By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
2021 was a banner year for Catholic baseball.
The Fightin’ Irish posted a record of 24-6, falling to Hollister in the state quarterfinal round.
For head coach Courtney Spitz, entering his fifth year at the helm, capturing a second consecutive district title and pushing deep into the Class 4 playoffs will allow Catholic to continue building its rich tradition.
“Our program in 2021 met our expectations and more,” Spitz said. “Of course, we would have loved to have made a final four appearance, but our program had not been to that point in the Class 4 state tournament. We accomplished a lot and the experience for this returning group will be key and something to build off. We now have raised our expectations and hope to break through to new accomplishments in the future!”
Jeremy Rader, Colin Davis, Caden Davis, Ryan George, Benji Yarnall and John David Bigler.
Rader, Colin Davis and Caden Davis received all-state honors in 2021. The trio will continue playing baseball in college at Johnson County Community College, Butler University and the University of Indianapolis, respectively.
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“We lost some players that were major components to our success in 2021,” Spitz said. “These players were everyday starters that we leaned on for performance and leadership. We will greatly miss them on and off the field!”
Key returning players include Cole Leonhart, Colton Galligos, Weston Cline, Ben Smith, Coleman Morrison, Hans Kaiser and Logan Ripper.
Leonhart, a senior shortstop, hit .333 last season with 13 runs batted in and 6 stolen bases. He received all-district honors.
“Cole Leonhart is coming off a strong junior season. He will take over leadership on our infield as our shortstop. Cole is a solid defender and strong hitter from the left side of the plate.”
Galligos, a senior outfielder, hit .233 with 6 runs batted in and 5 stolen bases.
“Colton Galligos will take over as our leader in center field,” Spitz said. “Colton is a tremendous athlete that covers a lot of ground in the outfield.”
Smith, a junior third baseman/pitcher, hit .349 with 1 home run, 32 runs batted in and 6 stolen bases in 2021. He also recorded a save on the mound with a 1.31 ERA.
Morrison, a junior first baseman/pitcher, hit .571 with 1 home run and 7 runs batted in. He also posted a 1-1 record on the mound with a 3.43 ERA.
Smith and Morrison each received all-conference and all-district honors as sophomores.
“Ben and Coleman are verbally committed to pitch for the University of Missouri,” Spitz said. “Both are elite right-handed pitchers that possess fastballs above 90 mph.”
Cline, a senior pitcher, finished 2021 with a 3-1-0 record and 2.87 ERA. He was an all-conference and all-district selection.
“Weston Cline has improved a lot and will be one of our starting pitchers in our rotation,” Spitz said.
Ripper, a junior catcher/pitcher, hit .303 with 1 home run, 19 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases. On the mound, he posted a 4-0-0 record with a 3.82 ERA.
Kaiser, a junior third baseman/outfielder/pitcher, hit .226 with 5 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases last season. He was 3-0-0 on the mound with an ERA of 6.60.
“We are fortunate to have many other skilled position players such as Logan Ripper and Hans Kaiser,” Spitz said. “Logan is an elite defensive catcher and will look to make a jump offensively for us. Hans is maybe our best all-around athlete and our most versatile player who can play outfield, infield and pitch!”
Spitz also expects several varsity newcomers to have an immediate impact in the lineup.
“Kurtis Lammers, Jack Schoen, Cole Schoen, Ben Ruter, and Brett Roberson will all have an impact at the varsity level,” Spitz said. “I think all these young men will impact us every day in the lineup one way or another. Some different pitching matchups will call for different lineup cards and this will impact all these players.”
With a pair of Division 1 signees anchoring the staff, Spitz believes pitching will be the team’s biggest strength this season.
“We love the looks of our pitching staff,” Spitz said. “We feel our rotation is very strong. We will start with two top-end arms that are committed to University of Mizzou and are power arms. We have more arms behind them with great stuff and experience. The key factor to our pitching staff being most successful is to not give other teams free bases with walks. Control the strike zone, challenge hitters and the next pitch is the most important.”
At the plate, Catholic will leverage its exceptional team speed to help produce runs.
“Our lineup is strong this year but different,” Spitz said. “Our strengths in our lineup have gone from power to speed. We intend to get on base and create pressure on the teams we see. We know it will be a challenge but it’s something we look forward to.”
Following a March 15 jamboree, Catholic opens its season March 19 at Lee’s Summit with a double-header against Odessa and the host school.
