Joe Sperry looking for a new home after decommitting from Winthrop University (2024)

ROCHESTER — Due to a coaching change at Winthrop University, Joe Sperry has had a change of heart.

Sperry, a 2022 Lourdes grad, has spent the last two seasons as a standout for the University of South Carolina Lancaster junior college baseball team. He had planned to play at Division I Winthrop starting this fall, but decided to decommit when the head coach was fired following the 2024 season.

“I don’t know who the (new) coach is going to be,” Sperry said. “The staff that recruited me to go there, or at least the coach, isn’t there anymore. So I think I should just find a new relationship with a coach at a different school. I had the option to do that so I chose to do that.”

Sperry had to get a release from Winthrop after signing a letter of intent before he could begin the recruitment process again.

“They gave me an opportunity to be successful, and I’m grateful for that,” he said.

The right-handed hitting and throwing Sperry was a two-way player at Lancaster. He had a monster hitting season this year as a sophom*ore. He batted .398 with a lofty 1.264 OPS. He smashed 20 home runs, had 16 doubles, scored 56 runs and had a whopping 84 RBIs in just 54 games.

On the mound, the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder went 3-4 with a 6.67 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 54 innings. His fastball topped out at 93 miles per hour and was regularly in the 88-92 range.

He has already had some preliminary talks with coaches at other Division I schools, but is still early in the process. He would like to make his decision as soon as possible, but doesn’t want to rush it.

“There could be a lot coming up here soon,” he said. “When you reopen your recruitment, it’s just crazy for the first couple of days. You don’t know who’s going to be talking to you or who’s interested.”

Sperry is done with the school year and has returned home. He is training at The Yard Sports Training facility in Rochester. He is taking a little break from baseball but will play with the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League beginning July 3.

“That’s still the same plan for the summer,” he said. “But who knows, I might have to take some time off with the Honkers in order to visit a school or something. But I’m sure they’ll understand that. But hopefully, I’ll find a new home by then.”

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Four area seniors have been selected to play in the Minnesota High School All-Star Baseball Series. The event will be held June 20-22 at Chaska Athletic Park.

The event will feature six teams and each team will play a pair of games.

Local seniors who will participate for the South squad include Isaiah Brennan of Byron, Preston Ohm of Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Reid Hartmann of Red Wing and Isaac Nelsen of Lyle/Austin Pacelli.

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Rochester Community and Technical College had six baseball players named MCAC South All-Division for the 2024 spring season.

The Yellowjackets finished the season 29-17 and were one of the final four teams in the North Plains District Tournament. Yellowjackets coach Clark Jones was named the South Division Coach of the Year for guiding RCTC to a division title and a 14-2 record.

Named to the first team were infielder Griffin Olson of Viroqua, Wis., catcher Augusto Mungarrieta of Valencia-Carabobo, Venezuela, and outfielder Luis Rodriguez of Coamo, Puerto Rico.

Rees Campanale of Orlanda, Fla., was named to the second team as a pitcher and the third team as a designated hitter. Others named to the third team were pitcher Jerry Santiago Jr. of Coamo, Puerto Rico, and outfielder Ramon Teran of Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

Guy N. Limbeck is a sports writer for the Post Bulletin. His Local Notebook appears each Tuesday. He can be reached at glimbeck@postbulletin.com .

Guy N. Limbeck is a Rochester native who has been working at a daily newspaper since 1981. He has worked at the Post Bulletin since 1999. Readers can reach Guy at 507-285-7724 or glimbeck@postbulletin.com.