By Chris Parker
Willow Springs baseball was slated to be an experienced team in 2020 before the season was canceled.
Now, the Bears will be looking for new players to step up.
“We had 10 seniors on last year’s team and out of the 10, seven of them were starters. That leads to our main core coming back this year not having any varsity experience,” Willow Springs head coach Dustin Forrest said. “These guys really needed a full season of JV under their belt before being expected to produce at the varsity level, but that obviously didn’t happen. Good news no one played last year and we won’t be the only team in this position.”
Everyone from the coaches to players are excited to get going for the 2021 spring season.
“It will be a great feeling. Having a spring without baseball is something that I haven’t done in a long time. I can already sense the excitement from our players to want to get back out there and start practice,” Forrest said.
Senior Kyle Wood and junior Gabe Colvin return with the most experience.
“These are my only two guys that have any varsity experience in the careers. They know what it takes to compete at the varsity level, and I know that they will be a good example for the other guys,” Forrest said. “They will push the guys every day and I don’t have to worry about them working hard and doing the right things on the baseball field.”
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Sophomore Rogan Traver and Wood will be the team’s top two pitchers.
“Rogan is probably our most complete pitcher. He mixes things up well and has a really good mind for the game,” Forrest said. “Kyle tends to be more of a thrower. He really has a good fastball with good velocity. If he continues to improve on his slider he can be tough to hit on our level.”
Sophomore Ryan Koehler will be the catcher.
Traver will also play up the middle at shortstop and second base. Freshman Caden Foster will see time at second base. Sophomore Ryan Firga and junior Caleb Cochran are the team’s first basemen. Gabe Colvin will look for time at shortstop.
Wood will anchor the outfield with sophomores Nate McDaniel and Taylor Rothermich.
Speed will have to help lead Willow Springs while the bats try to catch up.
“Speed and athleticism (will be strengths). We will have to push the issue on the base paths in order for us to score runs,” Forrest said. “Hitting is an area that we are going to need to improve on. With not many guys with varsity experience it’s going to be a major learning curve for some to adjust to varsity pitching. We are going to need to find ways to move runners over and produce runs.”
Willow Springs opens the season on Mar. 22 at Winona.
“I really expect us to be a surprising team. All of our guys love the game and have talent,” Forrest said. “I really believe that this team will make a big jump of improvement throughout the season. I know these guys will compete every game and every day, if we do that we will get better.”
