Griffin voted MVP as Spring Grove honors four baseball teammates

Isaac Griffin was voted the highest honor by his Spring Grove baseball teammates, one of his four team awards as four Lions were honored for their contributions during the 2021 spring season. Besides receiving the Todd Oakes Most Valuable Player award, the senior was also voted the Cy Young Best Pitcher and the Ernie Banks Best Teammate awards and received the Derek Jeter Captain honor. He had previously been named by the Southeast Conference coaches to the All-SEC team and received Honorable Mention on the Post Bulletin All-Area Team. Most impressive was Griffin being acclaimed by the state coaches association as Academic All-State, recognizing an entire high school record of academic excellence as the well as performance on the field of play.

Caleb Griffin, who had previously received Honorable Mention All-SEC, was a multiple team honoree, voted the Cal Ripken, Jr. Rookie of the Year and statistically was the Ted Williams Batting Champion. Jonah Udstuen was voted the Lou Gehrig Most Improved award while the coaches honored Jaxon Strinmoen with the Willie Mays Gold Glove award.

Spring Grove was one of only two Class A teams in Minnesota to earn the Academic Gold team award. Nine Lions earned Academic All-Conference recognition as letter winners with a GPA of 3.4 or higher: senior Isaac Griffin, junior Jonah Udstuen, all four sophomore letter winners Logan Brumm, Nathan Solberg, Caleb Griffin and Ty Cleven along with freshman Jaxon Strinmoen plus eighth graders Zach Brumm and Brandon Jahnke.
Isaac Griffin (MVP, Best Pitcher, Best Teammate, Captain Award) a senior outfielder/pitcher was the ace of the mound staff, striking out 123 batters – the third highest total in 72 seasons of Spring Grove baseball. His 1.08 earned run average (ERA) is the 10th best single season in the Lion record book. With an 8-1 win-loss record, he is one of only four pitchers to win as many as eight games in a single season. He led the 2021 Lions with 19 runs scored and shared the team lead with a slugging percentage of .391. He ranked second on the team with 14 stolen bases, one of only 16 Lions to have many that thefts in a single season.

Caleb Griffin (Rookie of the Year, Batting Champion) was voted the rookie award on a team on which everyone, except his older brother, was a varsity rookie. His 17 stolen bases tied him for sixth place on all-time single-season chart. From his lead-off position in the batting order, the sophomore led Lion batters in six categories: batting average (.344), base hits (22), stolen bases (17), walks (17) and shared the team lead in runs batted in (15) and slugging percentage (.391). Caleb was extremely versatile, seeing action in both the middle infield and outfield as well as on the mound. An injury limited his pitching appearances, but he had the second-best earned run average (3.56). Averaging almost two strikeouts per inning, Caleb struck out more than twice as many batters (34) as he walked (15) in 17 and two-thirds innings.

Udstuen (Most Improved), as a junior, started at second base throughout his first varsity season and late in the campaign, also became a relief pitcher. Strinmoen (Gold Glove) was honored for his defense while playing outfield and first base. He also worked his way into the second spot in the pitching rotation with the second-most innings on the mound. The versatile sophomore may well have made the catch of the year – an over-the-head grab while retreating from his first-base position down the right field foul line.

Isaac Griffin earned his fourth varsity letter. First-year letter winners were Udstuen, Caleb Griffin, Ezra Griffin, Solberg, Cleven, Logan Brumm, Zach Brumm, Strinmoen and Jahnke. The youngest and least-experienced team in Lion history finished with a 10-12 record (8-7 SEC, fourth place out of nine) for former Spring Grove standout and Wartburg College player Chris Strinmoen in his fifth season as Lion coach (six counting pandemic year).