DIAMOND RETURN — Members of the Fairmont Cardinal baseball team scheduled to open the season by traveling to Jackson County Central on Thursday, April 4, for a 4 p.m. doubleheader include, front row (left to right): Noah Heckmann, Ethan Darnell, Mason Bicknase, Joey Crissinger, Mac Larson, Jensen Livesay, Brayden Williamson, Vincent Schultz and Ben Sunken. Second row: Merritt Pomerenke, Kellen Fritz, Jalin Jackson, Tyler Bicknase, Reed Johnson, Josh Soelter, Owen Terfehr, Luke Haefner, Caiden Loken and Cole Nawrocki. Third row: Sawyer Laven, Micah Vaughn, Isaac Stone, Jordan Walters, Carmyne Hecht, Nolan Anderson, Cole Brockmann, Connor Sanvig and Nolyn Goerndt. Back row: Ben Moeller, Joseph Hackett, Eric Determan, Tyler Kurt, Cole Wiemers, Nate Soelter, Trevor Maakestad, Levi Pooley and Hudson Laven. Not pictured: Joe Long, Preston Geerdes and Dakota Wiley. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

FAIRMONT — With four starting positional players and two additional pitchers returning from last year’s third-place Class AA state baseball team, some head coaches would deem this spring as a rebuilding season.

That, however, is definitely not the case with Fairmont’s Don Waletich.

“I really don’t care for that term (rebuilding),” said Waletich, who also guided the Cardinals to the Class AA state championship in 2022. “We (coaching staff) teach them solid fundamentals and how to play the game.

“Our goal remains the same each season — strive to get better each and every day. If you accomplish that, everything else falls into place.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Fairmont returns hard-throwing senior right-hander Nate Soelter, who captured nearly every postseason diamond honor available in 2023.

Nate Soelter neared the top of the Cardinals’ statistical charts from both a pitching and an offensive perspective to earn the Sentinel All-Area Baseball Player of the Year award, all-Class AA state tournament status, all-Section 3 honors and all-Big South Conference accolades a year ago.

Nate Soelter drilled opposing deliveries at a .391 clip — spearheaded by seven doubles, seven triples and two home runs — to generate 23 RBIs in 2023. He also drew 17 walks, collected 59 total bases, reached base at a .500 pace and produced a slugging percentage of .641.

The ace right-hander compiled a 7-1 record and 1.92 ERA on the mound by striking out 63 batters in 62 innings of work.

“Nate will be our ace again after having an outstanding season last year,” said Waletich. “Being a four-year varsity starter, we’ll rely heavily on him this spring. When he’s not pitching, Nate will anchor our infield defensively at short again.

“We definitely will be strong up the middle this season.”

Freshman Josh Soelter will share a similar role on the Cardinals’ roster as his sibling Nate in handling middle infield duties to complement logging innings on the hill.

“When we brought Josh up to the varsity level to play second base about a third of the way through last season, he really solidified our infield defensively and also had quite an impact offensively,” Waletich said in reference to Josh Soelter’s .333 batting average, .410 on-base rate, nine RBIs and nine runs scored in just 18 games as an eighth-grader.

Senior center fielder Levi Pooley and sophomore catcher Joseph Hackett round out the strong-up-the-middle label after making solid contributions to Fairmont’s second straight state run in 2023.

Pooley topped the Cardinals with 28 RBIs and produced 19 runs scored to complement covering a lot of square footage defensively at the friendly confines of Herb Wolf Field in Fairmont.

Hackett generated 18 RBIs, but more importantly, handled the pitching staff with the experience and savvy of a seasoned varsity veteran behind the plate.

“We really hadn’t planned on it, but Joseph caught every inning of every game last season and impressed us (coaching staff) with the way he called pitches, kept runners close (on base) and handled himself in all aspects of the game,” said Waletich.

Freshman Jensen Livesay and senior Ben Moeller each return to the pitching rotation after combining for an impressive 8-0 record to contribute to the Cardinals’ state flight.

Moeller compiled a flawless 6-0 record and 2.36 ERA in 29.2 innings of work on the hill, while Livesay posted a 2-0 mark and 2.03 ERA in 10.1 frames pitched.

In fact, Livesay earned the win by striking out two, did not issue a walk and gave up one earned run on five hits in working the first four innings of Fairmont’s third-place state tournament victory over Cannon Falls last spring.

Sophomore Joe Long also will figure into the Cardinals’ five-pitcher rotation and compete for playing time in the outfield, while Livesay will vie with junior Trevor Maakestad for time at first base.

Maakestad will likely have the inside track at third base, however, while junior Micah Vaughn also figures into the infield mix.

Senior Cole Wiemers, sophomore Merritt Pomerenke and junior Tyler Kurt will compete with Long for the outfield positions flanking Pooley.

Waletich anticipates Big South Conference rivals Luverne and Jackson County Central being in contention with his Fairmont team for top honors in Section 3AA, South Sub-Section, with New London-Spicer, Paynesville and Morris Area being the top competitors out of the North Sub-Section.

Levi Becker returns as the Cardinals’ varsity assistant coach and Matt Lytle will once again handle the junior varsity duties.

Jack Hested will coach the C-squad, while Dalen Keltgen will provide leadership for the junior high program.