Neosho named longtime assistant coach Bo Helsel the new head coach of the Wildcats in the offseason and he is ready to help turn the program around after a 4-23 season a year ago.
“The team is very excited for the upcoming season,” Helsel, who spent six years as an assistant in the program, said to SoMo Sports. “We struggled last year, so our guys are ready to show (Southwest Missouri) and the (Central Ozark Conference) what we are really made of. We have preached culture over and over with our guys and they have put in the time and effort to produce a solid season for Neosho.”
Neosho welcomes four members from a year: junior shortstop/pitcher River Brill, junior P/INF Carter Fenske, junior C Eli Zar and junior OF/P Wyatt Shadwick.
The Wildcats will rely on several newcomers this season to fill the void of the departing senior class from a year ago. Expected to contribute at the varsity level is senior 2B/P Carson Williams, senior OF/P Reese Miller, senior OF Matthew Velasco, junior OF/P Austin Rodriguez, junior UTL/P Kael Smith, junior 1B/P Carter Baslee, sophomore 3B/P Quenton Hughes and junior UTL/P Coty Dumond (a move in from McDonald County).
“I think we will compete in the COC and in districts as well,” Helsel said about the upcoming season. “We have a few seniors that we will rely on for leadership and a massive junior class that is going to get the bulk of our playing time. A lot of our juniors this year already have varsity experience playing in the COC, so they won’t be intimidated when it comes to our conference schedule.”
When asked what he felt the strengths of his team were going to be, Coach Helsel said he felt the weaknesses for the Wildcats a year ago would turn into the team’s strengths this season. And that is thanks to the work he has seen his team put in during the offseason.
“All offseason and the first few weeks of practice we have consistently told our players that we need to throw strikes and limit strikeouts,” Helsel said. “If you do those things in high school baseball you are setting yourself up for success. I believe that the effort we put into these two things will end up being a strength for us, where last year it was a weakness.”
As Neosho heads into the inaugural Roy B. Shaver Classic baseball tournament scheduled Thursday-Saturday, the major concern for the Wildcats this season is preventing innings to snowball out of control.
“The big area of concern for our kids will be limiting the big innings,” Helsel said. “We have struggled occasionally in really bearing down and keeping the crooked numbers off the scoreboard for the other team. If we can stay focused when the other team is rolling and get out of innings with clutch defense or pitching, we have a solid chance to overcome this challenge.
Neosho (2-0) opens the Roy B. Shaver Classic with a 2:30 p.m. matchup against Reeds Spring before battling Parkview at 7:30 on Thursday.
