The baseball season brings fresh expectations as the team starts the and ready to prove they can make last year’s mistakes into this year’s wins.

“We have been working very hard this off-season so that we are able to come out and prove we are a different team than last year; we are ready to compete and win games. We have had some solid rosters the last couple of years but fell just short every time; however, this year is different. We have taken everything very serious and used every mistake we made last year into a lesson to improve upon this year. We have our minds set straight and have plenty of determination to take us where we want to go,” senior Sean Newett, catcher, said.

Coach Andy Bass provides many opportunities for players to improve.

“We had fall workouts last semester for the non fall athletes out on the field. That was pretty nice to have. Currently, we are having winter workouts for the non winter athletes two days a week. We are able to focus on things like bullpens for pitchers and catchers and hitting, really focusing on mechanics and stuff like that,” Coach Bass said.

Despite limited space, the baseball team has been doing as much as they can to improve.

“We are limited to the all sports barn right now because the weather is too bad for us to be on the field. We probably are not going to be able to start using the field until closer to tryouts. Luckily, we can do just about anything in the barn anyway besides fielding. So, during pre-season workouts, we definitely get more hitting and pitching practice more than anything,” senior Blayne Reitmeyer, pitcher, said.

The team’s improvement goes beyond the sports barn.

“After school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays we go to Watson workouts during the fall and winter to stay in shape for the spring. On two of the days, we focus on speed and plyometrics. The plyometrics is probably the best focus for us since it plays a huge role in baseball. We need to stay flexible and agile more than anything to allow us to play to the best of our ability,” Newett said.

With the loss of key players to graduation, the team relies on a new group of seniors to lead the team.

“We lost a couple key seniors last year–like Ethan King, Sam Thompson, and Mavrick Pauley–so we are looking to replace them. Luckily, we have a good group of seniors, and even juniors, who are looking to step up and fill their roles. We are really looking to lean on the seniors to lead the team and be role models for the sophomores and freshmen. I believe in our seniors and believe they have good leadership skills that will help our team play well and get along,” junior Ian Grismore, utility, said.

Coach Bass is hoping the key returners can help the upcomers get into the groove of playing fast paced varsity baseball.

“We have some key returners, including seniors Newett, Reitmeyer, Jayden Peirce, Eli Mason, Carter Williams, and Tate Ritter. Some juniors we are going to get back are Ian Grismore and Parker Jarboe. Then, we have got sophomore Parker Cook. Some newcomers we might see senior wis, are Damien Hoagland and Rueben Perez then a new senior transfer from Illinois Caleb Jacobs. Junior and sophomore wise, we have a lot of guys who we are looking at to fill in some spots, but it might be a bit early to say who. These younger guys are not used to the faster pace of varsity ball. JV is much slower and different; however, I believe our senior leaders can help these guys get the hang of it,” Coach Bass said.

The last year being in the Mid-State Conference brings bittersweet memory.

“You build up these relationships with other coaches, playing them twice a year, and the players know everyone from other teams from travel ball and playing each other. So, it is always fun to play these conference games, and we have gotten used to having the same schedule. Conference wise, that next year will be a bit weird with new schools that we may have never played in the past or only played a couple times in the past. I am definitely going to enjoy one last go around with some of these schools and the facilities, especially with us being in one of the best conferences, like having seven D1 arms last year. We will miss the baseball in the Mid-State Conference but also not at the same time,” Coach Bass said.

Coach Bass is hoping to keep some Mid-State schools on the schedule.

“One game I look forward to the most every year is Whiteland. Their head coach, Scott Sherry, and I were best buds and teammates in college, so we have a great relationship, and we always have great games against each other. I am really hoping we can keep Whiteland on the schedule, considering the fact they are only five minutes away from us,” Coach Bass said.

The team’s first game is at Indian Creek on April 2nd, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.