It will be a rebuilding year for Bulldogs baseball

Last year the Harrisburg baseball team was one of the best in the state finishing the regular season with a 28-5 record with a team that was strong at the plate, strong in the field and even stronger on the mound, but the Bulldogs ran into an excellent Johnston City freshman pitcher in the first round of the regional and was knocked out by a 4-0 score.

“We were a good team, solid up and down the batting order,” said Harrisburg coach Jay Thompson. “This year we lost our infield defense, we lost 90% of our pitching, and lost a lot of offense. We don’t have a lot of seniors, so we’re counting on what few seniors we do have to provide leadership, because with so many young kids playing they are going to need somebody to keep them steady. At this point it would be stupid for me to put unrealistic expectations on these guys. We’re trying to create the mindset that we want to play a little bit better every day. We have talent and if we just continue to improve I think we’ll be a very good team.”

The Bulldogs open the season at home at Jay Thompson Field Tuesday against Vienna (14-17) followed by a rematch at Johnston City (21-13) Thursday and a Saturday doubleheader against St. Anthony (27-5) at 12:15 and Galesburg (21-15) at 2:30 back at the “Jay.”

Last year’s team was led by six seniors that not only comprised the entire infield, including the catcher and the designated hitter, but four of the top five pitchers leaving Thompson with just three starters and one pitcher to build around this year.

Thompson has the most wins in state history for a single school with 948 and third most overall having coached the Bulldogs from 1982, while missing five seasons in the 2000s, leading Harrisburg to 31 seasons with 20 or more wins, 14 regional titles, eight sectional titles, and six state appearances that included one state title, four second place finishes and one fourth, so Thompson has found success coaching an inexperienced lineup more than once and probably more than 10 times during his 34 years at the helm.

“We’re not overpowering on the mound, but we’re solid, so my hope is we have a bunch of strike throwers,” Thompson said. “Offensively, I like what I’ve seen so far, but the truth of the matter is we are all kind of new, so I hope we get playing well early. I know this team will be a good team when they get a few games under their belts. With so much youth it could conceivably take a while to put it together. Defensively, we’re still a work in progress. I like us in the outfield, but infield needs to keep coming. I think our catchers are good, but we have to see them in a game.”

Out of the lineup that took to the field in the regional game only the outfield returns with senior Reed Rider still in right field, senior Brendan Bergan still in center field and senior Xander Robinson still in left field. Sophomore Ian Crabb, who started at second base in place of the starting pitcher Ethan Golish, is also back.

“Brendan Bergan is a four-year starter, Reed Rider is a three-year starter and Xander Robinson started most of the games last year, so the experience they bring is a huge factor,” Thompson said.

Rider is the top returning hitter finishing with the fourth best batting average (.337) and total hits (30), third best number of stolen bases (9-of-10), fifth best number of doubles (5) and tied for sixth in RBIs (17).

“Reed is an amazing athlete,” Thompson said. “He’s strong as an ox; he’s very fast, and extremely competitive. He’s certainly one of our team’s leaders. He’s good in the outfield. He’s a kid that’s not going to strike out a lot. He’ll hit with some power and gets a lot of base hits, so he’ll hit in the top three in the batting order.”

Bergan was tied for first in triples (1), tied for third in home runs (2), tied for fourth in RBIs (19), tied for fourth in doubles (5), seventh in total hits (23) and eighth in batting average (.277).

“Brendan is a really good player,” Thompson said. “He does everything well. He’s a good defender. He’ll probably be our best hitter and hit in the top three. He’s a good base runner and he will probably pitch some innings this spring.”

Robinson was tied for first in triples (1), 10th in RBIs (7) and total hits (7) and 11th in batting average (.206) and doubles (1).

“Xander runs well and is a solid outfielder,” Thompson said. “We need him to swing the bat a little bit better, but he’s looked good in practice so far.”

The top outfield reserves are two sophomores Rylan Palmer and Laban Phelps. Palmer played in six games last year with only four plate appearances and two official at-bats. Technically, he led the team with a 1.000 batting average reaching base all four times on two hits, a walk and once by being hit. He made something happen every time he reached base scoring four times, driving in a run and stealing a base. Phelps didn’t have any varsity appearances.

“Both Palmer and Phelps have looked good in the outfield,” Thompson said. “Palmer will be a left fielder. He can really swing the bat and really run. Phelps has improved as much as anybody we have. He is really good defensively and capable of playing center field. I can see using him as a defensive replacement.”

Last year’s team finished with a .314 batting average led by last year’s infield and designated hitter with a .336 combined batting average, 128 of the team’s 189 total hits, 41 of the 57 doubles, one of the three triples, 14 of the 18 home runs and 132 of the 192 runs batted in.

As experienced as the infield was last year it will be just as or more inexperienced this season. Senior Brady Davis and junior Felix Maynard are battling it out at catcher. Davis played in 15 games finishing with a .294 batting average out of 17 at-bats on five hits, including two doubles, one RBI and four runs scored. He also reached base on four walks and on an error. Maynard played in two games with two at-bats, reaching base once on a walk and driving in a run on a sacrifice fly.

“Davis didn’t get to play a lot because he had Jack Ford ahead of him,” Thompson said. “Maynard is really pushing Brady. Both can swing the bat.”

Senior Owen Rann replaces Braden Burtis at first. Freshman Dax Randolph replaces Ethan Golish at second with Crabb moving to short to replace Cam Ande. Sophomore Aidan Hankins replaces Noah Arnold at third.

“Owen is a great athlete, who’s strong and fast, and I look for him to have a great year,” Thompson said. “When Owen pitches I will probably go to sophomore Burke Wilson. Dax is a very advanced freshman — he will not be what people expect from a freshman. He will be an important part of our lineup. He can swing the bat, he can run, he can throw, and he’s an outstanding defender. Crabb is a good hitter and a good defender. He can throw, he can run, he’s just a good baseball player. At this point Hankins will start at third. He’s really good offensively. He can really hit. He’s fast and a really good base runner.”

Crabb played in 12 games last year and finished with a .238 batting average in 21 at-bats with five hits, five walks, five runs scored and 3-of-3 steals.

The backup infielders are junior Brody Nyberg at first and third and sophomore Ray Varner at second base.

“At the beginning of the year all nine position guys will hit for themselves, so I won’t be using a designated hitter,” Thompson said.

Last year the four seniors and one junior that led the pitching staff pitched 194 of the 218 innings pitched, made 54 of the 71 total appearances, made 32 of the 34 starts and had 27 of the 28 wins while finishing with a 1.45 earned run average.

The only returning pitcher of the top five is Rann, who pitched 35.2 innings in 22 games with six starts posting a 3-1 record and a 1.98 earned run average. The other four top pitchers from last year combined for a 1.12 ERA.

“Owen pitched very effectively last year and he will be our best this year,” Thompson said. “We don’t have any pitchers who are great, but we have a lot that are good. Parker Clarida and Nyberg will probably be our number two and three pitchers, no particular order, and Crabb could make a big jump at any time. He looks good.”

Last year Crabb made six appearances with one start pitching 12 innings with a 4.67 ERA. Clarida pitched three innings in three appearances with a 7.00 ERA. Nyberg pitched in one game pitching 1.1 innings giving up no runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts leaving the bases loaded.

“I’ve got five or six other guys who are all in the same boat that I think will help us,” Thompson said. “I’ve got Bergan, who hasn’t pitched a ton, but we think he can pitch some innings for us. I’ve also got two freshmen kids that will probably get considerable innings. Randolph is one of them and Max Davidson is the other. He’s another advanced freshman.”

Bergan had one appearance last year pitching 1.1 innings giving up one earned run on three hits and four walks.

Rounding out the pitching staff will be three sophomores Colton Langley, Drake Whitmire, and Maddox Smothers.

“A lot of these guys I’m talking about are not going to go out and pitch seven innings, so we’re going to have some days where it’s going to take us three guys to pitch through it,” Thompson said. “So we have to have a lot of guys able to pitch this year in order to keep running fresh arms out there.”