Valuable seniors leave Panther baseball

For a team that finished 14-20, coaches of the Creston baseball team reflected on high hopes for the future and a lot of special memories from the 2017 season at the team’s postseason banquet Tuesday night.

Seniors Cody Crawford, Brenden McDowell and Kadon Hulett were the focal points of the potluck dinner event held in the Creston Community High School commons.

Head coach Steve Birchard said their leadership was essential on a young team. Five of the team’s 11 varsity letterwinners were freshmen or sophomores.

Birchard said the team finished with some strong performances, highlighted by a district tournament victory over Atlantic and a nine-inning nail-biting loss to Denison-Schleswig in the district championship game. The late-season run included a pair of 4-1 wins over state-ranked Treynor and ADM before a narrow defeat at Chariton.

Regular season opponents Harlan, Carroll Kuemper Catholic, Martensdale-St. Marys and Treynor are all participating in this week’s state tournament, and Birchard noted the Panthers were competitive with many in that group, including a walk-off victory over state semifinalist Kuemper Catholic on a home run by sophomore Beau Barncastle. Birchard said there are steps to take to get to the next level.

He said part of it will involve more systematic preparation in February and March throwing programs, and a move toward gaining more veteran teams.

“Unfortunately, we’ve gotten in a bit of a mode where as we get a little older, we’re not going out for baseball,” Birchard said. “So, we continually have freshmen and sophomores playing on the varsity, and that sort of becomes the expectation.

“Ask some dads of the guys on this team, like Cory Latham and Scott Driskell, and they would say you were fortunate to be paying varsity as a junior,” Birchard continued. “Even the JV teams were made up of sophomore and juniors, and the varsity was the very best. Not that we don’t want those younger guys to play, but we want it where they have to be pretty special to play at that point of their careers. Then, we aren’t going to be having our potluck on this night. We’re going to be playing (at the state tournament) instead of Harlan. Coach (Brandon) Phipps spoke passionately about that and I’m a believer, too, that we can get there.”

Role models

Birchard, assistant to Bill Krejci on the Panthers state-qualifying team in 2007, said this year’s seniors exemplified the standards and leadership seen in those top-level programs.

“When we get there someday a lot of credit goes to these guys and how they carried themselves and led us these past few years,” Birchard said.

He noted the solid fundamental play and versatility of each of them. McDowell was primarily at the important infield position of shortstop, but also served as one of the main varsity pitchers. Hulett was the first baseman after helping at both corner infield positions in the past, as well as recovering from a shoulder injury to become the team’s ace pitcher down the final stretch of the season. Crawford moved all over the diamond as needed, including shortstop, first base and the outfield in addition to pitching. He pitched six innings of the 6-5 extra-inning district loss to Denison-Schleswig, leaving with the score tied 3-3.

“I’m excited to see where we go as a team, and excited to see what these guys go on to do in college,” Birchard said.

McDowell plans to attend Iowa State University, Crawford will be a student at University of Nebraska-Omaha where he is considering walking on for the baseball team and Hulett will be a scholarship football player at Division II defending national champion Northwest Missouri State University.

Next step

Birchard said he doesn’t want the program to become stagnant and stop improving, and part of that involves the offseason.

“One thing I want out of our younger guys is more of a commitment early in the year,” Birchard said. “I’m not saying that means you stop doing the other things. We just need to be consistent in getting our throwing in. When you see teams like Martensdale-St. Marys with six guys throwing 82 or 83 miles an hour, and we have one or two struggling maybe to touch that, it’s a matter of getting in there and throwing consistently within a program. If we want to get to that next level with those guys, that’s what we need to be doing.”

Phipps, a former Creston player who runs track and cross country at Northwest Missouri State, spoke glowingly of the three seniors as well, and gave credit to Birchard for allowing him to grow as a coach. He challenged the younger Panthers to work toward the dream of getting past the district championship game achieved this year.

“It really comes down to loyalty,” Phipps said. “I hope to see all of you guys next year, and stay true to each other in all of your sports. You only get four years to do this. Our seniors this year really set the standard for that.”

Freshman coach Jerry Hartman noted the depth of this year’s team, which allowed to have a more cohesive lineup at the freshman level than a year ago.

“I’m telling you, this was a good group and the future of Creston baseball is bright,” Hartman said before introducing team members.

Letterwinners

(Years lettered)

Seniors — Kadon Hulett (4), Cody Crawford (3) and Brenden McDowell (3).

Juniors — Jaden Driskell (3), Dustin Merritt (3), Michael Scherer (2).

Sophomores — Beau Barncastle (2), Bryce Fitzgerald (1).

Freshmen — Eli Loudon (2), Luke Latham (1), Rylan Luther (1).

JV participation — Garrett Dahl, Nathan Pudenz, Matthew Kunz, James McDonald, Brenton Barber, Brayton Chesnut, Jack Frey, Hunter Fry, Gavin Gillam, Hayden Green, Jared Moreland.

Freshman participation — Brance Baker, Evan Bruce, Colby Burg, Brayden Fitzgerald, Ethan Freeman, Kolby Hulett, Cael Kralik, Britain Miller, Daniel Merritt, Gavin Shawler, Keagan Smith, Clayton Stafford, Cole Strider, Tyson Stuart, Keagan Trembly and Brodie Wallace.

All-Hawkeye 10 — Jaden Driskell, first team; Kadon Hulett, second team; Brenden McDowell, honorable mention; Cody Crawford, honorable mention.

Class 3A All-district — Jaden Driskell, second team, catcher; Kadon Hulett, second team, utility.

Hawkeye 10 All-Academic — Cody Crawford, Brenden McDowell, Kadon Hulett.

Hawkeye 10 standings (overall records) — Harlan 19-1 (34-2), Lewis Central 16- (26-7), St. Albert Catholic 15-5 (26-13), Glenwood 13-7 (19-13), Kuemper Catholic 12-8 (21-12), Clarinda 10-10 (16-11), Atlantic 8-12 (12-20), Creston 7-13 (14-20), Denison-Schleswig 4-16 (17-21), Shenandoah 3-17 (8-19), Red Oak 3-17 (7-21).