One year after going 16-10 overall and finishing second in the Ozark Conference, the Lebanon baseball team is eager for the 2016 season as the Yellowjackets return a large senior class as well as numerous starters.
A year ago, Lebanon had a host of players getting their feet wet at the varsity level as the ‘Jackets graduated a large senior class in 2014. Things started slow for the ‘Jackets, losing four straight at the Willard Lead Off Tournament, including a pair of one-run ballgames.
But things picked up from there and LHS won the Central Bank Invitational, went 7-2 in the league, then won three of four in the Marshfield tournament. The season came to an end in the district tournament as LHS fell to Waynesville, 4-3.
“Last year was a year with a little bit of uncertainty,” Lebanon head coach Dustin Young said. “Starting out we had a big senior class that graduated the year before. We had some questions on who were going to play some of the positions, what the line up was going to look like and what our pitching staff was going to look like.
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“Fortunately we had a strong group of seniors that were able to lead the younger guys and be patient with them while they got some experience. Once they got some experience and they got some things lined up they ended up having a good year.”
This year, Lebanon features 12 seniors, which is among the largest senior classes the school has had in baseball in recent years. Leading the way are Luke Winfrey, Connor Hicks, Kendrick Tiller, Lane Groce, Kenyon Breedlove, Tanner Angst, Waylen Lindsey, Cory Dudley, Trace Winfrey, Dalton Vyrostek, Jordan Bailey and Cody Lundgren.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that played all four years, but they’re also multiple sport guys,” Young said. “Most of them played football and a few of them played basketball at some point. They understand what it takes to be a senior at the varsity level so we’re hoping that carries over into the baseball side as well.”
Young said the team is still in the process of sorting out positions, however Winfrey, Dudley and Bailey will all be relied on for their experience on the mound.
“The strength that I see on paper right away is going to be our pitching,” Young said. “I think we are really deep there. Our strength is definitely on the mound. We’ve always worked pretty hard on defense and I think we’ve been pretty successful because of it.”
The ‘Jackets return nine players that had a starting role last season, and feature 12 seniors total, most of whom played a key varsity role last season.
“We have a large group of seniors that can play with each other well and have done so for a while,” he said. “We have a few keys that will definitely help us that a team needs in order to be successful. We definitely have the leadership and even a terrific work ethic. The guys come out and really work as hard as you can expect.
“It’s great when people always want to get better an I think with the pitching staff that we bring back and the offense and the defense that we have, I think the expectations are pretty high and they should be.”
Young said the team’s biggest question mark early in the season is at the plate, and perhaps more specifically in the middle of the order where the ‘Jackets will be replacing graduated seniors Nick Pearcy and Keaton Warren.
“We graduated some seniors last year that were our run producers, this biggest is the question mark right now is who will be the guy that drives home the runs,” Young said. “I think we have guys that are plenty capable of it, they just have to get a different mindset.
“We really just have to be patient with that and really do our best to find the right people. We have some front runners for the spot but it’s still early and there is a lot of things that can change at any time.”
