(Avoca) AHSTW won just three of their first fifteen baseball games on the season before putting together a four game win streak late in the year. The Vikings start postseason play Saturday against Coon Rapids-Bayard in a game that will air on KSOM.
With no seniors and only three juniors among their main core, AHSTW coach Trey Brix knew it would take time before seeing progress. “It took those first two weeks to get the kinks out and since then we have gotten a lot better. We have learned to play defense, throw strikes when we need to, and put the ball in play to give ourselves a chance.”
The squad owns recent wins against Missouri Valley, Logan-Magnolia (twice), and IKM-Manning. Three of their past four losses have been decided by one run. “I told them the week before we took off and started winning I told them that our record doesn’t reflect it, but we are getting a lot better. We were playing in ball games that two weeks prior we were not. We were improving even though our record wasn’t showing it yet. I said to hang in there, keep doing what you are doing and stay confident in yourselves and it will happen. Luckily the next week we really took off and won four in a row.”
Coon Rapids-Bayard is ranked 7th in Class 1A and enters the postseason with a record of 21-7. “They are always going to be sound. You’re going to have to beat them. They will throw strikes and make the plays defensively. That’s what we’ve been talking about all week in practice is we have to make the plays we can make. We have to throw strikes and give ourselves a chance.”
Brayden Lund and Nick Denning have been their anchors both on the mound and at the plate. Lund is hitting .468 with 18 RBI. Denning has a .403 average and team best 23 runs scored. On the hill, Denning has a 4-0 record and 0.61 ERA. He’s struck out 48 batters in 34 1/3 innings pitched.
AHSTW coach Trey Brix:
