling changes and special events such as Senior night and youth baseball appreciation, be sure to follow @HubmenBaseball on X and “Jordan Activities” on Facebook.