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NTL BASEBALL: WYALUSING HAS BIG GOALS FOR 2023 (2023-03-25)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
From the Beach to Bowman, that’s going to be Wyalusing baseball’s goal this year. After getting over one hurdle last season - winning an NTL title - they hope to get over the ultimate hurdle this year - bringing home the team’s first district title.

It won’t be easy, though, as everybody will be looking to take the Rams down this year.

“I talked about it with the boys, we’re probably going to see a lot of people’s aces,” said coach Nick Vanderpool. “They’ll be gunning for us. We won the league last year, started 15-0, and a lot of teams are going to be hyped up to play us, and we look forward to that. We look forward to good baseball, and if we play our game, we should be in most games.”

He said they added some beef to their non-league schedule to get themselves ready for districts.

“We’re looking to compete for the league this year, but we what we want to do is be battle tested going into the playoffs to make a run at a district title.”

They return ace Blake Morningstar, who struck out 129 last year compared to just 20 walks in 61 2/3-innings of work. He finished with a 1.25 ERA, and looks to be even better this year.

“Lately, I’ve been focussed on improving my changeup a lot,” said Morningstar. “And just, overall, like fastball location. My changeup has come a long way, and I’m a three pitch pitcher now, so I think I’m going to be even more dominant this year, and going to be tough to hit.”

Their number two, Trehnon Hugo, also returns. He had a 3.03 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 39 1/3-innings of work.

The Rams also have a strong bullpen with Hunter House, who struck out 27 in 29 innings, and CJ Carr, who had an ERA of 2.1.

“Those four guys pitched a lot of tough innings last year,” said Vanderpool. “I feel like Blake and Hugo are my 1-2, I kind of look at Hunter in a closer roll. CJ is a really crafty pitcher, mixes pitches well, and he’s probably one of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached, so they’re four pretty solid pitchers. And Kenny Mapes throws the ball really well, too, if we do need a fifth, so, pitching wise were pretty deep, and only one who is a senior, so that’s good, too.”

Fellow senior Bobby English is their top returning hitter, as he hit .379 with 17-RBI. English is hoping to repeat those numbers.

“I’m just going to spend a lot of time in the cage, focusing on my off speed hitting this year, rather than fastball,” he said.

Nick Vanderpool Jr. hit .365 with 14-RBI while Morningstar hit .324 with four doubles, and 20-RBI.

Hugo hit .321 with 17-RBI and a team high nine doubles, while Mapes hit .279. with five doubles, and 14-RBI. Carr also had some key hits, with 16 runs batted in.

And coach Vanderpool believes he has some left in the cupboard.

“We had some nice younger freshmen there that didn’t really swing the bat much,” he said. “They’re really good hitters in their own right. I think seven of our nine guys last year hit above .300, and we keep pretty tight books. We need to cut down on strikeouts with a couple of guys in the middle of the order, but, overall, top to bottom, we’re very, very solid one through nine hitting.”

However, they feel they didn’t finish as strong as they started the year, falling to South Williamsport in the district semifinals.

“People were fatiguing throughout the season, and arms started to get sore and stuff,” English said. “But I think we’ll do better this year.”

So they still have plenty of fire when it comes to competing this year.

“I’m kind of excited that we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Morningstar said. “That’s what breeds competitors, that what breeds elite athletes, so I’m ready for it.”

They’re hoping the Myrtle Beach trip will be a strong starting point that lands them at Bowman Field by the end of the season.

Obviously, our goal is still to get into the playoffs, win a league team, win a district title,” said Vanderpool. “But what means most is getting into playoffs as strong as we can as a team more than even a league title, really.”

ROSTER

Aden Shaw

Blake Morningstar

Casey God

CJ Carr

Dante Hatton

Hunter House

Isaac Shaffer

Kaden Kusmierz

Kenny Mapes

Logan Norton

Nick Vanderpool Jr