Article

MSU baseball becoming a wellspring of second-generation players
By Brian Ojanpa
The Free Press
MANKATO —

Minnesota State baseball coach Dean Bowyer’s roster resounds in deja vu these days.

In other words, he could be excused for calling Dan Woodall “Larry,” Jay Bresnahan “Bob,” and so on down the lineup.

Of the 12 new faces Bowyer greeted for fall practice, four are second-generation players whose fathers played for the 61-year-old coach, who speaks of his longevity at MSU with self-deprecating humor.

“We were on the bus going to the regional tournament four years ago when I added the combined age of three freshman — and realized it still wouldn’t equal my age,” Bowyer says.

Bowyer, who began coaching at MSU in 1977, says he had his first second-generation player five years ago. And as he ticks off the names of former players whose sons are now starring in high school, it becomes clear that these two-for-one deals figure to continue.

Little did Bowyer know back in the day that when he was recruiting someone’s son, he was also getting a leg up on recruiting that son’s son.

Such as Larry Woodall’s offspring, Dan.

Blue Earth native Larry Woodall (1976-80) pitched in the Baltimore Orioles organization following his MSU career.

Dan Woodall, a catcher/infielder, was recruited hard by Bowyer out of high school in North Carolina, but opted to cast his lot with University of North Carolina-Charlotte, an NCAA Division I school.

Much to his regret.

“I was caught up in the Division I hype and everything, but it wasn’t all it was made out to be, so I said, ‘I’m gonna get out of here,’” Woodall says.

And when it came to choosing another baseball program, Woodall says MSU’s was the only one he considered.

Edina High grad Jay Bresnahan, whose MSU alum father Bob (1978-82) played in the Minnesota Twins organization, says he also wanted to play at a Division I program and visited campuses as far away as Louisville, Ky.

“To be honest, MSU wasn’t my first choice. I had thoughts of playing somewhere else,” Bresnahan says. “But ‘7’ (Bowyer’s uniform number/nickname) and my dad go back a long ways, and I realized I had this in my own back yard. My family only lives 45 minutes away.”

Bresnahan said that despite his father’s ties with the MSU program, he didn’t try to steer his son one way or another.

“He just flat-out told me, ‘You can play college ball. Where do you want to play?’”

And when Bresnahan solicited his father about Bowyer, the elder Bresnahan extolled Bowyer’s skills — teaching and otherwise.

“My dad said. ‘You’re not going to find anybody better who knows how to hit a fungo.’”

Bowyer says accruing second-generation players comes with a built-in warranty of sorts.

“I know exactly what I’m getting — a good bloodline.”