West Fork baseball gets a taste of winning

The West Fork Warhawks saw a big improvement from a 5-17 record in 2023 to a 12-14 record this year which saw the Warhawks make it to the Class 1A Substate 3 Semifinal. Head coach Kayden Ames said he was very pleased with how the season went.

“I know the guys are happy about it too,” Ames said. “We came off a five win season and not a lot of people were expecting much of us and we were able to make it to the district final and a couple of plays away from maybe advancing so I am really pleased with it and how the guys grew in the offseason and into this season.”

A reason for the big jump in the win total was the guys buying into what the coaches were telling them this year.

“Last year at the beginning of the year we had been like ok the last couple of years we had not been a very good baseball team. So we could sit here and continue to be a not really good baseball team, or we can show up every day and want to get better,” Ames said. “That is what the guys did and it paid off.”

The Warhawks had six freshmen and two sophomores this year and Ames said that this experience will be great for their confidence.

“If you look at Zander Hansen and Braylon Shreckengost, they were eighth graders last year and they started pretty much every game for us,” Ames said. “They got a lot of varsity experience and you could see this year when they came in that they were only freshmen but they were playing with these older guys because they do belong because they had that experience. More guys got experience this year so I would think next year that once they got that experience that it is just up from there.”

A strength for the Warhawks was the offense as Ames said that the team knew that to take the next step heading into this season that they needed to hit the ball better.

“We needed more base runners and I think that was huge for us this year,” Ames said. “We cut down on the strike outs and we got on base early and often and that is crucial to winning games.”

Ames said that the success this year was a total team effort.

“Nolan Shreckengost, I knew what to expect from him. I knew that he was going to close to .400 which he did,” Ames said. “Edison Maske was huge for us this year, unfortunately we lose him for next year. But guys like Zander Hansen and Braylon Shreckengost, the way they made the jump. Ashyr Wiseman figured it out at the plate. And Brett Behr, who we did not put into the lineup until the last quarter of the season, he came in and I want to say he probably in six or seven games was hitting close to .400. He was big for us. Everyone played their part perfectly and that was why we were successful.”

One thing that the team can focus on this offseason to take the next step is focusing on the feeling of winning games. 

“There is a good feeling when you win a baseball game and this year we got a real taste of what it feels like to win,” Ames said. “I know that they liked it, I loved it, the crowd, everybody loved it. So hopefully they take that feeling and want more of it. Just keep working and hopefully next year we will be able to have that feeling even more.”