Ty Coulter is back as the West Hancock baseball coach. And with him he will have five seniors that have seen a lot of playing time throughout their careers.
Graduated were three key parts of the West Hancock baseball program the past few years in Bryan Gerhardt, who was the starting shortstop, Alec Hymes, one of the top pitchers last season who also played in right field, and Luke Jacquot, the starting first baseman. Their leadership will be missed.
But this year’s team is a pretty experienced group. A total of seven returners, if you count the underclassmen. Last year’s full time designated hitter (DH), Braxton Scott, will now slide over to the first base slot.
Coulter said there could be three open spots if he decides to use a DH this year.
“Scott brings a good bat to the plate every time and we’re hoping he takes some of that to the field and plays good first base defense for us,” he said.
Coulter has five seniors this year.
Jacob Martens will return as catcher.
“He was the starting catcher last year and he caught about half the games his sophomore year,” Coulter noted. “Jacob’s got a lot of experience behind the plate for us.”
Mason Stevenson will cover second base.
“Mason was kind of a utility knife for us last year,” the West Hancock coach said. “This year he’s gonna be our primary second baseman. He will play some short and pitch on the side a little bit, too.”
Gage Scott is in his fourth year starting in the outfield. Gage was an all-conference outfielder last year and will also be in the starting rotation.
Hoyt Tripp started for the Titans in left field last year and will field the position again.
Kyle Smith mostly just pitched last year and was an extra guy in the infield, Coulter reported. “This year we’re gonna need a little bit more out of him,” he said. “He’ll be a primary pitcher, but he’ll be a back-up corner infielder as well. He will play first, third and maybe even some second base, we’ll see.”
Junior Grayson Conkright will slide over from third to shortstop this year.
“Grayson will remain in the starting pitching rotation like he was last year,” Coulter stated. “Braxton Scott, who I already mentioned, is gonna be moved from DH to first base for us this year, so that should be the seven returners.”
Other juniors out for the team this year are Brayden Barnett, Cole Fortado, Alten Lowman and Ithan Schmidt. The sophomore class includes Brayden Carter, Layton Conkright, Juris Porhen, Hayden Svejda, Keagan Todd, Adam Pena and Owen Vinson.
Coulter talked about the weather to start the preseason.
“The weather’s been surprisingly good for a late February early March,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of good days to be outside and be on the field. Normally we’re stuck indoors and waiting to get outside so that’s been a positive we are hoping that we can stick with the good weather.
“I wouldn’t say we’re ahead of the curve, I’d say we might be ahead of where we normally are, but so is everyone else, I mean ‘cause we’ve all been outside.”
The expectations for this year’s team?
“Pretty high,” Coulter responded. “I mean with seven returning starters. I’m hoping to do at least as well as we did last year and hopefully better. I mean we still have a talented group of kids. We should still be able to throw out a competitive guy on the mound pretty much every game. We have plenty of good arms left. Every one of our seniors can pitch if we need them to and with all that experience we should be able to get some wins. Especially those close hard-fought wins. The experience should be able to pay off in those games.”
He plans for his team to contend for a top spot in the West Central Conference.
“We were second in the conference behind QND (Quincy Notre Dame) last year and we’re hoping we can at least be that high and I’d like to see them win a conference title,” Coulter said. “I mean there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to at least compete for it. But we gotta come out and play ball ‘cause they’re gonna be trying to do the same thing.”
As of this writing, the Titans are 2-3 with wins over Mercer County and Canton, Mo., and losses to Rushville-Industry, Liberty and Payson.
