The two-time Duluth News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year stays local
Duluth, Minn.- Second time is the charm! The Duluth Huskies have once again signed former Marshall High School ace pitcher, Ben Pedersen. Pedersen, as you may recall, signed with the Huskies for the 2020 season before it was canceled by the Covid-19 pandemic. A 2019 MLB 38th Round selection by the Baltimore Orioles, the right-handed pitcher was a vital member of the 2019 Minnesota State Championship team for Marshall High School. As a senior, Ben paired an 11-0 record with an ERA of 1.34; a feat that helped propel his team to bring in Duluth’s first state title in nearly 70 years.
Per the Mizzou Tigers official roster, Pedersen joined the program as a top 500 recruit in the nation-number six (6) overall in the state of Minnesota. He chose Mizzou over Wake Forest, Minnesota, Iowa, and Southern Mississippi. With professional baseball in mind, Ben says he is looking forward to the rigorous schedule of the Huskies. “I’m really looking forward to the packed schedule of the Northwoods League,” he remarked. “Everyone says this is as close to a professional schedule as you an get at an amateur level, so I want to see how I respond to that.” After drafting him, the Baltimore Orioles tried to convince Ben to break his commitment to the University of Missouri, but he chose to honor his commitment to the Tigers-a sign of the type of high-quality character he has shown at the high school and college level.
Appearing in three games as a freshman with the Tigers in a shortened college season, left-handed hitters failed to register a hit against Pedersen (0-8), and he limited all opposing hitters to a .174 batting average over 7.1 innings pitched, per his official roster bio. How did Ben stay laser-focused on getting better in an unusual year? “I trained at a gym called P3 in St Louis that helped me develop as a pitcher over the summer,” he said. “With this, we were partnered with a summer league out of O’Fallon Missouri that allowed our pitchers to train for six days and then use one day to throw live in that league. This allowed me to really make the most out of training while still getting some in-game experience.” A fun fact about Ben? His grandfather played football for the 1960 Minnesota Golden Gophers National Championship team.
Minnesota sporting excellence, it appears, runs in the family! Welcome to the Duluth Huskies, Ben!
To stay the most up-to-date on all things Duluth Huskies Baseball email them duluthhuskies@gmail.com and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the official Duluth Huskies Website, duluthuskies.com.
###
The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
