By Chris Parker
Spokane baseball is seeking its first winning season since 2021 behind four returning starters.
Bo Essick is the lone senior expected to be in the everyday lineup. He came on in a big way in the second half of last season hitting .600 with 10 doubles and 14 RBI in the last 12 games. Essick earned all-conference honors for his efforts.
“Bo will be a four-year starter for us. He brings our dugout a ton of contagious energy and has improved his leadership skills tremendously over the past year. He goes 100% in everything he does at practice. He is a very good defensive third baseman with a good arm,” Spokane head coach Craig Foster said. “I expect Bo to have a breakout season offensively and be rewarded for his hard work.”
Junior Ethan Newell will look to build off the improvements he showed last season. He will play centerfield and pitch this season. Last season, Newell hit .292 with 3 doubles, 12 Rbi and 13 runs scored.
“Ethan was our most improved player last season,” Foster said. “It was his first year playing high school baseball. He gave us an outstanding arm in left field, and a very good bat. Ethan puts in countless hours on his own to better himself. He was rewarded last spring with a very successful season. Ethan will slide over to center and run our outfield this spring. Offensively, he will hit second for us. He knows his role with the bat, and what’s expected of him, and gets those things done. Leadership-wise, Ethan is an ultimate positive leader. He is someone that is fully bought into what we are trying to do and accomplish and expects those around him to be as well.”
Sophomore Timothy Rantz will have a big role after a strong freshman season. He will catch, play third and pitch. He hit .347 with 13 RBI and 9 runs scored.
“Timothy proved very quickly he could be successful hitting in the middle of a varsity lineup as a freshman,” Foster said. “He hit .347 last year hitting 5th, and his defense got better every day. He brings our team a ton of baseball knowledge and is someone always willing to help our other guys. He has great relationships with our pitching staff and does a good job giving them confidence.
Tristan Gold is another sophomore who gained valuable varsity experience as a freshman. He had 13 RBI and six runs scored as a freshman.
“Tristan went from not playing baseball, to starting every game at second base last year,” Foster said. “If you saw him play the first game of our fall season in 2022, and the final game of our spring season in 2023, he looked like a completely different player. His defense has improved a lot. He is someone that has been through struggles, or making a costly error, and this has made him a better leader even with the success he is seeing. This year, I look for Tristan to be one of our leaders and could see him having a spectacular spring season both offensively and defensively.”
Newell, Essick and Rantz along with senior Jordon McClintock and sophomore Kade Burk will be the key pitchers for the team.
Foster on Newell: “Ethan pitched to five hitters last spring. He walked four and hit one. This summer, he worked very hard, knowing we needed him to be successful on the mound. In the fall, he gained more and more confidence and I look for him to go full circle and become our ace this spring. He has had a great offseason. He will be a fastball and curveball guy and has done a much better job working the right parts of the zone with both pitches.”
Foster on Essick: “Bo has struggled on the mound ever since he broke his femur on his push off leg. He is just now getting back to where he was before his injury. He has a fastball that gets on you quick with some movement. His off-speed stuff is getting better every day. I think if we are going to be playing our best baseball, Bo will be successful on the mound for us. He is an absolute competitor and brings a lot of confidence on the mound.”
Foster on Rantz: “Timothy pitched in seven innings out of the bullpen last spring. He has worked hard to gain some more velocity. He has four pitches, all of which he locates very well. With him gaining some more velocity, he will compete to be someone that starts for us on a weekly basis.”
Foster on McClintock: “The best word to describe Jordon is consistency. Every day he is going to go out there and fill up the zone. He doesn’t have stuff to blow away guys with, but he works the right parts of the zone, and if our defense is good, he could be very successful for us this spring.”
Foster on Burk: “Kade is a sophomore with some of the best stuff on our team as a pitcher. If he could gain some confidence in himself, he could be very good on the mound. He brings some velocity, as well as very good off-speed. Kade will need to improve locating his stuff as the spring goes on, however, if he does, he has the potential to be very good.”
This group will have to step up to replace a group of graduated players who accounted for over 80% of the innings pitched last season.
“We graduated over 80% of our varsity innings last year. Jace, Luke, and JD did very good on the mound, and gave us a chance against anyone we played,” Foster said. “However, now that they are gone, we need three guys to step up to fill those spots. We have the options, it’s a matter of them taking it upon themselves to be a varsity guy on the mound. If we find some guys, we will be very successful as a team this year, even as young as we are. This fall we saw a lot of mistakes that simply came from a lack of experience playing at this level. Though we did not have a good record during the fall, we grew and learned so much from our 20 games.”
Freshman Gavin Kildea will join Rantz at catcher. Burk (first base), Gold (second base), junior David Blake (shortstop) and Essick (third base) will be the typical lineup around the infield. Burk, Newell and sophomore Wyatt Sportsman will be in the outfield.
Sportsman and Blake have shown great off-season improvements.
Foster on Sportsman: “Wyatt got two at bats last spring, and went 0-for-2. He worked very hard this summer and had a breakout season for us this fall hitting .371 and did not have an error in right field. He is becoming more confident in himself every day at the plate. In the outfield, his arm is getting better, but his range is very good. There are some balls I saw him get to that really impressed me this fall. He also pitched in 15 innings over the fall and filled up the zone. He is someone I am very excited to have over the next three years and could be a huge asset to every part of the game.”
Foster on Blake: “David has not played high school baseball until this year. He is very athletic and quick. This fall and offseason he showed tremendous range and I look for him to start every game for us at short. He does a great job squaring up the ball and becomes a big threat on the bases with his speed. I believe he will do a great job for us at short.”
Foster expects freshman Coy Cutbirth could also see varsity action after showing off-season improvements.
“Coy began last summer hitting at the bottom of our JV lineup going into his freshman year,” Foster said. “He took advantage of every opportunity he got and ended the summer hitting towards the top of our varsity lineup. He got injured in a summer basketball game and was out all fall, but he is back and ready to go. He has unbelievably quick hands, and I think he will be a huge help for us offensively. His defense will need to improve, but with his work ethic, I know it will. He is someone I could see DHing and playing an outfield spot when one of our three outfielders are pitching. I am so excited to see what he does for us over the next four years.”
Youth will be a theme for the Spokane baseball team this season.
“We are going to be very young this year,” Foster said. “However, this group is so much fun to coach and has an incredible work ethic. They all want to be the best version of themselves and are willing to do whatever it takes and put in as much time as they need to get to where they want to be. As a coach, that is all I can ask of a group. They put the team first, and know if they do make a mistake, they have a team backing them up. The atmosphere of this group is outstanding, and I think this goes a long way for the confidence of our younger guys.”
Spokane opens the season on Mar. 17 at home against New Covenant.
“We are going to practice and play the game as hard as we can, regardless of the situation,” Foster said. “This group will never quit. We bring a ton of energy to our practices, and these guys want to be coached hard. We have 21 guys focused on the same goal, and they know their role and what is expected of them on a daily basis to achieve our goal. We blew a lead in the seventh inning and lost to Sparta in districts last year, and our guys have had a bad taste in their mouths from that and are very motivated to get started.”
