Ryan Ladika/MDN Dylan Buchanan doubles in the first inning of Minot High's 8-7 consolation semifinal loss to Red River in the Class A State Tournament in Bismarck June 4.

For the Magi baseball team, as with every other athletics program held at Minot High School, the 2021 season was a breath of fresh air and represented an impending return to normalcy on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have been coaching spring baseball since 1991 for Minot High, and last year was the first year we didn’t have it,” head coach Pete Stenberg said. “That was a little strange, so it was very nice to be back.”

The Magi returned just three players from the program’s 2019 campaign, but were still picked to finish first in the Western Dakota Association in their first season since. They were well on their way to living up to their lofty preseason expectations once the season rolled around, too, when the team emerged on the winning end of 11 of its first 12 games.

Four consecutive losses April 30-May 1 were a speedbump, but the Magi remained focused on their end goal and completed their regular season with a respectable 19-9 record, good for a third-place finish in the WDA behind Dickinson and Bismarck Legacy.

“I thought we had a nice season,” Stenberg said. “We made it to the state tournament which was one of our goals. We wanted to win the WDA, but that fell short. I wanted to have a better performance at the state tournament, but I’m very happy with what we achieved with our team.”

The Magi won two of their three games in the WDA tournament to enter the big dance as the west’s third seed, but dropped both contests in the state tournament to West Fargo Sheyenne and Red River.

Despite the early ending to the season, the Magi achieved positive milestones throughout the year. Chase Burke was named the Class A Baseball Powerade State Senior Athlete of the Year by the North Dakota High School Coaches Association June 5.

Burke established himself as one of the premiere hitters in the state this season, and provided his team aid on the mound in a pinch as well. The outfielder hit .351 with three home runs and 24 RBI in 31 games this season, adding 32 stolen bases in 33 tries. On the mound, he also contributed 9.2 innings of work and posted a glistening 1.45 earned run average and an .091 batting average against.

“The way he plays the game, I think a lot of young men should look up to Chase Burke just because he plays everything very hard,” Stenberg said. “Whether it was on the football field, on the wrestling mat or on the baseball field.”

Burke, who has plans to play baseball at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona this fall, was a key cog in a fearsome Magi offense throughout the season. Five other Magicians with at least 20 games played, Hunter Ruzicka, Morgan Nygaard, Kellan Burke, Trent Greek and Eli Nissen, finished with an average even higher than Burke’s, and the team overall hit for an impressive .332 mark in 31 games.

Nissen was the Magi’s workhorse on the mound, eating up a team-leading 35.2 innings while striking out 44 en route to a 2.55 ERA. Stenberg and the Magi coaching staff will be looking for Nissen, entering his junior season in 2022, to take another step forward and help his fellow rising juniors and seniors to replace the production and leadership qualities the team will be losing with its 14 graduating seniors.

Stenberg and his coaching staff will carry over the same state title hopes to the 2022 season, as the Magi remain in search of their first since 2005 and second in program history, but he stressed that trophies and success on the field are not what keeps him coming back year after year, or the most beneficial aspects his players can take from their time on the team.

“It’s not the wins and losses in a baseball game, but it’s the friendships that you make and the things that they’re going to carry on the rest of their lives. I think they found some really good friends and guys they can rely on and talk to if they needed to,” he said.