By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Following back-to-back second place finishes in the state tournament, Springfield Catholic baseball had a bit of a rebuilding year last season.
The Fightin’ Irish finished with a 12-14 record, falling to Willard in the district semifinal round.
For head coach Courtney Spitz, experience and development for younger players was a huge benefit to the 2024 campaign.
“Last year was a different year for us,” Spitz said. “Our pitching staff lost major leaders and contributors from the prior season. We felt that as a program we were searching for a new identity. There were several new faces into the mix of playing rotations, and we saw a lot of young players rising to the starting lineups. At one portion of our schedule, we saw four freshmen playing on the field positionally.”
A trio of award-winners return to lead Catholic this season in Nic Ruter, Jack Smith and Nate Lask.
Ruter, an all-conference and all-district third baseman and pitcher, hit .416 last season with 19 runs batted in and 15 stolen bases. On the mound, the junior compiled an 0-2 record with a 6.83 earned run average.
“Nic is our top returner, hitting over .400 last season and leading us in many offensive categories,” Spitz said. “We will look forward to more of that, hopefully, as well as lean on Nic for more innings in the pitching rotation when not playing on the infield.”
Smith, an all-conference and all-district junior pitcher, finished with a 4-3 record on the mound and a 3.81 earned run average.
“Jack is our top returning arm in our pitching rotation,” Spitz said. “We will look forward to him leading our pitching staff as well as taking a bigger role offensively. Jack is verbally committed to play baseball for the University of Missouri.”
Lask, an all-district catcher, hit .318 last season with 20 runs batted in and 2 stolen bases.
“Nate is returning as our backstop,” Spitz said. “Nate is one of the top catchers in the area and has the potential to provide a power source in the middle of our lineup.”
Seniors Ben Collier and Daniel Hesemann also return for Catholic.
Collier, an outfielder, hit .255 with 5 runs batted in and 4 stolen bases in 2024.
“Ben is a very strong athletic outfielder,” Spitz said. “Ben does a great job on defense showing above average range and closing speed. We will look for Ben to hit somewhere at the top or bottom end of the lineup to provide speed.”
Hesemann, an outfielder, hit .200 last season with 3 stolen bases.
“Daniel is another athletic outfielder that will provide us both a defensive presence in the outfield as well as some innings in our rotation.”
Junior returnees for the Irish include Bennett Otto and Cole Hunt.
Otto, an outfielder, hit .263 as a sophomore with 5 runs batted in.
“Bennett is a solid right-handed hitter that will have more of a presence in our lineup,” Spitz said. “Bennett has the ability to be a consistent bat and also plays in the outfield.
Hunt, a pitcher, compiled a 1-0 record on the mound and a 5.95 earned run average.
“Cole found his way in our rotation last year as a sophomore and pitched some valuable innings,” Spitz said “We are looking forward to Cole taking a jump and becoming more of a leader for our team on the mound.”
Sophomores Connor Fenske, Elye Henderson and Sam Boster round out Catholic’s returning corps.
Feske, an outfielder, hit .212 last season with 3 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases.
“Connor Fenske is a young, strong and athletic sophomore that will immediately help us offensively, in the outfield and on the mound,” Spitz said. “Connor has power and speed and should showcase those tools well!”
Henderson, a shortstop, hit .156 as a freshman with 6 runs batted in and 2 stolen bases.
“Elye Henderson is another prospect in our talented sophomore class,” Spitz said. “Elye is a solid and athletic infielder that will compete for a starting role at shortstop. Elye also possesses a nice left-handed stick that will provide balance and consistency to our lineup.”
Boster, an outfielder, hit .148 with 3 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases last season.
“Sam is a four-sport athlete this year,” Spitz said. “He will be competing for our track team during our baseball season. When he isn’t with his track teammates, he will compete for a centerfield starting spot. Sam is one of the elite center fielders in the area with great speed and hands as you might have seen on the football field. We look forward to a larger role defensively and offensively for Sam.”
Spitz also expects a quartet of varsity newcomers to step in and compete for playing time this spring in Charlie Fairchild, Hudson McLean, Rhett Layne and Gage Wells.
Spitz on Fairchild: “Charlie is a really strong defender on the infield and will see time at third base this spring. Charlie is a part of a strong sophomore class and he also has the ability to help us on the mound.”
Spitz on McLean: “Hudson is a strong athletic middle infielder that will compete for a starting job at second base. Hudson showcases a nice skill set of speed, power and overall can play multiple positions.”
Spitz on Layne: “Rhett is a junior that will compete for starting positions in the middle infield and help us on the mound. Rhett has grown a lot in the last year or two and will benefit from the strength and length he has gained. Rhett is a promising young hitter that can help us right away in multiple areas.”
Spitz on Wells: “Gage is a big RHP/1B. He has a lot of great tools including a promising young left-handed swing that shows high potential. Gage will help us in our pitching rotation and take on a larger role in the pitching staff.”
Spitz believes the Irish pitching staff will be a work in progress early on, and the team will turn to its defense to alleviate some of the growing pains through its development.
“We will need to play well in all phases to compete with the top Class 5 teams,” Spitz said. “Our biggest team strength right now looks to be our defense. We will have some speed and be able to take away some hits from other teams. We will need to play solid defense to help our pitching staff. That will be a major component to managing our arms through pitch counts and innings pitched!”
On the mound, Spitz will turn to a young staff that will need to adjust quickly to varsity baseball.
“Offensively and on the mound, we have strong players but some of them are young,” Spitz said. “We will have a lot of young arms pitching and rotationally some guys will be in the mix for the first time at the varsity level. We want to play as a young, hungry and aggressive team to be ready to compete every single inning regardless of our opponent or record.”
Following a March 17 jamboree at Rogersville with Nixa and the host school, Catholic opens its season March 22 at Lee’s Summit.
