Mustang triple threat Rogers is Star-Trib’s metro player of year

BY BRUCE STRAND SPORTS WRITER

Drew Rogers, Mounds View junior catcher, slugger and pitcher, has been named Metro Player of the Year by the Star-Tribune — the same honor conferred on his brother Will Rogers two years ago.

Rogers, already committed to Georgia Tech, has hit .433 over the last two seasons in a very strong conference, the Suburban East. This season, the 6-foot, 220-pound athlete had nine homers heading into the state tournament.

Defensively, Rogers is “known as an outstanding signal-caller and he wields a live arm,” the Star-Tribune article stated. Rogers has thrown out 11 baserunners this year. His “pop” time is excellent, meaning the seconds lapsed between the ball hitting his mitt and arriving at the base he’s throwing to, his being less than two seconds. Rogers also turned in some excellent pitching performances in big games. “I don’t consider myself a pitcher,” he told the Star-Tribune. But he throws hard and throws strikes when cast in that role.

Will Rogers, also a catcher, has played for Arizona State for two seasons.

Eighth-grader Soren Swenson posted a 19-11 record, including a state tourney win, dueling rivals as much as four years older at the No. 1 singles slot for the Mounds View tennis team. Swenson qualified for state with a runner-up finish in Section 4AA. He won his first-round state match over Becker’s Zach Bengtson 6-0, 6-2 before losing to eventual state champion Matthew Fullerton of Edina 6-0, 6-2. Swenson led a lineup that won the Suburban East title and was runner-up in the section.