Mason Stewart is one of several returning players who spent all of last season with the Minot Vistas. He recorded 11 RBIs and 18 runs scored and tossed 48 2/3 innings with a 3.60 ERA. Mike Kraft/MDN

On the final weekend of May, Minot High and Minot North were doing battle against one another at the state tournament.

A few days later, the two crosstown rivals came together as teammates for the summer, donning the Minot Vistas uniform.

Following a spring season of high school baseball that saw the Magicians capture the WDA Tournament title and the Sentinels advance to the state tournament for the first time in program history, the Vistas are looking to keep that momentum of success going through the summer months.

“What helps is getting used to success,” Minot Vistas coach Pat Arntson said. “Getting used to being successful on the field is really important, so that’s what I’m excited about is those guys both have had to play big games at WDA and both had to go to state and get used to those bigger moments. If you get enough experience in those it helps you become a little more familiar with them and it gets a little less nerve-racking.”

Brody Mueller and Oliver Deschamp were two names leading their high school squads this season. Both were named to the all-state team. Mueller guided the Sentinels to the No. 2 seed in the West Region, batting .489 with three home runs, 28 RBIs and 24 runs scored. He went 8-for-16 with a double, four RBIs and nine runs scored in six postseason games. Mueller was named the Class A Senior Athlete of the Year.

Deschamp batted .429 with the Magicians, recording 30 total hits, 21 RBIs and 16 runs during the regular season. He collected five hits in five postseason games, along with three RBIs and a run scored.

“Those guys will be in the middle of the lineup and they will have to have big summers if we’re going to be any good,” Arntson said. “We tell them that it’s not pressure. We’ll lean on them for sure. We’ll have a lot of pieces around them, but for us to be as successful as we want to be, those guys will have to be banging it around.”

Mueller and Deschamp are two of the names returning this year after playing full-time for the Vistas a year ago. Gannon Hedberg, Mason Stewart, Tegan Schindler, Nick Thomas and Drew Jordan are the other full-time returners. Joining the Vistas on a full-time basis after spending the majority of last year with the Minot Metros are Gavin King, Kayden Danielson, Landyn McGhee, Logan Dixon, Remington Anderson and TJ Hjelmstad.

“We have a really solid group of guys this year,” Mueller said. “Both of us making the state tournament this year allows us to be fresh off live arms. That will be pretty big and being able to play that high level, high intensity baseball right before the new season starts is an advantage because the atmosphere is huge, the pressure is up there and a lot of people are watching. It gets you playing your best baseball and that’s huge going into a new season right as it starts.”

The Vistas are looking to replace the on-field production lost from the departures of Carson Deaver, Tre Stewart, Kellan Burke, Brayden Nelson, Hyrum Maples and Levi Balas. Burke led the team in batting average last year at .510. He strung together 77 total hits – 48 singles, 16 doubles, four triples, nine home runs – and drove in 56 runs while scoring 59 times. The Vistas hit .307 as a team in 2025, scoring 304 runs.

Mueller and Deschamp are the two leading returners in terms of batting average. Mueller hit .324 last year with 40 RBIs and 32 runs scored. Deschamp batted .306 with 20 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

While the quick turnaround from the end of the high school season to the start of Legion baseball can be taxing, Mueller said it’s better than the alternative of waiting around for weeks.

“It’s a little weird, but it’s kind of nice to be honest because I get to be playing with a really good team and all the guys combined from Minot High and Minot North,” Mueller said. “It’s nice to be able to stay fresh because last year I had two weeks off along with my Minot North teammates because we didn’t even make WDA and that was rough starting off the summer not seeing live arms for two weeks. It’s nice to be really fresh and be caught up with live pitching.”

The Vistas expect their biggest depth to come on the mound. Three of its top four most utilized hurlers from last year are back this season, led by Thomas. Thomas threw a team-high 57 2/3 innings last year and finished with a 7-2 record. He sported a 3.16 ERA.

Mason Stewart (48 2/3 IP) and Mueller (43 2/3) also saw significant time on the mound. They combined for 15 starts. Stewart had a 3.60 ERA, while Mueller had a 4.49 ERA. Gannon Hedberg was the go-to in the bullpen, making 15 relief appearances last season. He pitched 24 2/3 innings, picking up four wins and three saves, recording a 2.27 ERA.

Last year’s pitching staff as a group allowed 213 runs on 365 hits over 325 2/3 innings. The group struck out 203, walked 165 and had a 3.85 ERA.

“We’re deep on the mound, so the nice part with that is it’s stuff as a coaching staff we have to figure out who will take the ball when, but we have a lot of guys who can give it what they can and when that runs out, we have a lot of people to give it to next,” Arntson said.

The Vistas are hopeful their depth will help them avoid the late-season misfortune they experienced last year that made their postseason path too difficult to overcome. With a chance at being as high as No. 2 seed in the West at the state tournament, the Vistas were swept by Dickinson in the final conference doubleheader of the season, dropping them all the way down to the sixth seed. As a result, Minot drew defending-state champion West Fargo, which defeated the Vistas en route to its second straight state title and fourth in the last five years. The Vistas kept their season alive with victories over Jamestown Post 14 and Fargo Post 2 before being eliminated by Dickinson.

“We have to play our best baseball at that time and going back to the high school success, those kids getting used to playing in those higher-intensity environments will help them try and just play baseball instead of making it into this big thing,” Arntson said. “If they go to state and act like it’s bigger than it is, that’s where it gets us.”

With some postseason success already under their belt this year, the Vistas are looking to add even more.

“The expectations stay the same every year,” Mueller said. “We expect to be one of the top teams in the state. We want to give ourselves a chance at a state championship every year and I feel like every person on the team has bought in and is ready to go this year.”