Jun. 26—For Brent Wohlers, the spring always brings back a flood of baseball memories.
“It does, it really does,” he said.
The 61-year-old was a baseball standout at Plainview High School and he helped the squad earn state tournament berths as a sophomore in 1976 and as a senior in 1978. The Bulldogs placed third in the state in 1976 and then Wohlers pitched them to a Class A state championship as a senior.
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Wohlers memories were triggered even more this spring as Plainview-Elgin-Millville earned a Class AA state berth and placed fourth.
“As they were going through the tournaments, I was paying attention,” Wohlers said.
Wohlers still resides in Plainview. He owned a hardware store in the community for many years and is currently a financial planner. His office is just four blocks away from the baseball field he played on in high school.
“Going home, I go by the field every day,” Wohlers said with a chuckle. “Sometimes you think back on the way it was years ago.”
All those years ago, the lanky Wohlers was a dominating force as a right-handed pitcher and he was unbeatable as a senior. He had an excellent slider and curveball and a fastball that hit 90 miles an hour.
“He was outstanding,” said Jarvis Anderson, Plainview’s baseball coach for the two state tournament runs. “He could do a lot of things on that mound. And it was quite a group of guys.”
A veteran crew in 1978
Plainview’s starting lineup in 1978 featured six seniors and three juniors.
“We had good upperclassmen,” Wohlers said. “We’d been together for a long time and had always had good success.”
Joining Wohlers as senior starters were twins Bill Kruger (pitcher/first base) and Bruce Kruger (catcher), Eddie Jakob (third base), Scott Ersland (center field) and Doug Flokert (right field). Junior starters were Jeff Quriam (left field), Dave Arnet (second base) and Dan Lingle (infield/pitcher).
“What I remember is just how we got along,” Wohlers said. “We just meshed and everybody just got along and we just had fun.”
Wohlers recalls prior to a state tournament game when the Bulldogs were having a water balloon fight in front of the dorms where the team was staying in St. Cloud.
“The other team’s already got their uniforms on and was going to the game and we were still messing around,” Wohlers said. “We just had fun. I know we were nervous and always took the games seriously, but it was just fun. We had a blast.”
Wohlers excelled in the state tournament as he pitched Plainview to a 3-2 win in extra innings in the quarterfinals. He then started and pitched most of the way in winning the semifinals.
Wohlers, due to an innings limit, was allowed just three innings in the title game against Benson and Lingle got the start.
“Jarvis would bring me in if Danny got in trouble and I would get one or two outs and go back to shortstop,” Wohlers said. “Then Danny would keep pitching until he got into trouble. So I used up my three innings and was (in) at the end in the seventh inning when we won. So I didn’t have any more innings to pitch.”
Wohlers then went to the University of Minnesota and was slated to be a pitcher. But due to an arm injury he didn’t play for the Gophers and transferred to Mankato State. After a redshirt season, he pitched four years for the Mavericks and compiled an 18-4 record. He helped Mankato State place third in the NCAA Division II World Series in 1980.
He was being scouted by pro teams as a senior, but suffered another arm injury in what would be his final college appearance as a senior in 1983.
“I blew out my elbow before we got to the regional tournament,” Wohlers said. “That’s when my arm was shot.”
Return to game at age 35
After not pitching for more than a decade — and playing slowpitch softball — Wohlers returned to baseball at age 35. He pitched in amateur baseball for the Rochester Royals for six seasons from 1995-2000 and helped them take second in the state one season.
“I had a blast playing for the Royals,” Wohlers said. “I made it through age 40 and then my shoulder just said ‘That’s enough.’
“Now I can’t even break a pane of glass with a baseball,” he added. “My shoulder is just shot.”
Even though he hasn’t played in two decades, Wohlers still misses being on the mound.
“It was hard to let go, but once you did and got away from it a bit, I guess you didn’t miss it as much,” Wohlers said. “But I do think about these games.”
Rochester’s Joe Warren, an old college and Royals teammate, recently came to see Wohlers and they took a trip down memory lane.
“He stopped by my office last week and we talked for an hour about college ball and stuff and that was just a blast,” Wohlers said.