Baseball and softball all-conference teams
June 13th, 2008 by Derek HagenWestern Cloverbelt Conference – Baseball
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Western Cloverbelt Conference – Baseball
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The Altoona baseball team may not have had the record they hoped for this season, but they came close enough to generate excitement about what the team might do next year.
“Our record didn’t show what it could have been,” said coach Jay Johnson of his team’s 8-11 mark. “Six of our 11 losses were by one run, and even if you win half of those, you’re over .500. A break here and a break there turns your season around.”
The close calls combined with the team’s youth show plenty of reason for optimism. The Railroaders return all but two players from this season’s playoff roster, including their entire pitching staff.
“We were young this year… we had five sophomores on the field,” said Johnson. “That will lead us into next year, where all those players have varsity experience and we’ll have some good leadership.”
“The thing that I’m really excited about is every kid that played varsity baseball is playing summer ball, and over half of them are playing a 40-game schedule,” Johnson added. “In the six years I’ve coached, I’ve never had that many kids playing that much after the season. I think they got a taste about what could happen coming into next year.”
Altoona loses Jared Mitchell and Tony Staves to graduation, but returns all three of their all-conference selections from this season: first-team junior Jordan Dewitz, second-team junior Brodie Johnson, and honorable mention sophomore Zach Vaughan.
“Those were three big contributors to our team, and they’re all back,” said Jay Johnson. “We could be conference contenders next year.”
Altoona played with the best the conference had to offer this season, losing a pair of close games to Chippewa Falls McDonell, who went undefeated in the regular season before losing in the sectionals. The Railroaders, who tied for fourth place, split with every other conference opponent.
“That McDonell doubleheader probably was a big turning point in our season,” said Jay Johnson. “We very easily could have won both of those games… I think that was an eye-opener for the kids, after watching McDonell only lose one game all season. They know how good they could be.”
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Six errors cost the Altoona baseball team as their season came to an end with an 8-5 playoff loss at Colby on Friday, May 23.
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The Altoona baseball team ran its winning streak to three games with a 9-1 home victory over Chetek on Tuesday, May 20.
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An eight-run fourth inning proved to be the difference as the Altoona baseball team lost to Gilman 14-8 on Thursday, May 15.
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Zach Vaughan started things with a bang for the Altoona baseball team on Saturday, May 17, and the Railroaders never gave up the momentum, never trailing all day as they defeated Mondovi 11-8 and Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 9-3 in a two-game set at Mondovi.
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Fall Creek scored in each of the last five innings as they defeated the Altoona baseball team 8-2 at Greg Bement Field on Thursday, May 8.
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Zach Vaughan went 3-for-4 and Brodie Johnson drove in three runs as the Altoona baseball team pounded out 15 hits to defeat Eau Claire Regis 9-7 at Carson Park on Friday, May 9.
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The Altoona baseball team had runners on third base in four different innings but were unable to push any across, losing 1-0 at Cadott on Tuesday, May 13.
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The Altoona baseball team gave up a pair of two-run homers, including one in the seventh inning that proved to be the decisive runs, as they fell to Eau Claire Regis 8-6 at Greg Bement Field on Monday, May 12.
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