By Scott A. Kolb
Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Riverland Blue Devils baseball player Brian Voigt will be taking a trip to Europe in a couple of weeks to play a series of games with the USA Athletes International Team.

Former Riverland and Ridgewater College baseball coach Dwight "Dewey" Kotila is the man in charge of the USA Athletes International Team. Voigt was invited to be part of this traveling team by Kotila, so he set about raising the money required to take this adventure.

Just a couple of years removed from achieving local fame by helping the Southland Rebels make it all the way to the state championship, Voigt is now set to travel the world as an ambassador of the American game.

"We'll be playing the first games in Amsterdam and the trip ends with a game in Paris, France," Voigt said of his upcoming journey overseas. "It's exciting for me to go on a trip like this and it will be a great opportunity to play ball with a new group of guys."

Voigt is getting used to playing in big games, and the sport of baseball is taking him on a new set of adventures. Now, he gets to show off his pitching and hitting talents to a whole new group of fans.

It's been a whirlwind last couple of years for the kid from Adams. Two years ago, Voigt and his childhood buddies at Southland capped off their high school days with a run to the state tournament. Then, this past spring saw Voigt help the Riverland baseball team qualify for the JUCO World Series.

With a former coach and a budding young star on the USA Athletes International roster, the Riverland baseball program will be well represented on this European tour. This is just another feather in the cap of Voigt's uncle, Riverland baseball coach Scott Koenigs.

"Dewey has been doing this for a few years, and he's also been to Australia a couple of times," Koenigs said. "This will be a great experience for Brian. I think a lot of Dewey and this is a great opportunity for one of my players to get further instruction from him."

After enduring seven long years of not making it to the Minnesota College Athletic Conference State Tournament, the accolades and honors for Koenigs' program continue to come forward. The Blue Devils not only made it to state last spring, but they won the title and then went on to capture the regional crown.

This sent the Blue Devils to the JUCO World Series for the first time since Kotila was hanging around Austin. A member of the Riverland baseball program will now be showcased on an international stage.

"Brian gets to go see Europe and that's a pretty good deal," Koenigs said. "We've had some interest from our program in this traveling team. Brady Banse had also accepted it, but he has moved to Omaha to get ready to play at the four-year school there, so he decided not to go.

"Brian was invited and accepted the offer. My family has supported him, and so have a lot of other loyal folks from his hometown. He had to raise some money and the community from Southland has helped him. They will play in a couple of different tournaments, but he'll also have the chance to do a little sight-seeing."

Voigt's trip to Europe will take him away from his summer responsibilities for a few days, so the Austin Blue Sox amateur team will have to do without their third baseman for a little while. This shouldn't be too painful for the Blue Sox as Voigt will return in time for their regular season rematch with the Austin Greyhounds and then the post-season tournaments.

"I'm looking forward to playing on all of the different fields in the foreign countries," Voigt said. "This gives me the chance to play for a great coach and show the people of Europe a little bit about our national pastime. Plus, I get out of my summer job of picking up tree branches at Todd Park."

The USA Athletes International Baseball Team European Pitch Tour runs from July 19-27. Voigt flies out to Amsterdam, Holland, a week from Sunday.