With the vast majority of the Wilsonville lineup returning, the Wildcats are on a massive redemption tour after losing to the Thurston Colts in the semifinals last May.
The Wildcats are returning loads of talent from last years team, Luke Haener, Justin Schramm, and Wade Hagey form a three headed monster for a starting rotation. (Haener has committed to play baseball at Regis University while Schramm has decided to play for Colorado Mesa University).
Haener won Pitcher of the year in the Northwest Oregon Conference last year while also taking home a first team all-state award. Schramm was a first team all league pitcher and Hagey also nabbed some hardware, winning second team all league pitcher.
Behind the dish will be a combination of Mark Wiepert (Oregon State commit) and Gavin O’Leary, Wiepert was a second team all league catcher last year and his counterpart O’Leary will most likely give Wiepert a spell when there are games on back to back days. Both are great defensively and look to be a part of a great battery day in and day out.
The infield will consist of the likes of the aforementioned Haener, Schramm, and Hagey at the corner infield spots depending on who is on the bump. Kheller Larson and Berkley Reents will patrol the middle infield, both won all league honors for the infield last year Larson winning first team with Reents being a second team selection.
Larson will play baseball at Arizona Christian University next year while Reents will make the 30 minute drive to George Fox to continue his baseball career.
Kheller Larson talked about what he was looking forward to the most going into his Senior season: “Coming together as a family all of us having a great season playing well and being the best team we can be I am really excited.”
The outfield group includes Luke Larson, Drew Hall, and Cooper Adams. Hall won second team all league in the outfield last year while Adams won first team all league utility. Larson looks to break out this year and will also attend George Fox next year and be playing baseball next spring.
Drew Hall spoke about what this Wilsonville team has improved on the most during the offseason: “We have been working on driving through the ball, keeping it low and hitting it hard”
He also spoke on how the experience from last season will be very beneficial to what he hopes is another deep playoff run: “We have worked hard to prove that we can get back to where we were and farther, we have gained a lot of experience and have been working on the mistakes that held us back from the big game last year”.
Owen Eggert and Connor Johnston are very talented Juniors who will battle it out for spots and at bats when they can but due to the talented deep lineup Wilsonville possesses they will most likely play a smaller role.
Alec Foltz, Elijah Rasco, and Maverick Summers are all Seniors who will all play specialty roles for this Wildcat squad. Foltz has a lot of pop but is recovering from a broken collarbone that forced him out of last years baseball season,
Rasco will most likely get some work out of the bullpen as he looks to find some control that runs in tandem with some great stuff from the right side. Summers is a great runner and defender in the outfield that head coach Bryn Card should give a lot of pinch running duties to as well as late game defensive substitutes.
With such a skilled and extensive group this Wilsonville team looks to exorcise their playoff demons in the 2024 season. The Wildcats will open their season on Tuesday March 12th at 4:30 as they take on the West Albany Bulldogs.