By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Glendale baseball enjoyed another banner season in 2021.
The Falcons finished with a 20-12 record, falling in the Class 5 sectional round to eventual state champion Willard.
Head coach Jim Julian, entering his fourth season at the helm, was pleased with the way his team came together for a strong finish.
“Last year’s team was one of the more fun teams I have coached,” Julian said. “We were hovering around .500 towards the middle of the year, and then ripped off 11 straight wins at the right time. We had a senior group that made the decision that we weren’t going to just put it on cruise and finish the year out, but refocus our priorities and see what we could do!”
A host of graduates departed the program, including Isaac Wells, Zach Beatty, Jude Burch, Carson Wade, Justin Letterman, Andrew Clemons and Kent Lockhart.
Wells (St. Louis Community College), Beaty (North Arkansas Community College) and Burch (Baptist Bible College) will continue their respective baseball careers at the next level this season.
Wells and Beatty were 2021 all-state honorees.
Despite the losses, Glendale has plenty of reasons to be optimistic heading into the spring campaign.
A pair of seniors will help lead the Falcons in Jackson Talburt and Jayden Tarbet.
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Talburt will pitch and play first base.
“Jackson will look to break into the lineup as a first baseman this spring,” Julian said. “He will also be counted on to give us some innings on the mound. He is a very hard working individual that loves the game.”
Tarbet will battle for a starting role at catcher.
“Jayden will compete for the starting catcher job this spring,” Julian said. “He does a good job defensively and has really worked hard this off-season on his fundamentals.”
The duo will be joined by a quartet of returning juniors in DJ Cofield, Brooks Kettering, Carter Lewis and Spencer Pottebaum.
Cofield, an outfielder, hit .312 last season and stole 7 bases.
“DJ was a starting outfielder for us last spring,” Julian said. “He played center and left depending on what the lineup looked like that day. He has good speed and made some really tough plays for us. He handles the bat well, has plus speed and puts a lot of pressure on the defense with his baserunning.”
As an infielder last season, Kettering hit .319 with 27 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases. He was named to both all-conference and all-district teams.
“Brooks will more than likely play shortstop for us when he is not on the mound,” Julian said. “He is a solid defender with a good arm. He will be counted on to be one of our leaders on the mound. Last season he showed the ability to hit with power and put together solid team ABs.”
Lewis, a first baseman and outfielder, was an all-conference selection in 2021. He hit .253 with 20 runs batted in.
“Carter will compete for the first base job this spring and will also look to break into the pitching rotation,” Julian said. “He has added about 20 pounds of muscle this off-season and made positive jumps in exit velo and arm strength. Last season he hit anywhere from top three in the lineup to middle-bottom – versatile hitter with a lot of potential.”
Pottebaum, a pitcher and infielder, is expected to be a candidate for additional innings on the mound for the Falcons.
“Spencer is a tall, lanky prototypical pitcher-type,” Julian said. “He threw well for us at times last season and will be competing for a spot in the rotation this spring.”
Sophomores Mark Ross and Kaleb Julian also return for Glendale.
Ross hit .170 with 9 runs batted in, while Kaleb Julian posted a 1-0 record on the mound and 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings.
“Mark got some spot starts last season at third base,” Coach Julian said. “He is a versatile player that can do a number of things. Kaleb will compete for a spot on the infield as well as for innings on the mound. He showed some promise at the varsity level on the mound as well in limited innings and will compete to be in the rotation this spring.”
A host of varsity newcomers will compete for playing time including senior pitcher/outfielder Jacob House, sophomore pitcher/outfielder Kellen Lindstrom, sophomore catcher/outfielder Alex Rankin, sophomore pitcher/first baseman Drew Wedgeworth, sophomore pitcher/infielder Cam Stratton, junior pitcher/outfielder Drew Replogle, junior infielder Ryder Young, junior pitcher/outfielder Kaden Cardwell, sophomore pitcher/outfielder Brayden Biggers, sophomore pitcher/outfielder Kelson Radford, sophomore pitcher/infielder Brandon Phillips and freshman pitcher/infielder Sebastian Norman.
“We are excited to get the season started,” Coach Julian said. “We will be a young team, and our success this spring will largely be dependent on how some of our more varsity inexperienced guys adjust to varsity baseball. I think that we will have a good mix of guys in the lineup that can play small ball if we need to, or drive the ball as well. Defensively, we strive to make the routine plays, and mix in a great play if we get the opportunity.”
On the mound, Glendale will be largely young, inexperienced and a likely question mark as the season begins.
“Our pitching staff is kind of the great unknown,” Coach Julian said. “We return three guys that had more than ten varsity innings on the mound last season. On the other hand, we return eight guys that all got on the mound last year in varsity games. We will need some of those guys, and some underclassmen to step into a varsity role ready to contribute.”
After graduating five starters last season, Glendale’s lineup will also be a work in progress heading into the season.
“Following in the footsteps of our pitching staff, we are going to have to have some underclassmen and some guys that got limited varsity ABs last year to step into those roles and quickly adjust to varsity level pitching,” Coach Julian said. “I do think our overall team speed will be an advantage for us as well as our ability to play small ball. Our mission will be to put as much pressure on the defense as we can in a variety of ways.”
Following a March 15 jamboree at Hillcrest, Glendale opens its regular season March 18 against Kennett at Willard.
