2021 Spring Preview: Wanyesville Baseball

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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Waynesville head coach Tyler Shalbot got a crash course in crisis management last season when spring sports were cancelled during his first season at the helm.

“It was tough last year being my first year in the program and having to cancel,” Shalbot said. “Just our style of play and a lot of techniques that we really didn’t get to because we only had 10 practices and a jamboree last season.”

While most schools are dealing with significant inexperience issues, the cancellation hit the Tigers especially hard.

“We had nine seniors who had a lot of varsity experience, and we had high expectations for last season,” Shalbot said.

A.J. Perkins, Hunter O’Neil, Saul DeHart, Harris Stowe, Aaron Choi, Clayton Bassett, Tyler Boden, Joshua Rumph, Clay Parker and Parker Breeden move on from the program.

Perkins (Crowder College) and O’Neil (Mineral Area College) will continue their respective baseball careers at the next level this season.

“All of those athletes were great and I really enjoyed having them even though it was for a short time,” Shalbot said. “I will never forget that group because I felt they were robbed of having a special senior season.”

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Waynesville returns just one everyday starter from 2019 in senior second baseman/pitcher Hunter Poole. A Paul D. Camp Community College commit, Poole will move across the infield to shortstop this season.

Poole will be joined by classmates Dustin Murphy (pitcher/outfield), L.J. Beam (infield/pitcher), James Turner (utility/pitcher), Keving Cruz (utility) and Gavin Miller (pitcher).

Junior Tigers include Blake Althusius (pitcher/outfield), Aiden McFarland (infield), Issaih Smith (outfield/pitcher) and Ryan Pelky (catcher).

Shalbot also expects a host of sophomores to compete for varsity playing time this spring including Zacari Emperato, Davin Vernon, Dillon Smith, Ethan Taylor and Peyton Breeden.

“We have a lot of questions because of not playing,” Shalbot said. “I could see 15 or more guys gaining varsity experience this year. Our biggest strength is that we are ready to play some baseball just like everyone else should be. The difference between this year’s team and last year’s is experience.”

Waynesville’s biggest question marks early in the season may come on the mound, as most of the team’s pitching was lost to graduation. The Tigers will rely on Poole, Athlusius and Murphy to anchor the staff while several other players develop into supporting roles for the team.

“We are working on developing these guys on the mound and just trying to get them to throw strikes,” Shalbot said. “Two years ago the team as a whole struggled to throw strikes, and it is very hard to win baseball games when you don’t throw strikes.”

At the plate, Shalbot expects his team to take full advantage of speed and high-percentage hitting abilities.

“We have good team speed and are going to be a high-contact team,” Shalbot said. “We will use small ball and baserunning to hopefully put pressure on the other teams.”

While the Tigers may struggle at times early in the season, Shalbot is confident in his team’s ability to develop and compete down the stretch in pursuit of the program’s first winning season since 2012.

“Lack of experience is our biggest obstacle and we will get to the point that we are playing good baseball,” Shalbot said. “We are really going to focus on throwing strikes offensively, making routine plays defensively and putting the ball in play on offense. If we can throw strikes we will be able to compete this season.”

Following a home jamboree on March 11 with Camdenton and Dixon, Waynesville opens its season with a March 20 doubleheader against Lincoln and Vienna at Lincoln.

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