Southern Minny Stars

The Southern Minny Stars joined the Prairie League in 1996, representing Austin, MN; managed by Greg Olson the club went 17-16 inb the first half but fell to a division-worst 17-29 in the second half. They drew 31,548 fams (4th in the 11-team league). Chad Wiesner (5-5, 2.99) had the top ERA on the team while Sean McKamie (.355, 61 R) was fourth in the circuit in batting average.

The Stars were much better in 1997. Managed by Kevin Graber, they won the the first-half southern division title (21-14) and finished second in the second half (21-10) before falling to the Minot Mallards in the playoffs. Attendance was 20,868, sixth of eight teams. The top pitchers were Juan Berenguer (8-3, 3.09, third in the league in ERA) and Justin Fletschock (9-2, 3.19, 4th in ERA). McKamie (.314), Dario Green (.318, 29 SB) and Dwayne Gerald (.318, .539 slugging) paced the offense. 2B Doug Kimbler made the All-Star team while Graber was voted the league's manager of the year.