Photo courtesy of Devereaux Photography: The 2026 Lakeview baseball team consists of Blake Caron, Braylon Breyfogle, Brooks Smith, Carter Nilges, Chace Bryant, Chase Vogel, Christian Sannerud, Conner Moseng, Cooper Caspers, Easton Schmidt, Jackson Forslund, Jared Bot, Jared Louwagie, Karson Nelson, Landyn Listul, Logan Herrick and Teagan Neuman.

COTTONWOOD — The Lakeview baseball team enters the 2026 season looking to build on improvement and stack up some wins, while operating under a new head coach while returning its key players from a season prior.

Corey Boe, Lakeview’s elementary principal, has taken over the reins of the program and stepped in as the new head coach in place of former coach, Curt Schake.

“Before I came to Lakeview, I was head coach at my school down in Iowa for 10 years, and just growing up with baseball in the family and everything like that,” Boe said regarding what interested him in picking up the coaching role “Being from Redwood Falls, I just knew Cottonwood … I was approached and asked if this was something that I would be interested in … And, I’m glad I did.”

While Lakeview will be looking to turn things around this season after finishing last year 0-15, the Lakers have returned its leaders on both the hitting and pitching front.

Similar to last year, the Lakers don’t have a core primary pitcher, but rather work through a rotation. Braylon Breyfogle and Teagan Neuman saw significant time on the mound last season, and are two of the team’s key returners this year.

“With a pitch count, it’s always tricky to make sure you got kids available. Being in a smaller school, it’s not as easy, because we don’t have the kids to choose from, but the kids we have as far as our pitching rotation, they’ve bought in. They’re doing what they can do,” Boe said. “It’s one of those [situations] where it’s all hands on deck. If there are days where if you can pitch, you might pitch.”

Breyfogle comes in for his senior year after playing a significant role for the Lakers last year on both sides of the field. He saw the most time on the mound with 31 innings pitched, and tossed a team-high 30 strikeouts while on an 11.06 ERA and 3.032 WHIP.

At the plate, Breyfogle finished last season with a .457 batting average and a .490 on-base percentage, with 21 hits, seven RBIs, a team-high nine runs with eight stolen bases.

Neuman, a sophomore, is also an established returner this season. Last season, he pitched 19 innings with 14 strikeouts on a 9.947 ERA and 2.789 WHIP. He also had 15 hits on a .312 batting average, eight runs and a .365 on-base mark.

Pitching-wise, Lakeview graduated Kyler Post, who spent the second-most time on the mound last season behind Breyfogle. He had 24 strikeouts in his 21 innings, with a 6.333 ERA and 1.857 WHIP.

Another big piece for the Lakers is Logan Herrick, now a junior. He led the team last season with a team-high 23 hits, 12 RBIs, a .500 batting average and a .531 on-base percentage with eight runs as well.

“I have a great group of kids who are willing to learn, and that’s what we are trying to do,” Boe said. “They haven’t had successful seasons in the past, so my goal is to preach the fundamentals of baseball. Get them back to understanding the game, knowing what to do in certain situations. It’s going to be a big learning year for us.”

Through Lakeview’s first five games this season, Neuman and Brooks Smith are sharing a team-high of five hits, along with Smith’s team-leading four RBIs. Smith has elevated his production from last year, where he finished the season with four total hits and no RBIs.

Herrick also has three hits so far, including a homerun, which also shows positive potential for growth on the offensive end for Lakeview, who didn’t have a homer throughout last season.

“I think the big thing for them is working on the confidence and putting the ball in play. I’ve said it throughout the year, I wish I had this team again next year, I’ve seen a lot of growth in them,” Boe said. “A lot of them haven’t had the greatest opportunity to show what they have and to build on what they have. So, you can see the confidence starting to get there. They just need to understand that they can do it.”

Breyfogle has so far led the pitching with 11.1 innings to start the season with 12 strikeouts. Jackson Forslund and Chase Vogel have also joined the pitching staff, each with eight innings and eight strikeouts in the first five games as well, followed by Neuman again seeing some time on the mound as well.

Forslund and Vogel are new to the Lakers this season as they look to add more depth to the team.

Lakeview’s first win came against Ortonville 9-8 on Tuesday, April 21, behind an efficient offensive effort across the board. Herrick hit his homerun, while a total of six Lakers were able to connect at the plate.

Smith led the team with a trio of hits and three RBIs, while Neuman tossed six strikeouts on the mound.

“We’ve been competitive in our games. We just have to cut down that one big inning,” Boe said.

While Lakeview has established improvement and has seen positive production across the team through the opening period of the season, the Lakers will aim to continue building up their efficiency in hopes of reaching higher success.

“We’re a young team, which is good. I’ve said it from day one. Whether you’re in eighth grade, you’re in ninth grade, whatever, if you’re the best at that position, and you show it, you’re going to get an opportunity,” Boe said. “Some kids have taken it and ran, so it’s building not just for this year, but for the future as well.”