ST. CLOUD — Nolan Bigaouette, Jack Hamak, Jacob Oliver and Henry Schloe know that this isn’t something you see very often.
The four seniors on the St. Cloud Cathedral baseball team all plan on playing next season for
.
“It is definitely super unique with these guys,” Hamak said. “We’ve been playing together since we were young. It is pretty amazing. Most high school teammates don’t get to do this (in college).”
Senior Nolan Bigaouette catches a strike during a game against Albany on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Mick Hatten / St. Cloud LIVE
Bigaouette, a catcher, was the first to commit.
“I know we have a really good group of guys here and we’re really talented, especially our captains,” Bigaouette said. “All of us can go play ball at the next level if we want to.
“This is such a surreal opportunity to play in the same spot in the same year.”
Scott Lieser, a former
All-American pitcher, is in his
first season as the head coach
for the Johnnies. He got the ball rolling.
“Lieser came and talked to us after a game. We went and visited and thought it was amazing,” said Schloe, a pitcher and third baseman. “One of our summer ball coaches (Jon Dold) played there. My dad (Brent) was a player there. I wanted to go there and play where he played. To be playing with these guys is going to be great and that helped me make my decision.”
Jacob Oliver, who plays shortstop and pitches, is the state’s all-time leading scorer in soccer and he plans on
playing both sports when he is in college
.
“I love both sports and I’ve been playing both my whole life,” Oliver said. “When people ask me what my favorite sport is, I’m like, ‘Whatever season we’re in.’ I’ve never had to make a significant decision on which sport I love more. I love them both.”
St. Cloud Cathedral senior Jack Hamak winds up to deliver a pitch against Albany during a baseball game on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Mick Hatten / St. Cloud LIVE
The four
talked about their unique situation after beating Albany, 7-4, in a Granite Ridge Conference game on Wednesday, April 22, at Dick Putz Field.
ended the Crusaders’ season last spring with a 4-2 win in a Section 6-2A elimination game on June 4.
This game had some twists.
Albany took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Hudson Linn and Dylan Hoffarth had back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. After Hoffarth walked, the ball got away from Bigaouette and both runners tried to advance. Linn was eventually tagged out before he got home and Linn ended up at second base. He scored on an error by Oliver.
But the Crusaders sent nine players to the plate and scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good. There were four hits, two errors, five stolen bases and a walk in the inning.
Junior Ryan Liebrenz had a one-out RBI double, sophomore Jake Murphy had a two-out, two-run double and senior Owen Fradette followed Murphy with an RBI single.
St. Cloud Cathedral junior Sam Oliver (9) takes off toward second base with Albany first baseman Wyatt Schmitz yelling that he’s running during a Granite Ridge Conference baseball game on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Mick Hatten / St. Cloud LIVE
“We got five in the bottom of the third and it started with the bottom of our older,” Oliver said. “That’s what it seems like it’s been like lately. The last two or three games, the bottom of our order has really started our offense up.
“It’s great to get production from the bottom of the order. I also think it shows how deep our team is. We can start a five-run inning with the bottom of our order and it goes to the top of our order and keeps going.”
Albany scored three runs in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 5-4. With Charlie Nolan relieving Hamak, junior Cohen Habben greeted him with a homer down the left-field line. After a one-out walk to senior Wyatt Schmitz walked and senior Carter Wesen singled. They both came home on a double to left by senior Kyle Holm.
Nolan was then relieved by Hamak, who gave up a single to senior Axton Burbeck, but them picked him off first to end the inning.
The Crusaders got a two-out RBI single from senior Nick Plante in the bottom of the fifth and a sacrifice fly by Liebrenz in the sixth to make it 7-4.
Hamak started the seventh and struck out the first two batters he faced, but hit Judah Allen with a pitch and walked Habben and Connor Plumski to load the bases.
“Hamak ran out of pitches,” Oliver said. “He did not want to come out of that game.”
He was relieved by Liebrenz, who struck out Wyatt Schmitz to end the game.
“It was a heck of a high school baseball game,” Albany coach TJ Frericks said.
“It was a fun game to play,” Hamak said. “Some of the games this year haven’t been as fun. This was up and down. We got a little complacent with our lead and they battled back, which Albany always does. It was a great atmosphere and a fun game to be a part of.”
St. Cloud Cathedral junior Samuel Oliver makes contact with a pitch during a game against Albany on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Mick Hatten / St. Cloud LIVE
With the win, the Crusaders improved to 6-0. Cathedral is ranked No. 2 in Class 2A in the latest state coaches poll.
“After last year, we were 20-3 and that ending left a sour taste in our mouths,” Schloe said. “We wanted to do better than that to end the year. We lost a 1-0 game to Pierz and lost to Albany. Our season was over just like that. It was kind of a slap in the face.
“We came out different this year. We’ve worked, pitched well, played defense well and put up runs. A 6-0 start is the best you can have.”
With the loss, Albany lost their fourth straight to drop to 2-4 under Frericks, who is in his
first season as the team’s head coach.
While he was disappointed with the loss, he also found some positives.
Albany senior Kyle Holm delivers a pitch in a Granite Ridge Conference baseball game against St. Cloud Cathedral on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Mick Hatten / St. Cloud LIVE
“I feel like our last couple games, we’ve beat ourselves,” Frericks said. “We’ve either had errors, base-running miscues, blown leads late.
“This was just a good, old-fashioned high school baseball game and they beat us.”
Albany has also played all six of its games on the road.
“We haven’t been fortunate with that,” Frericks said. “I like where we’re at. We’re competing and had leads in five of our six games in the fifth inning or later. We’ve had a chance to win every game we’ve been in. Right now, you’re just building toward getting better every day, which I see our boys doing that. We’re gearing up for late May and early June.”
Albany has moved up to Class 3A this season. So the win for the Crusaders had a little more depth.
“This was a great win,” Bigaouette said. “Albany has always been such a rival to us. They moved up to 3A, it’s even bigger for us. They were always a big team in our section, they’re always going to be good and they have good coaching. They graduated a lot of guys last year.
“This game was huge for us, QRF wise, and for team morale. It boosts the team’s confidence knowing that we can play with good 3A teams like this. They just beat Pierz and Pierz is going to be a contender in our section. They beat Sartell earlier this year and Sartell has a really good team.”
Oliver, the team’s leadoff hitter, went 3-for-4 with four stolen bases and two runs scored. Hamak ended up throwing six innings, giving up four hits and one unearned run. He struck out seven and walked four.
Holm was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI and took the loss. He gave up six hits and five runs (four earned) with no strikeouts and one walk.
The Huskies play Milaca at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 24, in Avon. Cathedral plays Pequot Lakes at 7 p.m. Friday at Putz.
St. Cloud Cathedral’s Jacob Oliver (12) tries to steal second base with Albany shortstop Cohen Habben waiting for the throw and Huskies second baseman Axton Orbeck looking on during a Granite Ridge Conference baseball game on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud.
Mick Hatten / St. Cloud LIVE