(Guthrie Center) ACGC graduated just one senior off of their baseball team from last year.
With so many returning starters, coach Taylor Morris is optimistic about what lies ahead. “We return almost everybody with another year of experience which is always beneficial as guys get get physically more mature.” Morris says, “Guys are hitting the ball harder and making throws across the infield and getting more velocity on the mound. Things are looking up.”
They’ve invested into baseball and athletics overall. “Being in the weight facility, but also this fall we had fall ball stuff and there were 20-25 guys coming in once a week even in scrimmaging each other. We’d also throw and strengthen their arms with long toss. A bunch of guys were coming in doing core velocity belts and weighted ball training, just trying to build velocity. A lot of the guys took that and embraced that.”
They have some depth returning in their pitching staff with Brock Littler, Clayton Wardyn, Newell Rogers, Eli Kading, and Andrew Mahaffey. They have to replace Bryce Littler’s bat in the lineup, but have four guys returning that hit above .275 last year. “Charlie Crawford will lead off for us. He’s not much of an extra base guy, but he turns it into extra bases when he gets on. Just a guy with good speed and anytime he gets on first base he’s got the green light. We are going to have Miles Kading as a top hitter. Newell Rogers we are trying to get his average highert, but his on base percentage is just incredible.”
Morris adds the likes of Cayden Jensen, Lucas Marsh, Reid Rumelhart, Tegan Slaybaugh, and Clayton Wardyn are all set to to make a step forward at the plate. “Our lineup should make a huge jump from last year and it’s just guys that compliment each other 1-9. We’ll have a handful of boppers and a bunch of guys who can get on base and wreak havoc on the base paths. Stealing and putting pressure on the defense is really what we preach to those guys.”
