Carl Junction will have plenty of new faces stepping into bigger roles for the upcoming 2022 baseball season.
The Bulldogs finished with 18 wins a year ago but after graduating 10 seniors that made up much of the starting lineup as well as the rotation, Carl Junction is looking for several kids to step up and replace the production in order to continue the success from last season. While it may take some time to get their footing under them, the Bulldogs have high expectations with interest in the program noticeably climbing.
“We lost a really good senior group,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “A lot of those guys played at the varsity level in the program for multiple years.
“Regarding what we have coming back, I will say this—our offseason numbers are as high as they have ever been. There is a lot of interest and we had a good summer. We had a lot of guys start to figure out their roles, and we had a good offseason in attendance and commitment there. And in the spring, we have had the most guys come out for baseball since I have been here.”
Despite losing five all-conference players (Alex Baker, Noah Southern, Carson Johnson, Drew Beyer and Dylan Eck) and being forced to replace their production in one offseason, Coach Stevenson has the utmost confidence in his roster to transition into more important roles. By what he has seen in practice leading up to the season, he feels his team is on the right track.
“We feel like we have guys who can step into their roles,” Stevenson said. “It certainly might take us a little bit to hit our stride, but I feel like we have been able to add competition in practice to allow ourselves to figure out what guys need to be on the field. It will just be a continued evaluation to make sure we have guys in the right spots to succeed as we go through the season.”
THE ROSTER
The good news—Carl Junction returns six seniors with varsity experience. Senior IF/P Kyler Perry leads the list of returning upperclassmen. Perry is joined by IF/P Dalton Mills, OF/P Jordan Woodruff, C/P Shane Diskin, OF Cole Wilson and OF/P Hunter Cantrell. Junior OF/P Arlen Wakefield also returns with varsity experience.
In addition to Wakefield, the Bulldogs are expected to be boosted by the junior class made up of IF/P Drew Massey, IF/P Logan Eck, UTL/P Mekhi McGarry, IF/P Lucas Vanlanduit, IF/P Jacob Ford, IF/P Braxton Smotherman and OF/P Gage Carson.
“I think we are going to be able to pick it up on defense,” Stevenson said when asked what he feels the team’s strengths will be. “If you would have asked me after last season, I would have said pitching was something of a concern. Going through the offseason and going through our scrimmages over the last couple of weeks, with the guys that we have, pitching could turn into a strength for us as well if we have the ability to throw strikes and pitch to contact.”
And with so many new faces expected to take on big roles at the varsity level, Stevenson is aware it may take time to find a rhythm offensively. However, Stevenson plans to use the flexibility of his roster to give his kids the best chance to succeed at the plate in every matchup.
“Offensively, we lost some pretty key bats,” Stevenson said. “I think we have guys who can fill that void, it is just going to take time in-game against live pitching to hit our stride offensively. That will be something we will have to continue to better ourselves and make sure that the lineup fits for that (specific) game throughout the season.
“There may be times we ask a guy to be in our lineup for a particular game because of a matchup. Then, that person might have to wait a couple of games before sliding back into that spot. It is just going to be about understanding roles and understanding their abilities offensively … It will just take game experience.”
ON DECK
Carl Junction opens the season with a doubleheader against Neosho and Monett on Saturday at Roy B. Shaver Field.
