Staff writer
The Marion High School baseball team has seen a transformation in its lineup in recent weeks.
At Hoisington Friday, freshmen Austin Pederson and Jacob Harper played shortstop and second base, respectively, for the majority of the two-game series.
Pederson and fellow freshman Ethan Hett pitched in the first game and saw time on the mound in games against Haven and Smoky Vally.
“The younger guys are the building blocks for this team,” coach Tyler Mermis said. “Austin and Ethan are competitors. They want to win as badly as anyone else.”
Sophomore Cole Lewman has seen the majority of recent innings patrolling right field for the Warriors as well.
The Warriors have also shown a variety of infield setups. Because of second baseman Colton Olsen being gone on a trip and Pedersen is starting on the mound, Wil Case played shortstop, Brian Fruechting played third, and Marshall Ragland played first to start the first game. Case has mostly splited time with Matt Sprowls at third and Fruechting mainly plays first for the Warriors.
The defenders who have their positions firmly locked up and are the foundation of the Marion defense are junior Matt Sprowls behind the plate and senior Adam Maag in center field.
Mermis praised Sprowls’ cannon arm, willingness to block pitches in the dirt, and his intelligence.
“The reason I like Matt at catcher so much is that he can call a game from behind the plate,” Mermis said. “He knows the pitches (for each pitcher) and pays attention to the count. He’ll pay attention to what pitch they struck a batter out on. He’s a smart player.”
Mermis lauded Maag’s speed in the outfield in addition to his extra effort on defensive plays. Two plays stood out on Friday: Maag displayed his arm by gunning a Hoisington runner out at third base and had a diving catch in his glove that just bounced out and landed in the grass.
“I wouldn’t trade Adam for any player in the league,” Mermis said.
The challenge for the Warriors is finding the right balance of youth and experience.
“There’s more potential on this baseball team than any of the teams we’ve played,” Mermis said.
Hoisington
The Warriors lost both games to Hoisington Friday and Mermis attributed both losses to inexperience and mental mistakes.
Marion held a 6-0 advantage going into the third inning of the first game, but the Cardinals struck back with a RBI double to score a run in the third. However, Hoisington’s inning of run production would come in the fourth. The Cardinals scored six runs on seven hits.
The Cardinals continued to put balls into the left- and right-field gaps eventually culminating in a 17-7 win in six innings. Mermis said that Marion outfielders, not used to the extra space in the Hoisington outfield, took the wrong routes to balls and allowed doubles to become triples.
“Little errors are going to hurt us,” Mermis said.
The Warriors again built an early advantage in the second game — Case knocked in Isaac Hett with an RBI double and Pederson scored Case with a single in the first inning. The Warriors tacked on four more runs in the fifth inning — Fruechting had a 2 RBI single and Adam Maag proceeded to knock in Fruechting — but the Cardinals showed their resilient nature and the score was tied going into the sixth inning. Hoisington scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to capture the winning score, 9-6.
Mermis said the Warrior offense missed the bat of Olsen at the top of the lineup. Olsen is regularly the aggressive two-hole hitter for Marion, and Mermis hypothesized, with Hoisington’s expansive field, Olsen would have done some damage.
The Warriors are now 4-10 and are set to play Hillsboro at home Friday.
season stats
Ragland: .091, 5 R, 2 H, 2 RBI
Sprowls: .111, 1R, 3H, 1 SB
Corey Seacat: .250, 4 R, 6 H, 3 RBI, 4 SB
Pederson: .200, 4 R, 6 H, 9 RBI
Case: .447, 12 R, 21 H, 19 RBI, 1 HR, 4 SB
E. Hett: .360, 1 H
Lewman: .360, 5 R, 9 H, 4 RBI, 1 SB
Harper: .200, 3 H, 4 RBI, 1 SB
Olsen: .293, 10 R, 12 H, 7 RBI, 1 SB
I. Hett: .359, 13 R, 24 H, 4 RBI
Maag: .263, 16 R, 12 H, 8 RBI
Fruechting: .286, 16 R, 12 H, 8 RBI
David Helmer: .333, 2H
Abe Eldridge: .200, 1 R, 2 H, 1 SB