Baseball team has the talent to compete for the league title

The Cascade Kodiak baseball team will seek to rebound from their first losing season under Head Coach Mike Kelly, who is now in his seventh year. Even though numbers are down this year, Kelly is confident he has the talent to compete for the league title. 

There are 17 kids turning out, so there will not be a junior varsity, unfortunately. 

“I have three seniors. We have six or seven freshman. It will change. There is an ebb and flow. We’ll ebb and get our numbers back. We’ve worked hard with Todd McDevitt. He’s running our youth baseball program, doing a great job. He has a great board of directors,” Kelly said. “When we really noticed it is when soccer went year round. Soccer in the fall, soccer in the spring.”

Over Kelly’s seven years, there are been some very good teams. Last year was his first losing season. 

“We’ve been led by some good crews. We’re led by our seniors every single year. It’s rare once in awhile we’ll get a junior or sophomore ready to take on a leadership role,” Kelly said. “We are led by three quality seniors, Max Gilbert, Dane Williams and Wyatt Guthrie. They are great kids, great in the classroom and on the field. I’m excited about their opportunity to be at the top and cast a shadow of leadership. I would love our young kids to follow these guys.”

Max Gilbert was solid on the mound last season. He returns along with a number of other players who could round out a pretty solid pitching staff. 

“I’m alway optimistic, thinking this is the year we’ll have the best pitching staff. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. This year, I am extremely optimistic because we’re deep,” Kelly said. “We have Max, who is proven. I think he will have an unbelievable season, if he’s able to stay healthy and I’m able to manage him better. I need to leave him some life at the end of the season.”

Senior Dane Williams threw for the Kodiaks this summer and did a great job, Kelly said. He’s expecting to get some innings out of Williams. Sophomore lefty Conrad Hasse had a great summer, as well. Kelly plans to get some innings from him. 

Some of the guys coming up include JJ Hall, Hunter McQuain and Hunter Reinhart. Kelly said they might have more depth than they’ve ever had on the mound. Freshman Reinhart is an intriguing player, coming off a stellar wrestling campaign. 

“Hunter and all the young kids, we’re trying to kinetically put them together. Wrestling is such a great sport to feel torque and different things. We’re trying to find a way to get him to use his entire body rather just get by on brute strength,” Kelly said. 

Most of the Kodiak teams of recent years could really swing the bat. This season should be no different. 

“I love offense. We have lived or died by that over the years. Find a couple guys who can throw strikes and let’s see if we can outscore them. Last year was a little the same of that, led by Blake Vandel, who was incredible,” Kelly said. “I think we’ll again be able to swing the bat. Even here in the gym I can hear bats breaking hard. I think we’ll be able to score runs.”

The past two seasons, only one team from the four team Caribou Trail League went to State. The last two years, that team was Cashmere. Now, Okanogan is in the league, a team with a good baseball tradition. Now, the 5-team Caribou can challenge for another state berth. 

Kelly thinks all the league teams will be pretty evenly matched. 

“I think they have some good kids, but not any more or less that anyone else. On any day, anybody can beat anybody. It’s going to come down to the ability to play baseball and be intelligent about it. That’s where I hope we can find a competitive advantage,” Kelly said. “We focus on playing the game the right way and being smart. I hope that gives us the edge.” 

Cascade opens the season March 14 at Ephrata. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.