Over the past couple of seasons, there has been one prevailing constant for the Warrenton baseball team – coming close to but ultimately falling short of a GAC North Conference championship.
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Over the past couple of seasons, there has been one prevailing constant for the Warrenton baseball team – coming close to but ultimately falling short of a GAC North Conference championship.
As senior Ben Peth sees it, that has to change this year.
“I think one of our goals is a conference championship, especially after losing it by one game the past (two) years,” Peth said. “I think it would be good to finally get over the hump. I'm just going to go out there and throw the ball and keep my teammates' energy up so we can accomplish a few things this year.”
One year removed from a 15-14 overall finish and a 7-3 conference record, which fell short of a title by that one game to St. Charles West for the second straight season, Peth and the Warriors are aiming for more.
Warrenton coach Eric Burle said that, with a core of 10 players who are returning to the fold, in some form, from previous varsity action, it’s not just the team’s 5-1 start as of Record press time that has the coach excited.
The fact that in the early going Warrenton has averaged 10.3 runs per game while giving up 3.3 should provide the coach comfort.
“Every position in the field should be fielded by someone who has at least one year of varsity experience from a group that fielded it well last year,” Burle said. “Defense should be a strength of this team. Offensively, we are coming off a season where we averaged a little more than seven runs per game.”
The overwhelmingly solid core for Warrenton includes junior catcher Austin Haas, senior second baseman Caleb Clark, senior pitcher/first baseman Tyler Oliver, junior shortstop Colin Disilvester, senior centerfielder Joe Goldsmith, senior third baseman/pitcher Troy Anderson, junior outfielder Mason Thompson, Peth, a pitcher/outfielder, sophomore outfielder Keegan Mellegaard, and junior utility/pitcher Bryce Phillips.
Clark leads the offense so far this season, hitting .625 while Anderson’s nine RBI pace the Warriors. On the mound, Goldsmith, Oliver, and Peth have already earned victories. Goldsmith’s 2.33 earned run average is the lowest on the team to date. These numbers reflect the Warriors’ games prior to victories over Wright City and Hannibal last weekend.
Burle said that he’s excited to have such a talented and experience-laden group. The coach added that he feels not only should a conference title hunt be at the forefront for the Warriors, but the chance to be in position for postseason success should be high on the team’s 2024 checklist.
“We have a good number of returning players and guys that have played a lot of baseball, so (I’m) trusting them to make the right decisions for the team,” Burle said. “Keeping things simple and playing extremely hard is vital for this team to maximize potential. We want to play our best baseball heading into districts and hopefully put ourselves in a position to gain a favorable district seed.”
Warrenton began its chase for a GAC North title this week with conference games against Orchard Farm after Record press time on Tuesday and Wednesday.
