Head skipper Jordan Miller begins his fifth season at the helm of Eagle baseball, and admits that he likes what he sees with his team as he blends in some Belmond-Klemme kids with his returners under a sharing agreement between the two county schools.
“While we have a lot of experience, we’re still a young team,” stated Miller. “We have some good kids back, and they will have to contribute for us to be successful. We also have some pitching depth. By adding some B-K kids to the team, we can now develop the younger kids without forcing them into varsity action when they’re not ready. They will certainly provide us some depth.”
As for a potential weakness, it practically goes without saying that it’s losing the previous season. “It’s like we’re starting from square one,” said Miller. “While it is a challenge, it’s a fun challenge.” He lists his keys to the season as (1) staying healthy and (2) everyone buying in together for one common goal. “We want to peak at the right time and be playing our best baseball,” said the coach.
When it comes to his returning seniors, Brady Beck will man an outfield spot while the addition of Trenton Berhow and Jaden Warren from the Broncos will help. “I’m looking for nice things out of Brady, while Jaden will factor in as well,” said Miller. “Trenton is a good leader and has a great mindset. Every one of our seniors can contribute, and all will be a key to our success.” He feels that his juniors and sophomores can jell together well, and that the freshmen and eighth graders can blend in with them. “We’re young, but these guys compliment each other,” said Miller. “That said, the next person has to always be ready.”
Miller is assisted this year by Linc Morgan and Dan O’Hern. “I tend to be firey, so Linc gives us some good balance,” said Miller. “Dan helps the younger kids learn the basics. He sets them up well for the high school team.”
He likes it that the Top of Iowa is back to an East versus West format. “Bishop Garrigan and Forest City will always be respectable programs, and you never want to sleep on Lake Mills,” he said. “Those will be the top three teams in the league.”
Eagles roughed up by Indians in opener
Visiting Forest City was not too kind to their hosts last Monday, May 24 in a 7-1 Eagle loss. The home team could manage only a double and single by Jake Jeske and base hits from Bryson Warren and Beck on offense. Jeske drove in Warren for the lone score. Coach Miller used three pitchers for the night. Cayden Schultz took the loss, going 4 2/3 innings with four earned runs on as many hits. He walked two and threw seven K’s. Jordan Morris and Talon Carpenter combined for the rest of the innings, with Morris holding them to one earned on three hits with four strikeouts while Carpenter fanned one batter.
Their next outing, and only other game in week one, resulted in a better showing in a 3-2 loss at West Hancock. The visiting Eagles drew first blood in being up 1-0 after the first inning. It was 1-1 going into the top of the sixth with the purple & gold going up 2-1. The home team tied it, then won it in the bottom of the final frame.
WH Eagles 3, EG Eagles 2
Player AB H R RBI
J. Warren 3 0 1 0
Schultz 2 0 0 0
Jeske 2 0 0 0
B. Morgan 2 1 1 1
B. Warren 2 0 0 0
Morris 3 0 0 0
Beck 3 0 0 0
Dencklau 2 0 0 0
M. Morgan 3 0 0 0
Walks: Schultz, Jeske, B. Warren 1 ea.
Steals: J. Warren, B. Morgan, B. Warren 2 ea.; Schultz 1
Pitching IP H ER BB K’s
Jeske 5 7 1 1 7
B. Morgan 2/3 0 0 3 0
Morris 1 1/3 2 0 1 2
“Although in the win column we didn’t see what we wanted in week one, we saw some really good things,” stated head coach Jordan Miller. “Our starting pitchers competed their tails off, and we had some guys come in and show some nice things on the ball field. We have to remember we didn’t play last year, so we have essentially twice the rust of any other team. As long as we trust the process we will see our hard work pay off. Jake and Cayden were bright spots on the mound. They did a good job of keeping hitters off balance and the counts in their favor. We just need to make a couple more plays behind them defensively and especially late in games. We have a good week of evaluation coming up in seeing Garrigan, Lake Mills and Algona. We are very eager to continue improving and being ready to see our results translate to the field.”
