The Iowa Falls-Alden baseball team following a 5-18 season, will eye steady growth of a young group a year more experienced in the offseason. A season highlight for the Cadets was their first playoff win since 2021 over rival South Hardin.
Head Coach Wyatt Ziesman says it was a roller coaster season and there is excitement around the offseason.
“The coaching staff is very excited about the future,” says Ziesman. “We didn’t have the season we wanted or expected, but we had some highlights, kind of roller coaster, we had our ups and downs. We talked a lot about keeping that roller coaster from hitting the high points and low points and just kind of a straight up line. A lot of excitement for the off-season work that they’re gonna put in.”
Nine of the Cadets 13 pitchers this season were underclassmen. The staff had a 6.17 ERA. All-conference freshman Hayden Reed led on the mound with a 1.94 ERA and 30 strikeouts.
Ziesman says players are getting extra reps at the diamond and working on pitcher mechanics and strength is part of their offseason.
“Our pitching has grown quite a bit. We do have a handful of pitchers and guys who are, going to play at some fall leagues, do some travel ball, so they’re going to continue to grow. Our pitchers, we talked a lot about the arm strength and arm care and getting it prepared for the season and what you gotta do in the winter time and off season. We got a pretty good program in place to get those guys built up as far as their strength and velocity.”
Ziesman says he looks for returners to continue to step up and learning to adjust to velocity will help offense.
“Potential, growth, and maturity is coming back they’re really gonna have to step up and show those roles. We have the right guys in place to do that. Then seeing the ball more, we got a lot of young guys that haven’t seen the velocity of varsity baseball. The big thing is gonna be getting them to see that velocity and get more reps and more cuts at the ball. When they do that they’re gonna grow offensively.”
Following the departure of seniors Ray Morgan Jr. and Matthew Harms, the Cadets are projected to return 16 players next season.
