The Owatonna VFW baseball team made its annual pilgrimage to Omaha, Nebraska for a mega four-day tournament coinciding with the College World Series. The on-field results were great, but more importantly, the squad reaffirmed what many inside the program already know: This group is stacked, if not downright special.
BY JON WEISBROD I THE HUSKY BULLETIN
OMAHA, Neb. — Last week’s annual trip to Nebraska offered Tate Cummins a rare glimpse into the future.
Well, sort of.
Building a roster consisting of returning ballplayers entering grades 10-12 competing in the ultra-competitive 17U tier of the Battle of Omaha tournament, Cummins was given a sneak peek into the immediate future of his varsity program during the multi-layered four-day event.
And let’s just say he didn’t leave Nebraska disappointed.
Though the 2024 varsity season remains nine long months away, it’s during the dog days of the summer in late-June and early-July where the foundation of the best teams begin to take form. For the 20-plus players who made the 320-mile trek from Owatonna to Omaha, the annual tournament — which is hosted in conjunction with the College World Series — represented something much more than the obvious opportunity to get a few extra games under their belts against some unique competition.
“We brought 24 kids down there and we don’t necessarily make the trip to win the tournament,” Cummins said. “Those guys will all be back next spring and represent the core of our lineup and pitching staff. I’m encouraged by how we played as a group and I think we have a bright future. We have some really good ballplayers in this group. It’s exciting.”
Owatonna won five of its seven games in Nebraska, utilized more than a half-dozen pitchers and out-scored its opponents by a combined total of 45-21. They rang up 18 runs in their first two games alone, finished 4-1 in pool play and ultimately lost to a team from Joliet, Illinois, 10-7, in the championship contest after winning their semifinal game 6-1.
Spearheading Owatonna’s returning pool of ballplayers is incoming senior, Mitch Seykora. In his second full season as a regular starter at the varsity level this past spring, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound infielder/pitcher torched Big Nine Conference pitching, posting a .453 batting average to go with three home runs, 18 RBIs and a gaudy 1.250 OPS. He also finished 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts and ripped six doubles. His batting average was the fifth-highest in Owatonna High School history.
“He’s one of those special players,” Cummins said of Seykora. “It’s not about if he’ll play in college, but at what level.”
-TATE CUMMINS
Seykora blasted his first home run of the summer in Owatonna’s 11-1 win over the Bloomington (Illinois) Renegades in the second game of pool play last Thursday, which came only hours after the strong righty spun a complete-game gem in a 7-0 shutout win over Grand Island, Neb.
Another huge piece of the Huskies’ returning core is Ethan Armstrong. Like Seykora, the incoming senior drew high praise from Cummins, particularly for his ability to find his way on base in unique and fundamental ways, and posted three multi-hit games.
“He’s a another guy we will rely on next spring,” Cummins said. “He’s one of those guys who takes pride in things like bunting and getting on base. He also does a great job working with the pitcher behind the plate.”
Tanner Smith tossed a complete-game shutout and racked up three RBIs in Owatonna’s 4-0 win over a team from Olympia, Neb.
“We saw some of the best teams we’ve ever played down there this year and we’ve been coming here for quite a while,” Cummins said. “It was a good experience.”
OWATONNA VFW REMAINING SCHEDULE
THE HUSKY BULLETIN 
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