MENOMONIE – The Menomonie Eagles baseball team returns to Wakanda Park this summer with a full slate of games. The 2024 Eagles played a limited schedule after not playing during the 2023 season.

The team, which traditionally features a blend of local baseball talent and UW-Stout baseball players, has a rich history that began in 1937 as the Lakeview Eagles, a history that includes four state championships.

More about the 2025 Menomonie Eagles will come closer to the season opener near the end of May.

The Lakeview Eagles began as an under-17 program, posting a three-year record of 46-14 before joining the Junior Legion circuit in 1940 as the Menomonie Eagles. World War II ended play for the Eagles for the 1943 season. The team came back together after the war, starting up in 1946 as the Lakeside Aluminum Company Eagles through 1948, again posting a strong 42-17 season during the three-year run. The Eagles won their first Dunn County League title in 1946, defeating the Wakanda Braves.

Willard Hardy managed the team from 1937-47. Maurice Michelbook, the assistant team manager in in 1941-42, took over the reins of the Eagles in 1946, running the team through the 1954 season. Michelbook coached the team to their first state title, winning the Wisconsin Amateur Baseball Association (WABA) title in 1950. The 1952 squad went undefeated through the regular season, looking forward to a second WABA title, but dropped two extra-inning contests in the tournament, coming up short.

After Michelbook stepped down as manager in 1954, the Eagles would put up only one double-digit win season from 1955 through 1964, a year that would prove to be the Eagles’ last until the program was revitalized again in 1986.

Mark Thomas, a Spring Valley native who would come to Menomonie to build the UW-Stout women’s basketball into a national power, took over the Eagles. Following a shaky three-year start, the Eagles hit their stride in 1989, posting a 30-19 overall record and captured the WBA title for the first time since 1950. The 1990 squad finished with a 24-10 overall record and won the Class A National Baseball Congress Championship.

In 1993, Luke Welch joined the team as a player and took over the player/manager role in 1996. Welch, a Menomonie and UW-Stout graduate, would play with the Eagles for 25 years and served as manager for 22 years, stepping down in 2018. Former Stout player Tyler Hamman coached the team until 2021. Dane Helnore coached the team in 2022. Cooper Bruha revived the team in 2024 and Ryan Sisko will lead the team in 2025.

The Eagles won the 2012 state WBA title, a year that marked 75 years since the Eagles started play. The team’s regular season record of 18-10-1 was good, but not great. The Eagles showed flashes of brilliance during the season, defeating the Eau Claire Cavaliers, 7-3, in July, then handed the defending state champion River Falls Fighting Fish their first league loss, 8-4. The Eagles had flashed a five-game winning streak in June, but saved their best for last, ending the season on a six-game winning streak, including the WBA title.

Menomonie defeated three St. Croix Valley Baseball League teams in the state tournament, including a come-from-behind win over the Prescott Pirates in the state championship game.

The Eagles returned to the state tournament in 2013 and 2017. Over the years, the Eagles have benefited by support from the community.