Lee Carlson

With decades of baseball coaching to his credit, Legion coach Tim Pinke is looking to hang his hat after this season. Along with different coaching opportunities in different states, Pinke’s run with the 2014 Legion team stands out as a highlight.

An All-Conference player in 1985 for the Valley City State University Vikings, Pinke had already launched his Legion coaching career as he headed up the Valley City program from 1983-1987. Prior to that position, he had coaching T-ball throughout his high school years.

Optometry school took Tim and his wife Nancy to Forest Grove, Oregon, where he coached at Pacific University, a DIII school in the Northwest Conference. Landing a job in St. James also provided a new baseball home for Pinke, playing for the St. James A’s.

With three boys joining the family, the focus shifted from playing to coaching again, starting in 1998 with the lower ages in Godahl. Leading the St. James Legion team stretched from 2003-2017. After a year off he rejoined the program in 2019, coached the Jr. Legion several years and jumping back in the saddle for the 2024 season.

After several consecutive trips to regional title games, the 2014 Post #33 Legion team earned a trip to the state tournament and made a name for themselves. Opening with a 1-0 victory over International Falls, the team continued their success. Walker Froehling threw a 7-inning perfect game that, along with two innings of no-hit relief pitching later in the tourney, led to his selection as Outstanding Player for the tournament. Beating the tourney host Luverne 5-1 placed St. James in the championship where they ended as runnerups to Plato and qualified them for additional play in the Central Plains Regional of the national Legion tournament.

During the course of tournament play, St. James players, coaches, and fans impressed upon officials and they were awarded the Rocky Wedin Sportsmanship Trophy. Along with the honor, a letter showed up the next week from Jerry Raddatz, a longtime coach for Winona who later worked as a scout for MLB teams Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers. Citing his coaching experience and 25 years as a professional scout, Raddatz touted the actions of the St. James Legion program as top tier.

Excellence played out across ballfields and adherence to the highest level of sportsmanship made for a memorable ride during the 2014 season of St. James Legion baseball. It also exemplifies the coaching hallmarks of Tim Pinke.

A fierce competitor, Pinke never completed a lineup card he didn’t believe could win the game and his faith came from focused preparation and an intense in-game experience that refused to waste a single pitch or at bat while applying nonstop pressure to the opponent.

On paper that gameplan is foolproof but the missing component is much harder to grasp. Coaches don’t get to play, the challenge is to get the players to play their best at game time. Trust is the catalyst for high expectations and compassion convinces players that they are more than just players, capable of more than even they believed.

Players from the 2014 team will be joining Coach Pinke prior to the game against Jackson at 3:00 on Saturday of Railroad Days. Their achievements represent success at a lofty level but for Tim Pinke every season started and ended the same way, coaching young men to play baseball the right way and go onto lives that continued to represent their communities like champions.

The Plaindealer recognizes the enormous time and energy Tim Pinke has dedicated to St. James baseball over dozens of seasons and wishes Coach Pinke, his 2014 team, and Post #33, the very best Saturday and the rest of the 2024 season!