Shanley Baseball Enters Postseason Undefeated in Conference Play

THE DEACONS EYE THEIR FIRST STATE TITLE SINCE 2013; ATTEMPTING TO DETHRONE 3-TIME CHAMPION WF SHEYENNE.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR)–The Eastern Dakota Conference baseball tournament will begin Thursday, May 23. The Shanley Deacons are 11-0 in EDC play this season; That is a first for the Deacons program.

“It is a really big one,” said senior infielder Adam Leininger. “I do not think Shanley baseball has ever done that before. For us and for our team, that is a big accomplishment. All the work we put in showed this season.”

Head Coach Luke Rustad shared similar thoughts to his team regarding the unprecedented regular season his team had.

“Those kids put a lot of time into baseball, not just for us, but in the summer,” said Rustad. “They are coachable kids and we have seen their growth from the first time they came into the program. Just their journey from where it started to where it is now…they earned it.

The Eight seniors on this roster have had major success with the program, but have not reached the top at the end of the season. In their previous three seasons, the West Fargo Sheyenne Mustangs have captured the state title… and twice it was against them (2021 & 2022).

“It is kind of a revenge tour,” said Leininger. “We all came up short the last couple of years. This year we feel like we have a really good chance because we put in a lot of work. We are all confident going into this one.”

Senior pitcher Landon Meier shares his thoughts on why this year’s team is different from years past.

“Just every year of experience we have just adds on,” said Meier. “Just those heartbreaking losses…just knowing what we have to build from those and knowing what we have to do to win those games helps a lot. Senior year you kind of have to put it all out there and most of this team is seniors, so we know what it takes.”

Like every program this time of year, the goal is a state championship. For the EDC regular season champs, it would mean a lot to end this historic season on top and bring home their first title since 2013.

“I think for me, I would just be happy for the guys,” said Coach Rustad. “I know how hard they work. I know how much time they have put into the game. It is great for our community being a smaller school. We have the players that can do it.”

Leininger and Meier share their thoughts on the potential to win it all this season.

“A lot of these guys that start this year started last year and the year before,” said Leininger. “We have a lot of experience. We know we have been in these games before. A lot of us play football and other sports too, so we know what a big task this is. We are confident.”

Meier says, “Just knowing that we beat every [EDC] team out there…we have seen everyone and we know what it takes to beat each team.” Meier continued, “This is our year to do it and pull it off.”

The 1-seeded Deacons will open the EDC tournament Thursday, May 23 vs. 8-seeded Fargo South.

The championship of the EDC baseball and softball tournaments will be on Saturday, May 25.