There’s a whole lot of new entering the season for one of the most tradition rich baseball programs in the state.
The Logansport Berries face a new era entering the Hoosier Conference after being the most successful North Central Conference baseball program for decades.
Perhaps most pertinent to the situation now is the Berries are dealing with heavy losses to graduation from a team that went 15-16 and beat Kokomo and Lafayette Jeff in sectional play to advance to the championship game of the Class 4A sectional in Lafayette, where they lost to No. 7 McCutcheon 4-2 in the final.
The Berries lost eight seniors to graduation including six starters.
“We’re looking young,” Logansport coach Dan Frye said. “We’ve got a number of young players this year. But I like them. They are a hardworking group of kids. We’re gonna have kids playing from freshmen to seniors. We’re going to see them in main positions in very important spots.”
The Berries lost six starters to graduation and lost another one in the offseason as projected starting shortstop Cayden Walker is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered during basketball. It was originally thought to be a torn meniscus injury but turned out to be an ACL.
Frye thought losing Isaac Russell for most of the season last year cost the Berries several games and is dealing with another injury at a key position.
“We do have a group of young players that we have several kids that are gonna play some infield,” said Frye, adding several players could get some varsity looks in the early season. “They’re gonna get some experience.”
The outfield looks pretty set for the Berries with senior Deagan Kitchel in right field, junior Bryson Herr in center and senior Micah Rogers in left. All three got extensive varsity time a year ago.
Kitchel led the Berries in most of the offensive categories and will be hard-pressed to match his numbers of a year ago, when he hit .485 with five home runs, 11 doubles, seven triples, 28 RBIs and 40 runs scored. He had an OPS of 1.441.
The Berries might rotate their catchers more than they have in the recent past as junior Grady Alexander and sophomore Camden Chapman are in the mix for the starting role.
Junior Jose Portilla will start out the year as the starting third baseman.
Juniors Hudson McKinney and Cooper Hackman, sophomores Hudson Shank and Taylor Albright and freshman Kuper Jones are in the mix for varsity time in the middle infield. Senior Carson Dubes returns as a starting first baseman. Senior Aiden Swank will be utilized in a utility role at first base, in the middle infield, in the outfield and as a pitcher, Frye said.
Dubes returns with the most experience on the mound and will look to build off a strong finish to last season. He went 5-5 with a 3.71 ERA and won four of his last five starts, which included a complete-game win over Lafayette Jeff in a sectional game in which he allowed one run on four hits with eight strikeouts.
Junior Josh Middleton went 3-1 and was the team’s ERA leader at 2.39 a year ago. Rogers also got extensive time as a varsity pitcher and posted a 5.69 ERA mostly out of the bullpen.
Other pitchers in the mix for varsity time include junior Lucas Jones, Portilla, McKinney, Albright, Shank and freshman Kuper Jones.
Senior Max Kitchell, sophomore Blake Pearson and McKinney are in the mix for varsity time in the outfield.
Freshman Braylon Ritchie is shut down from throwing the ball right now with an arm injury but is in the mix to help out with hitting, Frye said.
Pearson, Ritchie and Alexander are in the mix for time at DH for some of the pitchers.
The Berries’ schedule has a new look. They’ve dropped Harrison and McCutcheon and currently don’t have Kokomo scheduled, though Frye said a plan is in place to add Kokomo at ...
