As the seasons begin new faces and old are sticking out
By Blake Metiva
Another winter has come and gone, and another season for the baseball and softball teams is heating up. Both teams kicked off their seasons during spring training over spring break and have been working hard to shake off the rust of a long winter.
Returnees dominate
The baseball team returned 14 players from last season’s roster that won 13 games, and the sophomore members of the team have dominated. Through nine games outfielder Ethan Edmondson leads the team in RBIs with seven, batting average with a .556 and stolen bases with four. Pitcher/outfielder Layne Hornung leads the team in hits with 11 and is second in RBIs with six, average with a .500 and stolen bases with three. Catcher Jey Oliviarez is third on the team in average with a .455, while first baseman Mason Mellott has the teams only home run on the season.
As a whole, the baseball team have scored 59 runs, have a .267 batting average, a .409 on base percentage, and are slugging .347. The record so far may not reflect the work they’ve put in though: a 3-6 record with multiple blowout losses.
New faces making waves
The softball team returned three members from last season: Annabelle Carlson, Megan Mankey and Cadence Swartz. Carlson is off to a slow start this season slumping through five games. Mankey is second on the team in RBIs, hits, walks and average. Swartz is second on the team in innings pitched and third in strikeouts.
While the sophomores are the leaders of the team, multiple freshmen are leading in statistical categories: outfielder Jolie Buschlen and catcher Kortney Kotenko are tied for the lead in RBIs having five apiece; outfielder Hannah Hycki is first in hits with 11, utility player Kennedy Tiitola leads with four walks. On the pitching side, Geena Gauthier leads with 31 strikeouts and 29 innings pitched.
Overall, the softball team has scored 32 runs across their 10 games. They’re batting .243, have a .306 OBP and a .298 slugging percentage.
Both teams have had their growing pains, but as the season rolls on they’ll be looking to improve on their records from last year and make runs toward the tournaments.
