By Chris Parker
Willow Springs will look to improve on last season’s 6-13 finish with six starters and nine lettermen returning this year.
But they will play the season with heavy hearts.
Willow Springs will play this season in honor of Zach White and Jonah Smith who were tragically killed in a car accident last August. White did a little bit of everything for the Willow Springs baseball team last season from pinch running to playing the outfield.
The Bears will lean on a strong senior group this year.
Senior Brady Walton was an honorable mention all-conference selection at catcher. He hit .344 last season.
“Brady is our leader on and off the field. He is always working hard and leads by example and vocally if he needs to. Being a catcher Brady does a great job handling the pitching staff and guys just look to him during the game. He is a natural born leader,” Forrest said.
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Senior Jon Baker returns as the staff ace on the hill.
“This is the second year that I consider Jon the ace of our staff,” Forrest said. “He has pitched in high leverage situations before for us, so if it’s a big he is who we want on the hill.”
Carson Lowe will return for his fourth year as a starter. He plays all over the field and will be a key cog in the lineup.
The senior trio of Michael Tinsley, Tucker Coffman and Wesley Picard round out the returning senior starters. Tinsley is a utility player while Coffman and Picard occupy the right side of the infield at first and second base, respectively. Tinsley was the top hitter in that group at .441 to go with 13 stolen bases.
Junior Kyle Wood hit .368 with 11 RBI and 11 stolen bases last year. He was a second-team all-conference outfielder and will look to be more of a factor on the mound.
“Kyle really worked a lot on his pitching this summer for us. At the end of the year last year he was our closer and really was just a one pitch guy. This summer he worked to add a couple pitches and I look for him to be one of the main guys in our rotation,” Willow Springs head coach Dustin Forrest said.
Sophomores Caleb Cochran (pitcher) and Gabe Colvin (infield/pitcher) along with freshmen Rogan Traver (infield/pitcher) and Taylor Rothermich will also factor into the varsity equation.
Defense and pitching will be keys to success for Willow Springs.
“Our defense should be pretty solid. We return a lot of guys that have worked hard their defense and have a few new guys that will fill the holes left by graduation well. Top few guys of the rotation are pretty strong as well,” Forrest said.
Willow Springs opens the season Mar. 20-21 at the New Covenant Tournament.
