Photo submitted by Daren Swenson: The 2026 Dawson-Boyd baseball team consists of Eli Olson, Colten Bothun, Aedyn Dahl, Kyan Moseng, Holland Schacherer, Brayden Tjaden, Nathan Hansen, Ryker Gruwell, Kameron Sather, Jackson Schugel, Ace Larson, Even Ibarra, Triton Dove, Elijah Cain and Cooper Manee.

DAWSON — The Dawson-Boyd baseball team has been a dominant force in Section 3A over recent years, earning back-to-back top seeds in the section tournament the past two seasons, and are looking to do the same again for the 2026 season behind a strong group of returners.

The Blackjacks have a depth of talent both at the plate and on the mound, carrying over a core of playmakers from a season prior. Specifically, Dawson-Boyd plays aggressive on offense in its baserunning and will aim to continue the same strategy. The team had a collective 120 stolen bases last season.

“We like to coach that way, we like to push that way. They definitely are doing the same thing this year,” Dawson-Boyd head coach Daren Swenson said of the team’s offensive effort. “It helps out from the experience that we had last year and the year before that, and building it. It’s fun to see and enjoyable to see all the work, and knowing the game.”

After going 18-4 last season, Dawson-Boyd is returning its leading hitter and pitcher in Nathan Hansen for his senior year.

Hansen led the Blackjacks last season with 29 hits on a .367 batting average, along with 17 RBIs, 20 runs and had a team-low of three strikeouts. He also was one of the leading baserunners, stealing 18 bases on 95%.

Pitching-wise, Hansen led the team with 41 innings pitched and tossed 44 strikeouts with a 2.371 ERA. He allowed 35 hits, 14 earned runs and 27 walks.

In addition, Dawson-Boyd has Kameron Sather, Eli Olson and Colten Bothun back on the field this year as well, all of who made significant contributions to last season’s success.

“The last few years, he’s [Hansen] been a good pitcher for us. Along with that, we have returning pitchers [like] Eli Olson, another senior for us, Colten Bothun, he pitched well for us last year also,” Swenson said. “We had a few guys coming in relief after that, Kam Sather, he has experience from last year also.”

Sather’s baserunning aggressiveness shined, leading the team with 29 runs and 25 stolen bases on an impressive 96% rate. He also has a .242 hitting average, and served as a backup pitcher where he saw 17 innings on the mound and had 21 strikeouts on the season, allowing just five earned runs with a 2.019 ERA.

Eli Olson and Bothun played similar roles as core infield players and rotating pitchers as well. Bothun had 20 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched, and offensively, he had 18 hits and a team second-best 21 stolen bases behind Sather. Eli Olson followed with 15 strikeouts with 11 hits and 12 runs at the plate.

“When you have five seniors [that graduate] and you have to fill holes, with those guys having over two years experience or three, that helps out a lot,” Swenson said about his returning talent.

But, the Blackjacks will be looking to replace the talents of Tygan Long, Grayson Olson and Beau Johnson, all of whom graduated last season.

Long and Grayson Olson shared a team second-best 20 hits each, along with 21 and 22 RBIs, respectively. Grayson Olson also led the Blackjacks with a trio of homeruns, while Long was the lone other batter besides Hansen to hold an above .300 batting average, finishing with a .303.

Johnson, who was a strong centerfielder, shared a team-high 20 runs with Hansen and had 14 hits.

Most prominently, Long rotated with Hansen as the Blackjacks’ leading pitchers. He had 34 innings pitched, following behind Hansen with 36 strikeouts on the year. He had allowed 31 hits, 12 earned runs and 14 walks.

“We had Grayson Olson catching the last four years and we had to fill that position. Aedyn Dahl has stepped up and he’s done very well for us. You can tell he has put in some work in the offseason,” Swenson said. “Pitching wise, Tygan was one of our best pitchers from last year, and through the years, we were able to fill the experience with Nate, and with Eli and Colten, [who have had] some big success, especially in the playoffs last year.”

Through Dawson-Boyd’s start to the 2026 spring season, the Blackjacks are picking right up where they left off with a 4-1 start to the year, and are seeing positive production from their returners.

“It’s [the start of the season] going very well. We lost a close one in the bottom of the seventh last week against RTR [Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on April 10], but coming out right away, we were able to get our games in with the weather, we’re doing very well,” Swenson said. “It looks like we haven’t really skipped a beat from last year. We have a few holes we have to fill, but we have good returners coming back.”

Last year, the Blackjacks’ season came to an end with an 18-4 overall record with a loss to RTR in the section elimination bracket final. The Knights went on to defeat Yellow Medicine East twice to win the section and earn a berth to the state tournament. Dawson-Boyd went 17-5 in 2024, and got to the section championship.

But leading up to the postseason, hardly any team could find an answer to stop and get a win over Dawson-Boyd besides two — RTR and Springfield. Of their four total losses, the Blackjacks fell short to the Knights three times and to the Tigers once, in the third game of the season.

Dawson-Boyd also went on a 15-game win streak that took up a majority of the regular season.

Behind the core group of returners and a strong foundation of success, the Blackjacks will ultimately be working with their eyes set on getting back to the section championship this year after a two-season hiatus, embarking on another deep postseason campaign.

“Building off of the success that we had last year [is important]. With the 18-4 record, starting off the season here 4-1, we are rolling pretty good,” Swenson said. “We have to keep on going, we’re not in the middle of the season yet, it’s early. But, we are looking pretty positive.”