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All-State baseball selection is 'nice' to hear for Max Whitman

Jun. 6—CARRINGTON — On Tuesday, Carrington's All-State baseball player, Max Whitman, was out on the water when his phone buzzed.

"I was actually out fishing when the teams got announced and my football coach texted me congratulations and I didn't know what he was texting me for," Whitman said. "Then one of my friends texted me congratulations and I asked him why everyone was saying that."

Whitman, a senior out of Carrington, was named to the All-State, Second-Team Class B Baseball roster on Tuesday.

"My friend sent me a screenshot of the team," Whitman said. "I was pretty surprised honestly because I had a pretty bad slump midway through the season so I didn't think I was going to make it because of that.

"I think the problem was that I started golfing and I started bringing my golf swing to baseball," he said. "I wasn't making as good as contact as I wanted to. Even though, I would consider it a slump, I still had like a hit per game. It just wasn't where I knew I could be at. I think I started the year and ended it good enough that I could make the team. ... I wasn't exactly jumping for joy when I heard but it felt good to hear. Thank you everyone for the selection."

Like many Class B athletes, sports found Whitman at an early age.

"When I was really little, I had a little plastic bat and my mom and my grandpa would pitch to me and I guess I was able to make contact with it when I was like 1. I guess I've always just played — even before I could really remember."

Whitman was a four-sport athlete for the Cardinals, playing football, hockey, baseball and golf. The senior has been playing varsity ball for the Cardinals since his freshman year. While he mainly catches for the Cardinals, he has also been seen at shortstop and on the mound.

"I like catching because I like seeing the whole field and I like to be in control of the pitches and what is coming, I like touching the ball a lot too — that's fun," Whitman said.

Whitman was one of three seniors on Carrington's roster this spring. There were only three other high school athletes on the roster, sophomore Jameson Kutz and juniors Taylen Mehring and Charles Jorgensen on the team. The rest of the team was comprised of middle school athletes.

"There was a lot of learning that had to be done there," Whitman said. "We had to step into a bigger leadership role but it was fun. The guys were all ready and excited to learn and they were all coachable. They made it easy on us in that way — obviously they still have a long way to go but they are going to be really good in a few years."

In the regular season, Carrington had two wins but the tides turned in the Region 3 Tournament — after the first game.

"The first day, we lost 20-0 the first day to Valley City," Whitman said. "It was double-elimination and so the next day we beat New Rockford and then we had to play Valley City that same day. We beat them so we sent them home after they beat us 20-0 the day before.

"Nobody thought we were making it to the third day — we didn't even think we would get a third game but we ended up beating two teams that pretty much smoked us during the year," he said. "We started finally playing how we could play at the same time. There was a lot more energy in the dugouts too. Everybody was in a better mood. I think that helped a lot too."

Carrington's season ended on May 20 in the semifinal game against South Border. The Mustangs beat the Cardinals 5-1.

Whitman will be playing American Legion baseball with Carrington this summer before he heads to the University of North Dakota this fall.

"Hitting is probably my favorite part of baseball so I am probably going to miss that the most but I'll miss just spending time with the guys," Whitman said. "Everybody's my friend around here so I am going to miss them a lot."

2026 Class B Baseball All-State Team

First Team

Collin Abernathey, Des Lacs-Burlington

Dex Avdem, Thompson

Justin Bosch, Shiloh Christian

Kaden Bristol, Bottineau

Berkley Frantz, South Border

Chase Haffely, Hillsboro/Central Valley

Chris Hoiland, Northern Cass

Fisher Johnson, Kindred

Cooper Kittleson, Velva/Drake-Anamoose

Jaxon Omdahl, Park River Area