By Chris Parker
Licking baseball is poised for a big season. The Wildcats finshed 12-11 last spring. Then, this fall, Licking broke out with a 17-4 record.
Three experienced juniors in Malachi Antle (catcher), Cole Wallace (pitcher/infield) and Keyton Rinne (second base) will be team leaders.
“These three players have started since their freshman year,” Licking head coach Harv Antle said. “They are vocal leaders, and they lead by example. Their work ethic is very good, and they possess the quality of servant leadership. Their mindset is doing whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Silas Antle (sophomore), Austin Stephens (sophomore), Keyton Cook (sophomore), Rusty Buckner (sophomore), Cole Wallace (junior), Kannon Buckner (freshman), and Carter Sullins (freshman) will pitch a bulk of the innings for Licking.
Stephens led the team in innings in the fall at 21 with 21 strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. Antle was just behind him with 20 innings pitched and 29 strikeouts with a 1.75 ERA. Keyton Cook and Rusty Buckner each threw 16.2 innings in the fall. They struck out 26 and 20 batters, respectively, with ERA’s of 2.10 and 1.68.
“We are fortunate that there are another five or six options for us as well. We have some depth,” Licking said. “In the fall, we utilized an opener format frequently. Since our best arms are sophomores, their pitch limit is lower than juniors and seniors. We used an opener to grab four to six outs and then brought the next guy in to get 15-17 outs. We can group guys according to stuff, style, handedness etc., to keep the opponent off balance.”
CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO ALL OF THE SPRING SPORTS PREVIEWS
Antle will handle the staff behind the plate coming off a second-team all-state selection last year.
“He calls his own game,” Coach Antle said. “He is advanced as a catch and throw guy. He receives well and blocks well and controls the running game very well when pitchers give him a chance. This fall he threw out 46 percent of runners attempting to steal. Offensively, he is a middle of the order bat for us and is counted on to be a run producer.”
Antle hit .386 in the fall with 23 RBI and 22 runs scored.
Silas Antle will play first base with Spencer Rogers or Rusty Buckner filling in when he is pitching. Keyton Rinne plays second base. Keyton Cook is the shortstop. Kannon Buckner plays short when Cook pitches. Cole Wallace is at third.
Wallace was second on the team in hitting in the fall with a .434 batting average and .605 on-base percentage with 34 runs scored and 18 RBI. Buckner (.414) and Cook (.414) also hit above .400. Cook drove in a team-high 28 runs and scored another 30. Buckner had 25 runs scored and driven in.
Kaiden Wantland, Austin Stephens, Rusty Buckner, Kannon Buckner, Carter Sullins, Logan Gorman all made starts for Licking in the outfield this fall. Stephens was the top hitter in the group with a .404 batting average and .534 on-base percentage.
“We have a lot of arms for the mound, so running out of pitching shouldn’t be an issue as it was last year,” Antle said. “We have a chance to be more consistent offensively this year. I think we can utilize the short game more frequently to prevent stagnating on offense. We do not have a lot of long ball power, but I think the extra base hit via the double and triple will be available to us. If our pitchers will limit free bases, we can be very stingy defensively. We have shown the ability to be very consistent catching and throwing the baseball and not beating ourselves.”
Licking opens the season Mar. 21-26 at the Houston Tournament.
