Two New Ulm baseball players traveling to Puerto Rico

NEW ULM -- There have been a lot of long road trips for baseball players here in New Ulm.

Last year, Legion Gold finished second in the state tournament and played in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1978, the New Ulm Legion team won a trip to the Legion World Series in Yakima, Washington.

But two New Ulm High School baseball players may be taking one of the longest road trips ever on February 16 when they spend six days in Puerto Rico playing five games against the top Puerto Rican teams.

Keith McClellan, the son of Kerry and Karen McClellan and Derik Johnson, the son of David and Olga Johnson, have been selected to play in Puerto Rico after being selected in try-outs in September held in Mankato and Arden Hills, Minnesota.

They will play with the Coast-to-Coast team and represent the United States in the competition.

"I tried out at Bethel College in Arden Hills on September 9 and there were about 35 players there," Johnson said. "Out of those 35 players, they picked five players and I was one of them."

Johnson, who will play third base in Puerto Rico, said that he was judged on fielding and throwing and then was also judged on his hitting which involved hitting the ball to all fields when told to do so. 'They would tell me to take the next pitch to rightfield, then leftfield."

Johnson said that he was called two weeks later and told that he was chosen.

"I am pretty excited about playing," he said. "I think that this will help me out for baseball here in New Ulm and then in college where I want to play baseball -- hopefully Division One baseball which has been my dream all of my life."

Johnson also said that he was glad to be going because he is taking a Spanish class at New Ulm High School. "This is my third year of Spanish and this will help me learn the culture of the country."

He said that the games are run like a tournament "and we play two games a day. There is not a lot of free time. There will also be college coaches there from Michigan and different areas."

"I want to play D-I baseball -- it will be hard but I have been going to the (indoor) batting cages here. I know that I need to work on a lot of things but it is my dream to play D-I baseball."

McClellan, a lefthanded hitting firstbaseman with one of the sweetest swings that you will ever want to see, had his tryout at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

"I went to the tryouts," said McCellan who went through the same items as Johnson. "I ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6. In our hitting drills, we worked on hitting up the middle -- (the pitcher) was about five feet from us. It was just like a normal practice."

Johnson said that he and Johnson will travel and room together in Puerto Rico.

"I am looking forward to the experience of playing good teams and improving my skills that will help me here at New Ulm High School, legion baseball and in college," he said.

"I love the game of baseball - I want to play college baseball out of state," said the junior at NUHS. "The programs are good in Minnesota but the out-of-state schools like Miami are better. I want to study in either medical field or physical therapy."

"If I stay in the state, the University of Minnesota would be nice but if I go out-of-state, the University of Miami, Florida - they have a good program for physical therapy - or LSU and Ohio."

"They told us that the competition (in Puerto Rico) will be very, very good," said McClellan. "It is against high-caliber teams. New Ulm baseball is really good - they focus on skills that aren't brought out in major league baseball like bunting and all the fundamentals of the game. And that helped me in the tryouts."

"I am very excited -not nervous at all - because baseball is baseball. You are going to learn, The game of baseball is just cool."

McClellan plans to keep a diary of his experience in Puerto Rico,parts of which will appear in The Journal in my column on his return.

HOCKEY CROWD IS GREAT: If you have not gone to a New Ulm High School hockey game this season at Vogel Arena this year, you are missing out on a lot of not only good hockey by the 16-3 Eagles but also some of the greatest student body support around.

The student section is constantly full and shows great support for the team, even before the puck is dropped.

I know that one of the things that New Ulm hockey coach Tom Macho likes about playing at home is that support. It helps the Eagles and can be quite intimidating to visiting teams. New Ulm hosts St. Cloud Cathedral this Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Catch a game but you need to get there early for a good seat.

Column by Jim Bastian