The sun in North Branch, Minnesota, on that magnificent April day in 1993, was shining brightly.
At age 22, the young coach was a jacked-up combination of anxious and nervous as his first game leading a varsity high school team approached.
He slipped on a Duluth Denfeld jersey that bore the number eight, not because of any particular reason but because it was one of the only numbers left after the guys had picked theirs out.
The job at Denfeld came rather quickly and by chance as college graduation occurred in December, the Hunters were in need of a new coach and the young man was anxious for an opportunity after a few summers with Ely’s VFW and Legion teams and a student assistant stint at UMD.
Back then, West Duluth was a frequent Ely opponent in both VFW and Legion ball and the coach was excited to take over a Denfeld team with many of those players who formed the senior nucleus of that ’93 squad.
One in particular was a catcher by the name of Scott Karlen clearly one of the best players in the area at the time.
Karlen was talented with an excellent arm and could hit with the best of them. And behind the plate and off the field, he oozed leadership.
Clearly, a Denfeld team with Karlen in the lineup would be one to contend with that spring in Section 7AA, even with a rookie head coach taking the helm.
Not long after taking the job, the coach got the first of many curveballs thrown his way through a three-decades-long coaching career: a serious knee injury took Karlen out of the equation for the season at least defensively.
For that spring, Karlen would be limited to DH duties but his leadership would still prove to be invaluable, especially to the young coach learning his way.
As the coach slipped on that Denfeld jersey, Karlen was there with a smile and some joking words how it was no longer an Ely jersey. His smile was genuine, his tone strong and reassuring.
Thanks to some strong pitching that day by Sean Myhre, the Hunters won easily and that Denfeld crew put together a solid season.
An all-senior infield of Brian McCormick, Darren Hietala, Chad Hinnenkamp and Steve Todorovich was steady, Ted Wright stepped in admirably behind the plate and outfielders including Jamie Borgeson, Dan O’Leary and Dan DeSanto were solid.
Karlen’s absence on the field was felt, but his bat often made up for it and the team gained homefield advantage for the playoffs and the Hunters rallied to beat a familiar Virginia team in the opening round of the playoffs at Duluth’s cavernous Wade Stadium, before it was remodeled and renovated.
That sent Denfeld south to Cambridge and a matchup with the top-seeded Bluejackets.
Wouldn’t you know it but a two-run double by Karlen chased the Cambridge starter and Myhre was magnificent through six innings.
Denfeld led 3-0 into the seventh but Myhre tired and the Hunters had nobody to put out the fire. Cambridge rallied and won 4-3 and went on to finish a game away from the state tournament, while the Hunters and their new head coach boarded a coach bus for the ride home.
It wasn’t readily apparent at the time but that day, and that spring, were a precursor of what was to come for the coach.
Ever since, each spring has been marked by baseball season - five at Denfeld, 14 more with some memorable state tournament trips with Babbitt-Embarrass- Soudan-Tower, and then another six aiding Frank Ivancich as he guided the Timberwolves to four state tournament berths in six seasons.
Of course Legion baseball and the many tournaments here have been the focal point each summer, while springs since 2018 have shifted to the baseball team at Vermilion.
Given our location, that means weather commands as much attention as balls and strikes and springs, and more recently late winters, are taken up by following weather forecasts in any of a number of cities, even states.
After a couple of decades waiting for fields to dry in northern Minnesota and welcoming the arrival of artificial turf, first in Duluth and Proctor and more recently in Aurora, the focus has also shifted south and there have been calls, text messages and emails inquiring about field availability in baseball havens such as Des Moines, IA Marysville, KS, Mitchell SD, Mauston, WI and Wakefield, NE.
A frigid January, both here and elsewhere, was followed by a February thaw and early in the month some long-range forecasts suggested that even southern Minnesota would get some temperatures that reach well into the 50s.
That prompted a few more emails and calls and some good fortune, as Vermilion and M State-Fergus Falls came to an agreement to start baseball season in Minnesota, in February, on artificial turf on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus in Saint Peter.
As the days approached, the temperatures held, the field at Gustavus was cleared of snow and Presidents’ Day came with beautiful, sunny skies, much like that day in North Branch in 1993.
And just like that day, the coach was a combination of anxious and nervous as another season approached.
This time a new royal blue Vermilion jersey was put on, and as it has been for 34 springs, it had the number eight as the coach is notably averse to change.
The sun was shining yet the air was still a bit crisp, as it usually is every opening day each spring.
There were clipboards with scoresheets, the same as were used in 1993, and one could find sheets from each season tucked away in black binders on shelves in the Echo offices on East Chapman.
And on this day there was yet another connection to that first spring in 1993 as the Vermilion catcher was Martin Cubillan. Martin is a talented hitter from Venezuela by way of the St. Paul suburbs who was introduced to Vermilion by none other than Scott Karlen - the Denfeld leader who went on to teach and coach and now serves as a principal at Two Rivers High School in Mendota Heights.
Those Denfeld guys are 49, 50 and 51 now, while the coach is just a bit older and dealing with players from the next generation.
It’s far too early to draw any conclusions, but the 2026 Ironhawks sent a few signals that it may be a memorable spring, striking out 26 batters and walking only four in a 9-3, 2-0 sweep.
Like his old coach and former principal, Martin ripped a tworun double just like Scott Karlen did that day against Cambridge. And Louie Panichi, the red-headed pitcher from Cook who has made his mark in Ely the last four summers, was brilliant with seven strikeouts in three scoreless innings.
It was indeed an opening day full of familiarity, memories, crisp air and sunshine.
Here’s to many more.
