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Last year, Pat Collins made the trip to Chaska as just a coach, watching his shortstop Danny Reed take part in the annual Lions All-Star Baseball game.

This season, Collins will make the trip again, only this time, he’ll make the trip as both a coach and a father. His son Kyle, a catcher for the Wildcats, has been selected to the Northern All-Stars. The two-day event showcases 80 of the top high school baseball players in the state. The tournament kicks off this Friday and runs through Saturday.

“This is purely a father thing,” smiled Pat Collins. “It’s fun to go and sit there and not have to worry about who I’m going to put in the game next or anything like that. The only thing I have to worry about is whether or not I’m going to have one hot dog or two.”

Kyle Collins is one of 20 players on the Northern All-star team roster, and one of four catchers. The North will take to the field for the first time on Friday night against Metro West. They then play two games on Saturday against the Southern All-Stars and the Metro East.

Collins’ selection to the team was a no-brainer. The catcher just finished up his high school career by batting over .400 this season. In addition, he was among the team leaders in several other categories including on base percentage and runs batted in.

“He just drove in runs throughout his career,” mentioned Pat Collins. “Last year he led the team with 26 RBI’s and this year he batted third which gives you less of a chance to drive in runs, and he still drove in 26-27 runs. With runners on base, you knew he was going to put the ball in play.”

Collins is the third straight Wildcat to be selected to the team. In 2003 it was Chad Hollester and last season it was Reed. The only thing that disappoints Pat Collins about this season is that their weren’t more ‘Cats named to the team.

“I’m disappointed with that,” said Pat Collins. “Derrick Olson should have been selected and Mark Unger is a Lions All-Star. The problem is, the north runs from here all the way to the Canadian border. It covers a lot of schools and a lot of kids.

“In Derrick’s case, they look at strikeouts when they select these kids. Well, one of kids from way up north broke the state record for strikeouts this season. It makes you wonder what type of competition he was facing but they just look at the stats. It’s not fair but that’s the way it goes. You just never know what’s going to happen with the selection process.”

Adding to that theory, Collins was the only player from the Rum River selected to the tournament.

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