Player Profile: Ben Wahlen

With the end of the 2017 regular season for baseball last night, May 22nd, Ben Wahlen, senior, is focusing on making the most out of his time as a Royal.

Wahlen, captain, has been a key player for the Royals on the mound, in the field, and at the plate. He has thrown 264 strikes this year and managed to strike out 21 batters while being part of the highly competitive Lake conference.

“Ben helps out the team as a pitcher by adding another arm to our small pitching staff. We don’t have a ton of options at pitcher, so it’s good to get any arms we can,” said Morgan Holmes, senior, catcher.

At the plate, Wahlen has a batting average of .349, to go along with 15 hits on the season, 3 of them being doubles. He also uses his speed to his advantage as a base runner, tying with Wyatt Nelson, sophomore for the most stolen bases on the team at six.

After this season comes to an end for the Royals, Wahlen will be playing baseball at the collegiate level for the Des Moines Area Community College Bears (DMACC). Holmes will also him join him at DMACC

“I chose DMACC because I really liked the coaching staff and their number placements into Division I programs,” Wahlen said.

The Royals are hoping for the second seed in their section, and hope to make it to the final, where Wayzata will most likely be waiting for them.

“The ultimate goal for the remainder of the season is to make it to State and win,” Wahlen said.