By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Waynesville baseball will return eight varsity players under the direction of Trent Wise, who enters his third season as the Tigers’ head coach.
“This group brings the experience needed to help us be competitive this season,” said Coach Wise. “We are returning players with varsity experience along with a group of youngerm players that will create some healthy roster competition.”
The team will look to improve on last year’s three-win record.
Senior Ethan Heberling “will be the leader of the group behind the plate and on the mound,” said Coach Wise. Heberling has committed to play at the next level for Mission University in Springfield.
Senior Justin Zuber led the team in batting average last season and also returns to the outfield alongside junior Carson Sutphin, who last year added a 100% stolen base percentage. Senior Luke Cassidy, senior Chase Hankins and freshman Sawyer Baker will compete for that third outfield position.
Senior Mason Thompson, infielder, was the team’s leader in fielding percentage. Junior Jonah Sahr is also returning to the infield. “Jonah has made so much improvement at the second base position and has really focused on his footwork this off-season,” said Coach Wise. “He is going to be a good little second baseman.”
Mason and Jonah will be joined by junior move-in Kael Warren and freshman Parker Althuisius. “Kael has been a great addition to our program this off-season,” said Wise. “He moved here from Virginia and has made an impact already. His leadership has been contagious for our younger guys.”
Coach Wise said his pitching staff will add depth with younger arms in the rotation, including sophomores Riley Dunkel and RJ Peace. “They will be a great complement to our returning pitchers,” he added. “They will be able to come in relief to help our starters.”
Senior Carter Pondrom will be a force on the bump this season. “He had a fantastic increase in his strike percentage that is going to help us get through the innings needed,” said Wise.
Dylan Pelkey, junior, has had varsity pitching experience since his freshman year, with more than 50 innings. “With the addition of more pitching depth, this season could be a huge turnaround from last season’s pitching,” said Coach Wise.
“Overall, our team is making the steps and improvements needed to help turn the program around, and I am proud of what we have accomplished so far this off-season,” said Coach Wise. “We are going to be a scrappy bunch that will do whatever it takes to remain competitive and are hungry to win ball games. By doing this, we are going to manufacture runs by getting on base however we can and getting runners moved into scoring position. We will try to cause chaos on the base paths that will help create the big inning for us. I am very excited about this team and the new additions, along with the younger guys that are moving up in the program and making a name for themselves already.”
Coach Wise said his team’s goals are simple: they want to beat last year’s squad. “We want to be better than we were the day before and we want to win that ‘big game.’ We are excited to be in such a dominant (Central Ozark) conference and want to compete each day, whether it is practice or a game.”
The Tigers kick the year off with a jamboree in Dixon on March 18 with Camdenton, Crocker and Dixon. Their first regular season matchup will be at Conway on March 21, followed by their home opener vs. Laquey the next day.
