The Litchfield Dragons have officially awakened, and the rest of Class AA baseball is taking notice.

Just two seasons ago, this team was a work in progress. With five sophomores—Alex Medina, Tripp McCann, Gideon Boerema, Beau Schultz, and Jordan Abbott—seeing significant playing time, the Dragons endured their fair share of growing pains. Litchfield stumbled to a 4-17 record in 2024 and a 7-16 mark in 2025. It was a tough introduction to varsity baseball for a group that, by all accounts, was still finding its footing.

"We tried to impress on them two years ago that there's going to be some growing pains here," said Dragons head coach Jeff Wollin. "We only had two seniors that year, and several of our sophomores probably should have been playing JV. In our conference and section, it's tough to win with a lot of sophomores in the lineup."

Fast forward to today, and those same players are now seniors—and the Dragons have taken flight. Entering Friday's action, Litchfield boasts a stellar 15-5 record and has earned a No. 10 ranking in the Class AA state poll by the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association. The team resumed a doubleheader with Annandale on Friday after lightning suspended play Thursday, and they're eyeing a top-two seed in Section 5AA heading into Monday's regular-season finale at Eden Valley-Watkins.

"It really helped just us five being there because we built as a group," said Schultz, who pitches and plays shortstop. "Each year, we kept taking that into the next year and the next year. Finally, our senior year, us five have three years of experience, and that's helped us grow as a team."

The transformation has been most evident at the plate. Litchfield now averages 8.7 runs per game—a massive leap from 5.0 in 2025 and just 3.9 in 2024. Medina, the lead-off hitter and center fielder, leads the entire state with 31 runs scored. The Dragons have scored double-digit runs in eight games this season, posting a 7-1 record in those contests.

"It's really just going up there, first-pitch hacking," said McCann, the team's catcher who leads Litchfield with a .433 batting average through 20 games. "Be aggressive, just find your pitch and drive it. With that, you have to be patient and find your pitch. We got a ton of walks this year. Getting their starter out early and going through their bullpen—that's been pretty good for us."

That patience paid off in dramatic fashion on April 20, when the Dragons battled Norwood Young America to a 4-4 tie through nine innings before exploding for eight runs in the top of the 10th to win 12-4. "They didn't have any pitchers left, and boom, we went to town because we got their best pitcher out," Schultz said. "I think half of our order batted twice. We were not ready for that. It was awesome because we knew it was never enough."

For a team that once took its lumps, the message is clear: the Dragons are no longer dormant—they're roaring.