By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Bolivar’s 2019 season proved to be a successful one for the baseball program.
While the Liberators fell 4-1 in the district opener to Hollister, head coach Brad Roweton was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We knew we had a tough draw last year playing a good Hollister team who also happened to be the district host,” Roweton said. “We hit the ball hard three times during that game with a chance to score runs, but they were able to make the plays they needed to advance — that’s baseball. When that happens you tip your hat to them and go on.”
A quintet of talented seniors move on, including Jack Hadank, Brock Pitts, Joey Vote, Payton Wine and Cameron Branstetter.
Hadank (.350 BA, 17 RBI, 8 SB, 6-2-2, 1.75 ERA) and Pitts (.324 BA, 24 RBI, 3 SB) will continue their respective baseball careers at Southwest Baptist University this season, while Vote (.280 BA, 16 RBI, 17 SB) and Wine (.299 BA, 12 RBI, 3 SB, 2-5, 2.78 ERA) move on to play at Evangel University.
“We had a fun year last year and can’t say enough about the leadership we got from last year’s seniors,” Roweton said. “These guys took it upon themselves to lead our team and they did that.”
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Despite the graduation losses, Bolivar returns a host of experienced players to its roster, including seven with varsity starts under their belts.
Junior first baseman Parker Erickson (.362 BA, 15 RBI, 3 SB) earned all-district honors last season.
“Parker is a security blanket for the other infielders,” Roweton said. “They know if they get it close to him, he will have a chance to make a play for them. He has also been working to improve his pitching and will be competing for mound time.”
Erickson is joined by a trio of seniors in outfielder Cooper Hitchcock (.154 BA, 4 RBI, 7 SB), pitcher/infielder Cooper Bushey (2-0, 3.62 ERA) and second baseman Zeke Partin (.148 BA, 2 RBI).
“Cooper Hitchcock is quick to the baseball and has a knack for being where the ball is going to go,” Roweton said. “Cooper Bushey was a spot-starter for us last season, earning two varsity wins on the mound. Zeke started at second base last year and should see time again there this year.”
Four junior starters also return, including outfielder/infielder/pitcher Bo Banner (.292 BA, 20 RBI, 7 SB), outfielder Dylan Hall (.250 BA, 3 RBI, 1 SB), catcher/utility Ryan Hadank(.259 BA, 14 RBI) and catcher/outfielder Raif Fullerton (.167 BA, 6 RBI, 1 SB).
Rounding out Bolivar’s list of returning players are junior outfielder/pitcher Luke Meents, junior pitcher/utility Reed Fullerton, sophomore pitcher/infielder Cooper Cribs and junior catcher/infielder Heath Robertson.
“As always we are excited for the upcoming year and feel that we have a good nucleus of guys returning,” Roweton said. “Several of them have shown the ability to be part of a good baseball team, and we will need that experience to lead us through this season.”
Bolivar will also welcome a host of varsity newcomers to the roster who will compete for playing time this season, including River Adams, Jacob Anderson, Cody Cantrell, Kaden DeGraffenreid, Lukas Goforth, E.J. Ingram, Justice Hinsley, Isaac Jenkins, Andrew Johnson, Gage Mann, Garon Morris, Landon Rauch, Elijah Roberts and Deacon Sharp.
“Honestly, we hate to talk too much about any one of the newcomers,” Roweton said. “There are at least ten guys on the list that have an opportunity to fill open positions or take someone’s starting position. Practice is going to be interesting when we can get everyone on the same field and start seeing some separation. The last two years we have gotten big contributions from underclassmen, and we expect more of the same this year.”
For Bolivar to build on last season’s success, it will need to quickly develop a young and relatively inexperienced pitching staff.
“We graduated two of our top three pitchers from last season,” Roweton said. “This usually makes for a tough upcoming season, but we have several young players and a few upperclassmen that are getting ready to fill that void. The key for us this year will be to find consistency in this year’s staff.”
While Bolivar will feature a youth movement this season, Roweton believes his team is more than capable of competing as the season progresses.
“We do have several veteran players returning, but we are still going to be young and are going to have several underclassmen competing for playing time,” Roweton said. “How quickly we come together will determine our win-loss at the end of the year. If it takes a while to get a solid lineup then our win-loss won’t be as good but either way, we feel we can have a solid team by the end of the season.”
Bolivar opens its season at home Friday, March 20, against Aurora.
