To open the 2017 season, the baseball team faced a challenging pre-league schedule. With 14 games under their belt by March 24, the Foresters had tallied a 8-6 record.
As green and white enter the heart of conference play, head coach Mike Frame said his squad has assumed a familiar focus.
“Our goal every year is to win the Crossroads League regular season,” Frame said. “Doing this will give us an automatic bid into the NAIA National Tournament.”
Every game and practice is a stepping stone that gets the team closer to their main goal. Junior pitcher Tarrin Beachy said the team works to overcome the adversity that is thrown at them and bounce back in a positive way.
“Playing a game that has so many failures can be hard,” he said. “Things don’t always go your way. A lot of the things that happen in a baseball game are out of your control.”
Beachy said success will translate from whether or not he and his team allow these “little things to bring us down.”
The Foresters have a motto to remind themselves of the importance of playing as a team to bring glory to God. This year the team’s motto is “143”.
“143 stands for the number of letters in each word to spell out ‘I love you,'” sophomore Jake Hansen said. “We have these stickers we’ve placed on our helmets. This reminds us that we not only play for God, but we play for one another, and this is what makes this team special.”
With an overwhelming number of seniors on the team this season, the Foresters are working to use the experience that these veteran players bring to the table to their advantage. One third of the team’s roster consists of senior players.
Senior catcher Mike Crowley said he and his fellow seniors have tried to help the younger guys to learn the ropes this season.
“We’ve been working to take care of things when they go bad, but also praising the team when things go right,” Crowley said. “The experience factor that the seniors bring has been a positive. We’ve been through it all before, and we want to use that to improve.”
The team hopes to continue showing off what they have worked to improve.
“Baseball can be a brutal sport, and talent will only get you so far,” Beachy stated. “That’s why we practice with a purpose, and that is to make the hard things seem easier once game day comes.”
Dalton Combs and Shea Beauchamp have been the biggest difference makers at the plate for the Foresters so far. Combs leads the Foresters in home runs, hits and runs. Beuchamp is guiding the way in RBIs and doubles, and is just behind Combs in runs scored and home runs.
On the mound, Caleb Landrum has collected a team-high three saves. D.J. Moore has contributed two wins on the season, recording a 3.79 ERA in 19 innings.
The Forester’s latest home game was Tuesday, March 28 at 6:00pm against the IU South Bend Titians.
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