Eduardo Herrera quickly made an impression on Marco Paddy, the special assistant to the general manager, international operations, for the Chicago White Sox.

“When I saw him for the first time his strength, the way he played the game, his ability to compete, how polished he was as a hitter, I couldn’t help but to be attracted by this kid’s ability,” Paddy said during a video conference call.

The Sox have agreed to terms with the third baseman, one of four international signings announced Wednesday.

Herrera, 17, is the No. 11 international prospect according to MLB Pipeline. His deal includes a $1,800,000 signing bonus. The native of San Felipe, Venezuela, played for the Venezuelan U18 National Team at the age of 15.

“From a makeup standpoint, he’s a very good competitor, he knows to work on his body, spends a lot of time working on his body, strength and physical conditioning and things of that nature,” Paddy said. “As a competitor, we had opportunities to see him play for the Venezuelan national team. He played in a tournament in Mexico against good competition and he did extremely well as a 15-year-old playing with 18-year-old kids.

“Once we got all the information together and the evaluations, the looks, the at-bats, the time on the ground with him and knowing him as a person, we decided to move forward and we’re happy to have this young man become part of the Chicago White Sox organization.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Herrera bats and throws right-handed.

“We did not hesitate to go after him aggressively when it came to having the opportunity to sign him,” Paddy said. “In comparison to other guys we’ve signed in the past, most of the times when you get a guy that’s a power guy, you always question his full ability as a hitter. But in the case of this young man, he’s shown the ability to recognize (and) adjust. So we had no doubt about his ability as a hitter.”

The Sox also signed infielders Jurdrick Profar ($600,000) and Jesús Premoli ($550,000) and right-handed pitcher Jeziel Boekhoudt ($55,000).

The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Profar, 16, is the brother of longtime major leaguer Jurickson Profar — who spent 2023 with the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres. A native of Willemstad, Curaçao, Jurdrick Profar throws and bats right-handed.

“You look at Profar and he doesn’t profile like his brother,” Paddy said. “He’s going to be a bigger, stronger kid and actually reminds me of Jonathan Schoop. That type of kid. He can play all over the infield. Profar has excellent hands and feet to play shortstop.

“He’s going to get bigger, stronger and shortstop might not be a fit. He plays second base extremely well. He has the ability to play third base, too.”

A left-handed hitting former catcher, Premoli now plays third and first base. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound 17-year-old is a native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Boekhoudt, 17, is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and also a native of Willemstad, Curaçao.

Expect more international signings to be announced in the coming weeks.

“Jan. 15 is the first day they can sign but this is a process that may take a couple months,” Paddy said. “Once we sign those kids we know the job is complete but yes, the intent is to sign more guys that we have already pretty much agreed on.”

()

St. Michael-Albertville lost a heartbreaker a year ago, squandering a 32-9 advantage to fall to Hastings in stunning fashion, with the Raiders finishing the duel with three straight pins to win the Class 3A state title by a single point.

A newspaper commemorating Hastings’ state title was hung up in the Knights’ wrestling room as a reminder of that evening and what went wrong.

“It was hard, especially knowing we were better wrestlers. We beat them three times before that, so we just used it as motivation,” St. Michael-Albertville senior Jed Wester said. “We didn’t want to take anything easy. Just bring it all on the mat, every time.”

And that’s exactly what they did Thursday. A year later, St. Michael-Albertville got its state title in dominant fashion, besting previously unbeaten and top-seeded Mounds View 47-10.

On paper, the Knights and Mustangs (30-1) figured to be an electric duel. Mounds View’s rise to the top of the state rankings has been nothing short of impressive over the past two seasons. But second-seeded St. Michael-Albertville (30-1) always appeared to be a peer given the depth of talent each team sported.

And seemingly every expected close match Thursday went the way of the Knights.

St. Michael-Albertville scored a trio of coin flip victories to jump out to a 9-0 advantage.

Grant Bergeron topped Owen LaRose at 107 in a battle of top-seven ranked wrestlers, then fourth-ranked Lincoln Robideau pulled off a mini upset of second-ranked Brett Swenson in overtime. Then Brady Bergeron bested Will Schneider 6-2.

Chase Mills delivered a pin at 127 pounds, and the Knights were off and running with a 15-0 advantage.

“It was just their night. They’re a good team,” Mounds View coach Dan Engebretson said. “They had everything rolling today, and it’s momentum. Once the momentum started going, it was hard to turn it.”

Mounds View is strong in the middle and upper weights, where it has made its hay all season. The problem is the Knights are just as formidable at nearly every step. Mounds View’s Apollo Ashby is the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 152 pounds. But the Knights’ Landon Robideau is a dominant top-ranked wrestler who won via tech fall.

At the next weight, Jarrett Wadsen scored an upset via pin for St. Michael-Albertville in a top-five showdown to essentially put the duel away. Wester, a Gophers commit, put an exclamation point on the proceedings via a tech fall victory at 172 pounds over third-ranked Ethan Swenson.

The Knights were not to be denied.

“There was a bunch of 50-50 matchups that we were right there with. The duel could’ve gone one way or another and honestly, our guys just really stepped up to the plate,” St. Michael-Albertville coach Josh Joriman said. “”One of the things that we’ve been preaching the most was wrestling for each other, and you could see that was evident throughout the matches. They were competing for each other. Not just out there wrestling with each other, but for each other. And it was awesome to see.”

Perhaps Mounds View will be the Knights of next season, getting back to the same stage and potentially getting over the top. The Mustangs will return five ranked wrestlers on next year’s squad, four of which are ranked in the top four at their respective weight classes. The program is quickly establishing itself as a perennial power. The Mustangs are 61-2 over the last two seasons. And, in Thursday’s opponent, they have a blueprint for attempting to reclimb the mountain.

“We learned a lot of lessons. We learned a lot of hard lessons here. It was good,” Joriman said. “It wasn’t good at the time, but you take what you can and you learn from those losses and you come back.”

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OTHER RESULTS

— Chatfield won the Class A title with a 47-7 victory over Staples-Motley.

— Apple Valley fell 45-11 to Shakopee in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Shakopee went on to take third place.

— Hastings, the defending champ in Class 3A, lost tight quarterfinal 33-32 to Albert Lea. The Raiders reached the consolation final, where they fell to Willmar.

The St. Paul Public Library system is once again offering free, limited-edition library cards adorned by a loon with laser eyes shooting upward.

Also available are Laser Loon cover-all stickers that existing cardholders can request instead of the new cards and without needing to create new library accounts.

The items proved hugely popular in mid-February, and branches quickly depleted their supplies.

“We hoped that the fun design would resonate with the community, but we did not anticipate the incredible response to the Laser Loon,” said Claire Huber, marketing and communications specialist who manages SPPL’s social media account, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be providing another set.”

Once again, residents can stop by any library location to claim a Laser Loon item and receive a coupon for The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library’s online shop, which features Laser Loon merchandise.

New in the shop: a kid-sized T-shirt and mug.

The feathered mascot was inspired by a submission to the state’s flag and state seal contest, which drew some 2,600 submissions. The new flag design lacks a loon, as does the old one.

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The names have changed over the past decade plus, but the result rarely does.

Mahtomedi is again heading to the state boys’ hockey tournament.

Sam Harris scored his second goal of the night 26 seconds into overtime and the Zephyrs survived Southwest Christian/Richfield 3-2 Thursday in the Class A, Section 4 final.

“Great team win. Super proud of me and all the boys,” Harris said. “No better feeling than going to the tourney with all your brothers.”

Class A action begins Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center. Brackets will be announced Saturday.

Harris took a cross-ice pass from Wyatt Tarnowski just inside the blue line, and his wrist shot found its way through traffic and a screen by Gene Wegleiter to get past Jannes Kamp, the Stars’ 6-foot-7 goalie, who made tremendous saves all night.

Harris had just three goals in the Zephyrs first 27 games.

“I told my coaches I was saving them, I was putting them in the cookie jar, saving them for when it matters,” he said. “They were always telling me I was gonna score when it mattered.”

Coach Jeff Poeschl, whose team improved to 17-11-0, said Harris played 2 ½ years with just a lone empty-net goal.

“We joked, ‘how come you can’t score with a goalie in the net?’ The last six weeks he’s just been lights out, playing with such confidence and tonight it was fun to see him do his thing,” Poeschl said.

Mahtomedi played in the section final for the eighth straight season and 10th time in 11 years. It is 9-2 in those contests.

“I don’t know, other than you just get that feeling that you’re always going to the X,” said Jake Hodd-Chlebeck, who also scored.

Many high school hockey aficionados will say the section tournaments produce the best action throughout the season. This one surely qualified.

“There’s nothing like a section final, and this felt like a section final,” Poeschl said. “Southwest Christian had a great game plan, they played very hard and they should be very proud. I was very impressed with their effort.”

Jared Greiner scored twice for the Stars (17-11-0).

Tied at 1, it was a wild few minutes late in regulation.

Moments after Paul Horner just missed for the Stars, Harris whistled a low wrist shot that found the back of the net with 3:46 to play.

A penalty on Southwest Christian/Richfield penalty gave Mahtomedi a prime opportunity for an insurance marker, instead it was Greiner tying the contest with a shorthanded goal with just 2:31 remaining in regulation.

“It’s adversity and we just overcame it,” said Hodd-Chlebeck.

Down 1-0 entering the third period, Mahtomedi came out with an amped-up intensity. Hodd-Chlebeck scored 17 seconds into the frame, converting a pass from Harris to even things up.

Laken Decker appeared to make it 2-1 Mahtomedi barely two minutes later, but after a lengthy review officials determined the net was dislodged.

“I thought we were playing tight. I thought we were playing not to lose. I just said ‘This is not a game to play not to lose. We need to play to win this game,’” Poeschl said. “They loosened up, they started moving the puck and they kept pucks in the zone, we bottled them up and we were able to get a couple in.”