Woodbury baseball: Fritze, McDermott named Lion's All-Stars

Woodbury 2012 graduate Ryan Fritze and Woodbury head coach Kevin McDermott were each selected for the Minnesota Lions All-Star Baseball Tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday, Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23, at Chaska Athletic Park in Chaska.

Fritze – an infielder and pitcher – and McDermott were chosen to the Metro East All-Star squad and the duo will take part in a four-team, round-robin tournament over the weekend. The first game starts at 4 p.m. on Friday. Other members of the Metro East team include Cretin-Derham Hall’s Kevin Miley, Hill-Murray’s Cory Quinlan and Stillwater’s Christian Abilla.

The Minnesota All-Star Baseball Tournament, now in its 38th year, draws on the most talented young baseball players in the state. Just graduated from Woodbury High School, Fritze was certainly deserving of selection. A team captain for the Royals, Fritze led the team in batting in 2012 with an average of .354. He had a team-high 23 hits, tied for the team lead in runs with 10 and was second in RBI with 12.

The elite tournament, featuring 80 players statewide, offers players the chance to play before college and major league baseball scouts, and many past tournament participants have gone on to professional baseball careers. Some notable Lions alums are Terry Steinbach, Kent Hrbek, Tim Laudner, Jim Eisenreich, Kerry Ligtenberg and Joe Mauer.

The tournament is co-sponsored by the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank and the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association and benefits the Lions Children’s Eye Clinic at the University of Minnesota. The clinic sees more than 5,000 children each year, many of them with such serious vision problems that no other clinic in the region can help. Since its inception, more than $350,000 has been raised for the Children’s Eye Clinic.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students and seniors and will be available at the gate. For more information contact 1-866-887-448 or visit www.MnLionsEyeBank.org.

Tags: sports, baseball, woodbury, royals, prep