By Chris Parker
Central baseball will rely on a quintent of upperclassmen for leadership this year, as the Bulldogs look to improve on last season’s three-win campaign.
Those five players include: Nate Elsenraat (junior shortstop), Ahmias Hart (senior third baseman), Ashton Stine (senior right fielder), Jadyn Lewis (senior utility/center fielder) and Isaiah Harvey (senior outfielder).
Coach Jerrod White on Elsenraat: “Calm leadership, great fundamentals, and our most experienced player.”
White on Hart: “Coming off a great football season at quarterback, we’ll lean on him to produce runs and lead our young team.”
White on Stine: “Standout football player, very strong. We look for him to lead our outfield and provide quality at bats all season.”
White on Lewis: “Top-notch athlete. Played all over for us last year.”
White on Harvey: “Very fast and very strong. Last year was his first year of baseball and he caught on quickly, leading our team in stolen bases.”
Elsenraat is the only returning all-conference player for the Bulldogs. He was named honorable mention all-conference on the infield last year.
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The pitching staff will be anchored by a pair of underclassmen in sophomore Dakota Walton and freshman Aiden Wallace. Walton led the team in innings pitched last year. He is an adept strike thrower. Wallace is a left-handed pitcher who has played a lot of travel baseball.
Cameron Howard (senior), Barrett Burns (freshman) and Hart are all candidates for time behind the plate at catcher.
Wallace (first base) and John Gonzalez (second base) will join Elsenraat and Hart on the infield. Walton will join Lewis and Stine in the outfield playing left.
Central has worked hard in the off-season to get stronger.
“Winter weights have been well-attended and intense,” White said. “We’re excited to see that translate to the field. We encourage each other always while holding all accountable. We face adversity day in and day out and choose to find strength in overcoming the obstacles we’ll encounter.”
The development of a young pitching staff will be key to Central’s success.
“Pitching is going to determine a lot for us. We work every day to develop arms and pitches,” White said. “Our new assistant coach Aaron Alexander (pitched at Drury) has the task of securing our rotation and bullpen.”
Central opens the season on Mar. 18 at home against Spokane.
