By JOSH BURRIS
It was a bit of an inconsistent year for the Bluffton Tigers on the baseball diamond last season.
After initially starting the season off with four straight wins, the Tigers followed with six straight losses and had another eight-game stretch later in the season without a win.
However, they finished the year off with a 14-16-1 overall record and made it all the way to the sectional championship game where they lost to Eastside. Five of those losses also were by just one run.
Coach Jason Pierce, who coached his first season with the team last year, said while the team was young, it made a lot of progress by the end of the year.
“I think we turned around and did well,” Pierce said. “We had some good wins in there. We had some bad losses, but games we were supposed to compete in, we did. And I think games we weren’t expected to compete in we either lost by a run or got by with a win. So we took some large strides last year with this youth and this group earning some experience at a varsity level really early.”
The Tigers’ pitching staff is much deeper this season Pierce said.
Leading the way on the mound will be sophomore Braxton Betancourt, who led the team in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched as a freshman.
Others coming back to pitch for the Tigers will be seniors Brock Drayer, Dylan King, and Grant Thompson, junior Curtis Ellis, and sophomore Eli Garrett.
The Tigers will have senior Kyler Rolston, junior Andrew Onuegbu, and sophomore Brody Lewis available to pitch this season as well this year.
Around the diamond, Betancourt will also play first base and outfield, Drayer will play shortstop, Garrett will play second base, Ellis will play third, Thompson will play first base, Lewis will play catcher, King will play outfield, and Rolston and Onuegbu will play second base and shortstop as well.
In addition, the Tigers will have senior Lukas Hunt in the outfield, third base, and catcher, junior Drew Pressler in center field, and junior Kayden King behind the plate.
Junior Austin Davis and sophomore Nick Pastore are two newcomers from JV that could see time on the field this year as well. Both have spent most of their time at middle infield, and Pastore has also pitched.
Pierce is excited about the defensive versatility the team has.
“We’ve got at least nine to 10 different arms on our squad that we feel can consistently keep us in the strike zone and make them put the ball in play. Defensively, I think we are returning experience everywhere,” Pierce said. “We have a lot more versatility this year and a lot more options available to be able to throw. Just around the whole diamond we have kids we can utilize.”
The Tigers had to navigate a tough ACAC last year, and Pierce expects their conference to be challenging once again.
South Adams is the defending champion and a team Pierce said will be gunning for another. He added Adams Central and Heritage are also always well-coached teams, Jay County returns a lot of talent, Woodlan has a solid, young pitching staff, and Southern Wells should be better this season too.
Pierce said whoever wins the conference will definitely earn it.
“I think the conference is going to be very strong again this year. I know there’s good pitching throughout the conference,” he said. “I think it’s all going to come down to doing the little things, playing solid defensively, and putting the ball in play. There’s no doubt in my mind that we can compete with anybody that we play with, but it’s going to be tough competition. The ACAC is just as good as it’s always been I think.”
The Tigers have adopted the motto of “together” and Pierce said team chemistry is looking good in practice so far. He likes the strong senior leadership he has on the team as well with Rolston and Drayer leading the way as captains.
As a team, the Tigers’ goals include finishing as the ACAC champion and winning at least 20 games this season. Pierce said with the maturity he has seen from the team mentally, those are both goals they are capable of achieving at Bluffton.
“Our expectations are high, but we are humble. I feel like we know as a team what we are capable of, but we just have to control the mental aspect of that better than we did last year,” Pierce said. “I think just the experience and being on the field last year is going to help translate into a whole lot better mental control this year of the game of baseball.”
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