Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Returning letterwinners for the St. Edmond baseball team are, front row (left to right): Jack McElroy, Ethan Swisher and Kinnick Henning. Back: Kade Schlegel, Koleman Hanson, Grant Galles and Griffin Laufersweiler.

The 2025 schedule for the St. Edmond baseball team underwent a major change over the offseason.

Instead of home-and-away North Central Conference games, the league has moved to doubleheaders, with the majority taking place on Monday.

The Gaels will get a glimpse of the difference of planning right away, as they open the season at Humboldt on Monday.

For veteran St. Edmond head coach Mike Szalat, he will have a number of returning starters back from a team that went 9-14 a year ago — the most wins since 2021 for the program.

Seniors Landon Saathoff, Max Nguyen, Quintin Jaeschke and Kade Schlegel are joined by juniors Grant Galles, Kinnick Henning, Koleman Hanson, Jack McElroy, Ethan Swisher and Max Webster. Sophomores Griffin Laufersweiler and Jacob Nieland round out the varsity lineup.

Nguyen, Schlegel, Galles, Henning, Hanson, McElroy, Swisher, Webster, Laufersweiler and Nieland all started games a season ago at some point. Schlegel, Galles, Henning, Hanson and McElroy started at least 22 of the 23.

“Sports are simple,” Szalat said. “Keep it simple and you can have success. We need to make plays on defense, throw strikes on the mound and put the ball in play.

“When you don’t do those things…that’s when you get yourself into trouble.”

Two key pieces to the lineup a year ago graduated in JT Laufersweiler and Hayden Derrig. Both hit over .400 and combined for seven of the nine wins on the mound.

“Replacing what JT and Hayden did at the plate is going to be difficult,” Szalat said. “They were both excellent hitters and came up big for us in key situations.

“Now, we need someone to step into that role.”

Galles, an outfielder, batted .283 with 13 RBI and a pair of doubles in 2024. Schlegel sported a .274 average with 11 RBI.

Hanson stole 13 bases, Galles eight, Henning seven and McElroy five.

“Kinnick is a kid that has put in a lot of time to improve,” Szalat said. “You want to see guys like that do well because it shows the younger ones the importance of doing the work.”

The defense was an area that saw plenty of improvement last summer, as Webster committed just two errors in 23 games with McElroy recording a .946 fielding percentage. Henning, Laufersweiler and Schlegel all had fielding percentages of at least .864.

“I feel like our defense will be an area we can rely on once again,” Szalat said. “Many of those kids have worked extremely hard over the offseason to continue to improve in that part of the game.

“If we can be sound on defense and put the ball in play, I like what we have with our pitching staff.”

McElroy made six starts on the mound and 10 appearances, as he is the most seasoned of the returning pitchers. He earned two wins and recorded 18 strikeouts.

Galles had three starts and six appearances, picking up 13 strikeouts. Henning made three starts. Hanson, Swisher, Laufersweiler, Schlegel, Nieland, Saathoff and Nguyen also saw time on the mound.

The Gaels will be relying on current eighth-graders like Blake Bartlett, Julian Blanco and Maddux Shirbroun as well. All three can play the catcher position, with Bartlett and Shirbroun both pitching.

“We are going to lean on all three of those kids,” Szalat said. “They have been doing well in the preseason, and have plenty of baseball experience.”

Freshmen include Owen Rutherford, Marvin Bacon, Thomas Ehn and Jack Webster. Other eighth-graders are Evan Calvert, Garrett Royster and Trae Krowiorz.

Szalat has announced that this will be his final season at the helm. He served 10 years as an assistant before taking over as head coach eight years ago.

“It’s a family decision,” said Szalat, who has been involved in the sport for well over two decades at various levels. “None of our three boys are in Fort Dodge anymore, and it’s just time. Jenni (Szalat’s wife) loves baseball and enjoys going to the games at home, but without anyone home for away games, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

“We want to be able to visit our boys, but if something at the lower levels opens up down the road, maybe I’ll get back in if it all works out.”

Josh Calvert will be Szalat’s assistant this summer.

2025 ST. EDMOND BASEBALL

Roster

Seniors — Landon Saathoff, Max Nguyen, Quintin Jaeschke, Kade Schlegel.

Juniors — Grant Galles, Kinnick Henning, Koleman Hanson, Jack McElroy, Ethan Swisher, Max Webster.

Sophomores — Griffin Laufersweiler, Jacob Nieland.

Freshmen — Owen Rutherford, Marvin Bacon, Thomas Ehn, Jack Webster.

Eighth-graders — Evan Calvert, Garrett Royster, Blake Bartlett, Julian Blanco, Maddox Shirbroun, Trae Krowiorz.

Schedule

May 19 — at Humboldt; 20 — at South Central Calhoun; 27 — Webster City; 29 — at Manson NW.

June 2 — Clarion-Goldfield/Dows; 3 — Southeast Valley; 7 — at CYO Tournament; 9 — at Clear Lake; 16 — at Iowa Falls-Alden; 17 — at West Bend-Mallard; 19 — Eagle Grove; 23 — Hampton-Dumont/CAL; 24 — Pocahontas Area; 30 — at Algona.

July 3 — Bishop Garrigan.