By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
2022 proved to be a challenge for Marshfield baseball.
The Blue Jays finished with a 10-19 record, falling to West Plains in the district tournament.
Entering his fifth season at the Marshfield helm, head coach William Pate has high expectations for a rebound in 2023.
“Last season was not up to our expectations for our program and we have put in a lot of
work to get back up to our standards,” Pate said. “The biggest key for us is hitting and timely hitting. We struggled with that last year and it will be a major emphasis this season.”
A trio of all-state selections return to help lead the Blue Jays this season in Jackson Rovig, Wyatt Brockman and Henry Berkstresser.
Rovig, a senior first baseman and pitcher, hit .371 with 1 home run, 11 runs batted in and 5 stolen bases last season.
“Jackson is our vocal leader and will be a big part of our lineup,” Pate said. “He has the ability to hit for power and uses all parts of the field. We look for him to have a big season this year.”
Brockman, a senior catcher and pitcher, finished the season with a .354 batting average, 5 home runs, 28 runs batted in and 1 stolen base.
“Wyatt will be our primary catcher and will see some time on the mound from time to time,” Pate said. “He will also be a big part of our lineup and we look for him to have a big year.”
Berkstresser, a sophomore outfielder and pitcher, hit .333 with 13 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases last season.
“Henry was a big part of our lineup last year as a freshman and really made a big impact,” Pate said. “We are looking at moving him to the outfield this year.”
Marshfield also returns senior infielder/pitcher Andrew Beckner, senior pitcher/infielder Kyler Massie, junior outfielder/pitcher Easton Arthur, junior pitcher Eli Reynolds and senior outfielder Tommy Mynatt to the roster.
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Pate also expects a pair of varsity newcomers to compete for playing time in junior infielder/pitcher Tyler Medlock and sophomore infielder/pitcher Sam Perkins.
“We expect to get back to our programs standards and competing for a conference and district championship,” Pate said. “We will be young in some spots but we feel those young players can compete at a high level and will give us a chance to accomplish our goals.”
Pate believes his team will show a significant improvement at the plate this season and provide a competitive advantage.
“We are confident our lineup will be much stronger this season and have the ability to put more runs on the board which will take some pressure off our pitchers and defense,” Pate said. “We will have a mix of guys who can hit for power and guys who are more contact heavy. We will utilize our offensive approach to score runs and put pressure on the defense.”
On the mound, Marshfield will look to deploy a more consistent approach and minimize control issues that hindered the team at times last season.
“Our biggest factor will be eliminating walks/hit by pitches and attacking the zone,” Pate said. We are excited for our pitching staff because we will have some younger players.”
As is the case with many teams, a big challenge for the Blue Jays will be development throughout a relatively young pitching staff.
“We play a lot of games in a short period of time so managing arms will be a big challenge,” Pate said. “We will utilize as many guys as we can and hope that some of our younger players can compete at the varsity level and help contribute.”
Following a March 10 home jamboree with Lebanon and Morrisville, Marshfield will open its regular season March 17 at Excelsior Springs.
