Warhawks baseball looks to build off experience

Following last season which saw the West Fork Warhawks baseball team go 5-17 on the year, the Warhawks are looking to build off the season that saw their young team gain some needed experience.

Warhawks head coach Kayden Ames said last year the Warhawks could have had more wins but lost a few games in the late innings. That experience can help the team this year according to Ames

“We had never been there before as we were really young,” Ames said. “The guys gained experience through that. This year we bring back almost everybody so we want to grow on what we did last year.”

With having so many players coming back, Ames said they will be more familiar with the situations they might encounter during games.

“Last year we were in those situations and we had eighth graders out on the field and freshmen who had not been in those situations before,” Ames said. “This year we are going to find ourselves in close games in the seventh inning and we would have been there before so now we know what it takes and know what we have to do to win those games.”

One strength for the Warhawks according to Ames was how the Warhawks played out on the field even with the limited experience. While the team did not have the best year hitting the ball last season, Ames said he hopes the team can build off of that for this season.

“I am excited for what we could do offensively this year,” Ames said.

During the first few games of the season, Ames said he would like to see the Warhawks be aggressive.

“Baseball is a game of streaks,” Ames said. “Some guys are going to be on a hot hitting streak and some are going to be on a cold streak. So you can’t alway count on everybody always hitting well, but if we are aggressive at our at bats and we try to win those one-on-one battles and get baserunners and be aggressive on the bases and we advance in situations where we are aggressive that is how you score runs.”

Everyone on the team is going to have their own role on the team this year according to Ames.

“We have guys like Nolan Shreckengost, he has been playing since he was an eighth grader on varsity. He is experienced and I know what I am going to get from him and what to expect from him,” Ames said. “Obviously one guy can’t do everything so guys like Zander Hansen and Braylon Shreckengost and some of those younger guys who might not be playing varsity yet, I think they gained that experience last year and are going to take the next step and do some good things for us.”

As the team approaches the midway point and late parts of the season, Ames said he would like to see the team be in a groove on offense and putting the ball in play while batting.

“I truly believe we can compete in the conference,” Ames said. “Last year we were towards the bottom and that is kind of where we have been for a while now. I see no reason with the experience we have from last season to not be competing in the conference.”