He’s played in a state title game and the Junior College World Series, but Brian Voigt isn’t done yet.

Before he’s done with his baseball career, Voigt, who is playing for the Blue Sox this fall and will play for Riverland Community College as a sophomore next spring, would like to play for a four year school (he’s gotten a couple of calls from schools) and he’d like to keep winning.

“I don’t think Brian has ever been on a losing team,” said RCC head coach Scott Koenigs. “It doesn’t matter what he’s doing, he’s there to compete and you love that about him.”

First things first

The first goal for Voigt is to help get the Austin Blue Sox advance in the postseason. The Blue Sox (20-5 overall), who took second in the state amateur baseball tournament two years ago, are the top seed in Section 2B and open up the playoffs Wednesday at Marcusen Park.

“You always want to win so if we can win the title that would be pretty fun,” said Voigt, who graduated from Southland High School in 2008. “(Amateur baseball) is a little different (than college) with the wood bat. At the college level there’s more constant good pitching, but there might be better overall pitchers in amateurs.”

Voigt has hit .315 with one homer, four doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs, and 12 runs for the Blue Sox, while going 1-0 on the mound with a 0.60 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 15 innings.

Blue Sox manager Josh Kunze hopes Voigt can pick up his hitting to fill up the five-spot in Austin’s lineup. The Blue Sox are looking for someone to protect slugger Dan Swift in the lineup and Voigt could be that guy.

“Sometimes Brian doesn’t seem to hit mediocre pitching that well, but when there’s a guy who throws good, he seems to hit better,” Kunze said. “The pitching only gets better from here on out (in the tournament) so he should be a big key for us.”

Kunze said Voigt made the transition from short stop to third base very smooth for the Blue Sox. The team needed his defense after the retirement of Jason Denzer and loss of Sean Breslin, who moved away.

“He’s got a lot of range, a strong arm and he’s fast,” Kunze said. “He’s been an absolute sure hand out there. He seems to always make the play in the big situation.”

Voigt wasn’t too worried about the switch.

“It takes about one inning to get used to it, after that it’s like riding a bike,” he said.

Getting a lift

Voigt had been slumping for the Blue Sox a couple of weeks ago, but after a trip to Europe to play for Team USA International, he came back hitting well and had two extra base hits in a 5-3 win over the Greyhounds.

Voigt was selected to play on the team, which was made up of about a dozen American players coming from places like South Dakota to Texas, to Hawaii. His team went 3-1 in a tournament in Rouen, France and took second place. They beat Belgium, France and Canada before losing to Germany in the finals.

Voigt learned how big baseball was overseas as he was in Europe for nine days.

“It was fun, but it was different,” he said. “American baseball players are treated as a God over there until you prove you’re not.”

He would’ve never been able to go on the trip if it wasn’t for the Southland area giving him a boost. Voigt collected $4,000 for the trip by gathering donations and a few personal loans from a lot of small businesses in the Adams area.

“Baseball is big in Southland. They’ve had a lot of recent success and they should be good again next year,” said Koenigs who lives in Rose Creek and is Voigt’s uncle. “The community is strong and when something happens for somebody they get together and support them. A lot of businesses stepped up for Brian in tough economic times.”

An already strong resume

Besides being a strong individual player, Voigt has played on some quality teams as well. He was a short stop and starting pitcher on the Southland Rebels team that took second in the state tournament in 2008, and he was a short stop for the Riverland team that won the state tournament and went to the Junior College World Series this past spring.

Voigt enjoyed his time at Southland, but leans towards his run at Riverland, which won 19 of 20 games to get to the World Series, as a more memorable time.

“The state tournament (with Southland) was fun,” he said. “It was the first time in school history, but the world series definitely has to beat it because it’s a higher level. It was a different group of guys in the first year together and we kind of ran the table until we went down there.”

Voigt was 5-0 on the mound in 34 innings for RCC with a 0.529 ERA and 24 strikeouts. He hit .386 (.507 on-base percentage) with one homer, 10 doubles, two triples, 21 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

“Brian was kind of a follower on that team because we already had a lot of strong leaders in place,” Koenigs said. “Next year we’re looking for him to be more of a leader.”

Voigt said the Blue Devils got a long well from the get-go, as four were from Southland and six were from Rapid City.

“We were close before school started and once school hit we got real close. Chemistry helps a lot in baseball,” he said.

Getting better

While Voigt has grown a lot in the last two years, he knows he needs to get better to move up to the next level.

“You learn every day,” he said. “You pick up something different from other players and you put it all together.”

Specifically, Koenigs said Voigt needs to hit the weights and work on his swing.

“He has a little bit of a hole in his swing when he’s looking to knock everything out of the park,” Koenigs said. “But he realizes the degree of difficulty is going to get tougher and he understands he needs to put in time in the batting cage and he needs to get stronger.”

On the mound, Voigt is effective with a fast ball in the mid-80s.

“He’s pretty consistent with his speed, but he could get a little faster with another year of lifting,” Koenigs said. “He challenges people and he’s so athletic. He moves the ball around a lot and when he hits his spots, he’s successful.”

While Voigt hasn’t pitched much this summer, it’s hard for a kid who started playing baseball when he learned to walk to stay away from throwing.

“I live with other baseball players and we still play catch every day at the house,” he said. “We get pretty bored with four guys living there, so we stay in tune.”

MOVING UP IN THE RANKS

Last year’s Riverland baseball team, which won its first state title in nearly 40 years and went on to the Junior College World Series, produced six players who went on to sign at least partial scholarships at four-year schools to play baseball.

“They all got good packages and Brian Voigt could very well be a scholarship type of player as well if he continues to work hard,” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said.

The following Blue Devils will continue their baseball careers next season at the college level

— Brady Banse, a pitcher from Forest Lake, signed with Division II Nebraska-Omaha. Banse was 7-3 with a 3.23 ERA for Riverland last season.

— Brandon Huhn, a pitcher from Appleton West, signed with Division II St. Cloud State. Huhn was 5-2 with a 2.74 ERA while hitting .372 with six homers 14 doubles and 37 RBIs last year. Huhn is RCC’s all time home run leader with 14 career blasts. Huhn was selected as a third-team All-American.

— Zach Vlietstra, a pitcher and outfielder from Rapid City, S.D., signed with Division II Nebraska/Omaha. Vlietstra was 2-0 with a 2.74 ERA while hitting .340 with five homers, 10 doubles, two triples and 21 RBIs. Vlietstra was 32-for-34 on steals last season, a Riverland record.

— Kyle Starkey, an outfielder from Rapid City, signed with NAIA school Dakota State, which is in Madison S.D. Starkey hit .471 with one home run, 14 doubles and 43 RBIs for RCC. Starkey was selected as a first team All-American.

— Andy Behnke, an outfielder from Marshall, Minn. signed with NAIA school Viterbo, which is in La Crosse, Wis. Behnke hit .359 with four homers, 13 doubles, an RCC record seven triples, and 47 RBIs last season.

— Chris Lindemann, a second baseman from Rapid City, signed with Viterbo. Lindemann hit .364 with six home runs, 10 doubles, one triple and 31 RBIs for RCC last spring.