Young local stars, core veterans highlight Rochester Royals roster for 2026 season – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — The Rochester Royals are gearing up for another season of amateur baseball in Minnesota.

The 2026 season begins Friday, May 22, as the team takes on Owatonna in its home opener at 7:30 p.m. at Mayo Field.

The Royals finished 17-13 (6-8 in Section 1) last season after falling to Air Freight Unlimited in the first round of the Class A Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Tournament. The Royals are no strangers to state, with five appearances in the past seven years, most recently in 2024 and 2025. They were crowned Class B state champions in 2022.

“Last year, we maybe didn’t have the best regular season, but we performed well in the playoffs, so we ended up going to state and then we faced a tough opponent,” Royals manager Logan Milene said.

The Royals are excited by the prospect of extending that state streak this summer. With a roster of mostly returners and some newcomers, they have high hopes and expect offense and versatility to be the team’s main strengths.

“There’ll be quite a bit of turnover this year, but we also have a good core group of guys from last year that are coming back, that are still in college or just graduating college, so it’s always good to have those core guys that show up consistently,” Milene said. “The younger guys are nice to have around because they’re in college or just graduating high school, so they’ve had the practice reps, they’ve had the consistent game reps.”

First-year players include Kasson-Mantorville senior and soon-to-be Butler University pitcher Grady Babcock, as well as Plainview-Elgin-Millville senior Elias Walch, an Iowa Central Community College commit.

Century grad and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire pitcher Harrison Esau, 20, and Mayo grad and Iowa Lakes Community College infielder Spencer Kober, 20, are both entering their third seasons with the Royals.

Esau just finished his sophomore baseball campaign. He said the Blugolds had a successful season, but his opportunities on the mound were more limited this spring compared to last, making him even more excited to return to the field in his hometown.

“It’s a really tight group of guys, so I’m just excited to get back to playing ball with all my good buddies again,” Esau said. “We’re really close, so it was a lot of fun last summer, and I think the success we had the second half of the year is gonna carry into this summer, and it’s going to be a fun year.”

For Kober and Iowa Lakes CC baseball, this season began in tragedy when a rollover bus crash resulted in the death of a player and injured many more back in February. Despite the heartbreak, the team was able to play its conference schedule and set several offensive records, as well as the record for conference wins in a year. Head coach Chris Witzke was also named the ICCAC Division II Coach of the Year.

“It started off pretty brutal, but then we definitely ended on a high note,” Kober said.

After a difficult spring, Kober, who was the commencement speaker at his graduation on May 15, is looking forward to this summer with the Royals as he searches for a school to continue his baseball career next season.

“Just like last year, I’m just here to play baseball and have fun,” Kober said. “I’m really just trying to have a good time out here, get a bunch of (at-bats) leading into the college season next year, wherever it is I do decide to go.”

After the way things ended last year, the Royals are hoping for another shot at Air Freight.

“We were really young last year, and this year we got a lot of young guys coming back that have good experience that I think will contribute quite a bit more this summer,” Esau said. “I think our ceiling is quite a bit higher this summer compared to last.”

Also of note is that this could potentially be the final season of Royals baseball at Mayo Field, which is also home to the Rochester Honkers. The fate of the field is currently in limbo after Honkers’ team president and co-owner Chris Goodell recently confirmed this will be

his team’s final summer playing at the stadium.

“I’m not really sure at all what they’re going to do with Mayo Field, if they’re just going to keep it open to the public, even though the Honkers aren’t playing there,” Milene said. “I know that we love calling that place home and we love playing there. So as long as it’s there, as long as it’s available, we are going to continue to play there.

“I hope it stays up business as usual, but I understand that that might not be the reality of the situation. But until somebody makes a decision on that, we’re just going to play there and enjoy every game we have left there.”