Former Perham star returns to coach as Buzz sweep Detroit Lakes

Ben Shumansky’s return to Perham landed in the middle of a strong showing at the plate, as the Buzz swept Detroit Lakes Post 15 and piled up 19 hits across two games. The former Yellowjacket was back on the bench helping guide a team that kept swinging with authority and gave the home program another summer win to point to.

Shumansky is a 2023 graduate of Perham High School and now plays at Concordia-Moorhead, where the roster lists him as a sophomore infielder from Perham, majoring in exercise science. Recruiting profiles list him at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, a right-handed hitter and thrower who has worked at first base and catcher, the kind of multi-position background that fits a player who has already spent time with both the Perham Buzz and Perham Sting.

That experience showed up again in the sweep of Detroit Lakes, where Perham’s offense did enough damage over two games to control the series from start to finish. The 19-hit output underscored the depth in the Buzz lineup, and Shumansky’s presence gave the club a direct line to one of its recent standouts. In a town where baseball is part of the summer calendar, a former star returning in a coaching role adds a layer of continuity that goes beyond the box score.

Shumansky also brought a track record that Perham fans already know well. In 2023, the Buzz beat second-seeded Moorhead 11-1 in a Sub-State 14 Legion game with 15 hits, and Shumansky went 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. That kind of production helped establish him as one of the better recent examples of Perham’s player development pipeline, from local youth baseball into the high school program and then onto the Legion level.

The broader context matters in Perham, where baseball success tends to spill across seasons. The Perham High School Yellowjackets reached the state tournament for the fourth straight year in June 2026 after winning the Section 8AA title, while the Buzz’s recent postseason history includes a 2025 Sub-State Tournament run that ended against Bemidji. Minnesota American Legion Baseball has been part of the state since 1925, and in Perham that tradition still runs through familiar names, local uniforms and players who come back to help shape the next group coming through.