Young Silver Bay baseball team learning fast, surprising early at the plate

Silver Bay’s young baseball roster is forcing Ward Wallin to teach varsity baseball one inning at a time, and the early surprise has come with the bats. The Mariners opened the spring with 16 players across grades 7 through 12, only one senior and one junior, and the rest of the lineup filled out by underclassmen still adjusting to the speed, pitching and defensive demands of high school play.

That steep learning curve matters even more at Silver Bay (Wm. Kelley) High School, which the Minnesota State High School League lists at 94 enrollment in its 7A grouping. In a small-school program that thin, every player has to matter, and Wallin’s roster leaves little room for shortcuts. The Mariners will keep running through a Polar Conference schedule that includes South Ridge, Cromwell-Wright, Two Harbors, Barnum, Cherry and Cook County, giving the youngest players on the roster repeated chances to learn against familiar North Shore opponents.

For now, the most encouraging development has been at the plate. Wallin said the team’s early at-bats have been better than expected, with hitters showing aggression, stacking up good swings and working long plate appearances. On a roster this young, that kind of approach can be a sign that the group is beginning to understand how to compete, not just how to survive varsity games.

Pitching remains the biggest hurdle. The current group on the mound includes seventh graders, a ninth grader and a couple of sophomores, and the challenge is basic but unforgiving: throw strikes and stay steady enough for the defense to back them up. With the MSHSL baseball section-tournament deadline set for June 5, the Mariners will spend the next several weeks trying to turn inexperience into something more reliable before the schedule tightens.

Wallin’s staff has also changed in a way that fits the program’s future. Assistants Mark Small and Riley Tiboni, both Silver Bay alumni and former Wallin players, have joined the dugout and brought new energy. Wallin said they understand his style and have helped recharge the coaching staff as well.

Senior outfielder Jack Virginia, one of the team’s few upperclassmen, has become the kind of example younger players can follow. He is juggling baseball, theater and an EMT certification while serving as captain, a combination that gives Silver Bay a rare veteran presence on a roster built mostly around players who are still learning what varsity baseball asks of them. Last year’s 14-player roster had already been described as an all-time low, and the Mariners finished 6-11 in 2024 after a section run that included a 12-10 win over Deer River before losses to South Ridge and Chisholm. This spring’s roster does not just reflect a rebuilding year. It is the next stage of a program trying to turn small-school adversity into a stronger Silver Bay team in the seasons ahead.