By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Seneca baseball team posted its first winning season in six years last spring.
The Indians went 14-12 and scored double digit runs in half of those victories. They’ve now improved their win total for three-straight seasons.
“We’ve had some decent classes come through and right now we’ve got some good seniors and the junior class behind them is a pretty good group. We’re excited,” head coach Chris Yust said.
Yust said it’s been the same storyline during the program’s recent ascent: a good group of returning players coupled with some new players stepping up.
Seneca lost four starters from last year’s team and three of those earned All-Conference honors in the Big 8 West.
Alex Cook was a first team designated hitter who drove in 16 runs and scored 24 while hitting .329. He also drew 21 walks and stole 24 bases. Gavin Clouse was the team’s pitching ace and earned second team Big 8 honors. He threw 53.2 innings and struck out 75 with a 5-3 record and a 1.95 ERA. Parker Wolfinbarger was a second team infielder at shortstop who hit eight doubles and scored 27 runs while batting .312. And Harris Griffith threw 37.2 innings as the No. 2 starter.
Everyone else should be back this spring, including senior Monty Mailes, who was an honorable mention Class 4 All-State outfielder. He’ll be in center this year. He led the team in hits (38), triples (3), home runs (2) and runs (31) and had the highest batting average, too, at .475. He also led the team in stolen bases with 35, a new school record.
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Senior Daythen Long earned first team Big 8 honors as a utility player and batted .329. He pitched and played in the outfield. He was third on the team with 30 innings pitched; he struck out 30 and had a 3.03 ERA.
Other returning players include senior Zach Cox, who has played catcher the last couple years and also pitched. He scored 24 runs and led the team with 21 walks while batting .329. Junior Titus Atkins returns at first base after starting there as a sophomore. Junior Sebastian Middick started at second base towards the end of the season and will likely move to shortstop. Junior Lance Stephens returns at third base after playing nine games as a sophomore and batting .286. Senior Kayden Hancock also returns after playing in three games at third base.
The Indians, while losing nearly 60 percent of their innings pitched, still return a decent amount of experience on the mound. In addition Long’s 30 innings, Cox also threw 22 innings and struck out 24 with a 3.18 ERA. Two others pitched a handful of innings.
“We’ve got several guys back who can throw,” Yust said. “We’ve got valuable innings coming back.”
Yust sees the pitching staff as a strength, and also expects the team to improve offensively with so many players returning. Seneca batted .313 as a team last spring.
Mailes will bat leadoff, and while Seneca loses some bats from the middle of the order, Yust is confident in returning bats like Long and Cox.
“They’ve been working hard and we’re looking for good things,” Yust said. “Hopefully we’ll compete through each game and give us a chance for conference and districts.”
