The Woodmen baseball team has been hard at work over the off-season in hopes of a great year.

Sometimes over the off-season, teams look much different than the past year. However, the baseball team is returning most of their players from last year.

“This year the team will look about the same as last year. We only lost three seniors from last year, but we have some great underclassmen ready to step up and fill that role. We also got a transfer from Indian Creek, Jagger Bray, and I’m excited to see how he works in on the team,” senior Cooper Smith, first baseman, said.

Different drills and workouts are getting the team ready.

“We’ve been practicing every Tuesday and Thursday for the past couple of months leading up to the season. We’ve spent a ton of time in the barn working on our swings and some time on the field sprinting to get faster,” senior Spencer Fay, pitcher, said.

The competition the Woodmen face throughout the season is always tough, but some teams stand out more than others.

“Some tough competition for us this year will be Mooresville along with all the other teams in our Sectional. All of those teams have a bunch of returning talent that are going to play at a high level Power 5 D1 school. They are a lot bigger than us with more talent and depth, but last year, once Sectionals came around, everyone was doubting us. We made it to the Sectional finals,” senior IU baseball commit Micah Vessely, pitcher, said.

Fay agreed with Vessely.

“One of the most challenging teams to play this year will be Mooresville. They didn’t really lose much from last year, and they have one of the best pitching rotations in the conference. Center Grove will also be tough. They’ve always been really good and always had a good lineup with a really solid pitching rotation,” Fay said.

In order for the team to have a dominant season, they expect some players to step up.

“I don’t have one player in particular, but I think our pitchers as a whole will have a great year. They have been working hard, and they continue to get better and get ready for the season,” Smith said

Vessely has some other players he is hoping will have good years.

“A couple of guys I expect to have big roles are Jagger Bray and Jayden Pierce. Jagger hasn’t played a season with us, but I think he can really step up and help us in ways that we need. Jayden has a bit of varsity time, but I think this year he will get a lot more. All of our guys will play roles on the team, and I think we have something really special in this program that not many schools believe we have. As long as we believe in ourselves as a team, we’ll show anyone who we are and compete at the highest level possible,” Vessely said.