By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It would be an understatement to say there is excitement this spring for the Waynesville High School baseball team.
After all, the Tigers have a new coach in Tyler Shalbot, who over the past 10 seasons was 194-89 combined – including seven seasons at Vienna High School, which he guided to a district title and five conference titles.
This for a team that, despite finishing 5-12 last season, returns 11 players with varsity experience.
“I think every season is special. I am excited for this one because it is my first season here,” said Shalbot, a 2004 graduate of Iberia High School who played at Westminster College and then started his career with three seasons at Eugene High School. “We have some really talented athletic kids that have some varsity experience and if we will buy-in to the fact that we can win we could do some special things.”
One of the notable names is Hunter O’Neil, who pitched Waynesville to four of its five wins and also batted.340 He finished with 14 RBI, and his 17 hits included three doubles and two home runs. When he doesn’t pitch, he plays first base – a role he’s held the past three seasons.
“If he can cut down his walks (on the mound), he will be even better this season,” Shalbot said. “At the plate Hunter is a big strong kid who has good gap-to-gap power and should be a middle of the order guy for us.”
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The lineup features seniors Saul Dehart (middle infield), A.J. Perkins (catcher/infielder), Josh Rumph (center field/catcher), Clay Parker (outfield/designated hitter), Shen-Butler Lawson (outfield), Clayton Bassett (outfield/first base) and juniors junior Hunter Poole (infielder), Dustin Murphy (utility) and L.J. Beam (Utility).
Offensively, Waynesville returns 70 percent of its plate appearances and 75 percent of its runs scored. However, the Tigers batted .241 as a team and struck out 30 percent of the time, Shalbot said. He’s wanting them to put the ball in play.
Dehart and Perkins were All-Ozark Conference honorable mention selections. Dehart batted .263 and scored eight runs.
“DeHart is a very athletic middle infielder. He has played on the varsity since his sophomore year and does a good job in the field and at the plate,” Shalbot said. “Saul is very athletic and will hopefully be the spark for the team as he can steal bases and take extra bases while baserunning.”
Perkins, who also was all-district first team, had 63 hits in his .362 batting average and had a .524 slugging percentage.
The pitching staff includes Bassett, a left-handed senior who was injured most of last season, along with Murphy, Dehart, Poole and Beam. Murphy logged 14 innings, striking out 17.
Pitching-wise, Shalbot is putting an emphasis on throwing more strikes. A year ago, Waynesville walked 109 batters and hit 32, all in 103 innings.
The team also has a new assistant in Ryan Weber, who spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Cuba High School.
“Our team goals are to have a good season be more competitive game in and game out,” Shalbot said. “I just want my kids to have a good high school baseball experience.”
