By Chris Parker
Diamond baseball is poised to take a step forward in coach Ty Shaver’s second season with six starters and eight lettermen returning from last season’s 13-win team.
“I’m excited to get started this year and I know the boys are too,” Diamond head coach Ty Shaver said. “We’ve talked a lot about the expectations for this year and us as a team taking that next step forward from last season, and we are all just excited to get out there and make it happen.”
There will be a host of players contributing innings on the mound at the varsity level including Kale Adams (junior), Grady Bentley (senior), Adam Brown (senior), Colton Byers (junior), Braden Dieckhoff (junior), Brailen Hicks (sophomore), Maddox Youngblood (junior), and Giancarlo Martinez (junior).
Brown will get a majority of the innings at catcher with junior Eastan Badley catching when Brown pitches. Brown hit .386 with 15 RBI as a junior. Badley contributed seven RBI with a .200 batting average.
The infield lineup is not set in stone according to Shaver, but Badley, Aaden Demery (sophomore), Martinez, Hicks and Bentley are all in the mix for spots on the dirt. Bentley hit .420 with 22 RBI while posting a 1.90 ERA with 69 strikeouts on the mound. Hicks hit .270 with 9 RBI.
Brown and Bentley will be key leaders.
“Adam Brown and Grady Bentley will be two of our big leaders this year, Shaver said. “They are both upperclassman with a lot of experience and look to end their high school career with a big splash. They both work incredibly hard and push all of their teammates to get better every day.”
Adams, Byers, Wyatt Housh (senior) and Raphael Rangel (junior) are options in the outfield with Youngblood potentially playing in the infield or outfield. Adams hit .318 with 17 RBI last season. Youngblood drove in 17 runs and hit .283 as a sophomore.
Shaver has seen a lot of improvement across the roster over the off-season.
“I’ve been really impressed with some of our guys that didn’t have full blown starting spots last season that will factor in this year,” Shaver said. “Aaden Demery has worked in his self into an opportunity to see a significant increase in innings. Eastan Badley has looked really good at first base so far and can help us out on the corner. I’ve also been impressed with the progress made by Kale Adams and Maddox Youngblood this offseason on the mound; both of those guys have made strides with locating their pitches and hitting their spots.”
The Wildcats will lean on defense and pitching.
“Defense is always the area I try to have nailed down because at its core baseball is a defensive game,” Shaver said. “We are really fortunate to have a lot of upperclassman arms this year, so pitching and defense should be a strength for us.”
Diamond opens the season Mar. 20-23 at the Lamar Tournament.
“I expect us to go out and compete for a conference and district championship,” Shaver said. “We have a lot of upperclassmen and a lot of guys that have been working hard for this year, and we need to go out and work with a focus that reflects that every day and make those dreams a reality.”
