Minnesota— Not every breakout comes with a bang. Sometimes, it comes quietly—under a gray Duluth sky, with a long exhale on the mound and the weight of years behind a windup.

For Owen Marsolek, the moment the game slowed down didn’t come in the form of a radar gun reading or a curtain-call double. It arrived more subtly. It came when anger stopped driving him. When the game shifted from something to conquer to something to command.

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Listen to the full interview with Owen Marsolek on Ducks on the Pond Podcast:

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The senior from The Marshall School just wrapped a season most prep players only dream about. He slashed .474 with a 1.053 OPS, went 8-1 on the mound, and struck out 139 hitters in 75.2 innings—against just 17 walks. Those are video game numbers, but ask Marsolek how he got there, and he won’t bring up spin rates or advanced metrics.

“I would attribute my success to all the guys that came before me,” he said. “They let me know what high school is all about. In eighth grade, I was learning from guys like Cale Haugen that really wanted to play college baseball and aspired to do that as he did.”

Haugen—Prep Baseball Minnesota’s 2023 Player of the Year from Esko—was the blueprint. And Marsolek, who watched him up close as a middle-schooler, absorbed the lessons. The habits. The presence. Now, he’s that guy for the next wave.

“It’s less about me going to give them stuff,” Marsolek said of working with the younger players on his team. “It's more about creating an environment where it's easy to ask questions… nobody’s going to hide any secrets. If you want to be a good ballplayer, you go ask the guys that have done it for a long time.”

That’s not lip service. The Hilltoppers, like many small-school programs, mix eighth graders and seniors in the same dugout. That proximity can fast-track growth—or leave gaps if leadership is absent. With Marsolek, leadership wasn’t a question.

“He's been our guy since eighth grade,” head coach Nick Garramone said. “That alone is really uncommon. Usually guys don’t hit the stage until their sophomore or junior year if they’re lucky. What really impressed me with him at a young age was his work ethic.”

Still, raw work ethic doesn’t guarantee emotional maturity—especially on the mound. Marsolek had to earn that part.

“I remember back when he was a freshman at the state tournament,” Garramone said. “We’re playing Roseau. I call the pitch out of the zone on an 0-2 count. He flipped a little bit emotionally... But this year? He’s very, very, very poised.”

That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. It happens with intention. With reps. With reflection. And with a deep sense of what comes next.

Owen Marsolek (@WKU_Baseball commit) showing pitch-ability for Duluth Marshall on a chilly morning.

Attacking with his fastball at 84-87. Mixing in a breaking ball in the low 70s. Flashed a changeup at 78-80.@MarsolekOwen | @MarshallToppers | #BaseballDayMN25 pic.twitter.com/onl9U319QH

— Prep Baseball Minnesota (@PrepBaseballMN) May 17, 2025

Andy Judkins, Prep Baseball Minnesota’s State Director, was one of the first to see the ceiling.

“From the moment we first saw Owen at a Rising Stars event, his trajectory was clear,” Judkins said. “That initial glimpse of his talent led to a Junior Future Games invite, followed by a Future Games nod... What’s unfolded since has been a steady rise built on work, development, and maturity.”

This summer, Marsolek is pitching for the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League—a proving ground where prep dominance meets college-level grind. In his debut outing, he walked his first two hitters, then struck out the next. A single loaded the bases. And then? Two more strikeouts. A meltdown narrowly avoided—not with stuff, but with presence.

That’s the difference.

“I think that I need to put on some weight,” Marsolek said when asked what comes next. “I still look like a high schooler, honestly... getting in the weight room and putting on some weight will hopefully grow my velocity on my fastball and just keep healthy, day in and day out.”

The goals are clear. So is the process.

For a kid who once pitched with fire, Marsolek now pitches with purpose. And in a baseball culture that values the quiet work, the mentorship, and the ability to hand the torch, that might be the most important stat line of all.

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PAST PREP BASEBALL MINNESOTA PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

+ 2024: Tyler Guerin, RHP/1B, Mounds View
+ 2023: Cale Haugen, SS/RHP, Esko
+ 2022: Kristofer Hokenson, OF/LHP, St. Louis Park
+ 2021: Josh Kingery, LHP/OF, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
+ 2019: Drew Gilbert, LHP/OF, Stillwater
+ 2018: Seth Halvorsen, RHP/SS, Heritage Christian Academy