The Bluffton baseball team locked in a dead-even .500 season last year with 13 total wins. A first-round loss to Woodlan in the sectional ended the season quickly, also the second-best team in the conference.
Even though the Tigers lost three valuable pieces to the roster last year due to graduation, the team was still relatively young and now is just another year of experience older.
Fourth-year head coach Jason Pierce is excited for the season and is optimistic based on his team’s experience, returning talent, and loads of pitching. With a team motto to “get one percent better” each practice, the Tigers coach is looking for big things from his group.
“We have done a lot of growing up as a team over the past two seasons with our youth,” he said. “These kids know what it takes to compete at a high level. They have seen it. I think the maturity is there, and we just can’t wait to get on the field.”
The pitching staff is the strong suit for the Tigers, and its ace Braxton Betancourt shines the brightest of the bunch.
As a sophomore, he led the team in several categories on the bump, including 60 innings (36 more than second best) — 125 strikeouts (92 more than second), posted a 1.63 earned run average, and allowed for only 24 hits (two were for extra bases). The now junior is not new to the high-intensity leadership role as he was also the starting quarterback for the football team that won the sectional for the first time in several years.
Pierce mentions Eli Garret (14 innings last year), Brody Lewis, Nick Pastori, Andrew Onuegbu, and AJ Streveler to help eat innings on the mound.
For position players and the offensive side, the Tigers bring back some pop, too.
The trio of juniors, Betancourt, Garrett, and Brody Lewis, have all been on the varsity team for their third year now and will be leading the group.
Betancourt returns as the top RBI man with 19 and will head over to first base when not on the mound while also hitting .364 and having 12 extra-base hits. If any of his numbers didn’t impress, he also stole 29 bags in in 26 games.
Garrett hit .324 and will be hovering second base. Lewis hit .276 and will be splitting time behind the plate and helping fill corner outfield slots.
Onuegbu hit .333 with power and will quarterback the infield at shortstop.
Pierce also mentioned the newly signed Manchester University centerfielder in Drew Pressler.
When talking about goals for the season, coach Pierce kept it simple.
“It is always a team’s goal to win their conference, win their sectional, and all those things,” he said. We are no different. We want those things too. Those are difficult tasks to accomplish with the quality of competition in and outside of our conference. I do know this, our team wants it and they are working beyond measure to ensure we put our best selves on the field every day.”
In the conference standings, the Tigers will look to bulk up past the fourth-place finish but will have to do so with a tough out in Heritage, Woodlan, Jay County, and Adams Central.
