The West Fork baseball team took a big step forward this season, reaching a Class 1A district final, their most wins since 2021 at 12-14 overall, and their first playoff win since 2019.
The Warhawks, in their playoff run, collected wins over GMG and Colo-Nesco, and lost to Newman Catholic in the district final.
All-conference honorees, senior Edison Maske with a team-leading 1.27 ERA and 45 strikeouts and junior Nolan Shreckengost with a 3.86 ERA and 21 strikeouts combined for eight Warhawk wins on the hill. Head Coach Kayden Ames says Maske and Shreckengost exceeded expectations.
“Eddie, I knew he was going to be solid for us, but I didn’t know exactly how good he would be on the mound,” says Ames. “I expected him to throw maybe a couple innings a week, not be our ace. He did everything that I expected at the plate and in the field, but he really surprised me on the mound and that’s really going to be missed next year. Shreckengost is another guy that I didn’t expect to be one of our top pitchers coming into the year. He’s our shortstop that is gonna go out and hit 400, but I didn’t expect him to perform like that on the mound. I’m really excited to have one more year with him.”
Ames says being competitive through involvement in multiple sports helps with pitching.
“We had lots of guys who threw well throughout the year, but the consistency wasn’t quite there. Hopefully next year, everybody’s got another year under their belt, and we are able to start throwing strikes early and often in games. I’m a big believer in playing multiple sports. Going out and competing helps. If a kid goes out, on the mound, our goal is to compete. We’re trying to beat each individual batter. If they’re going out and they’re playing football, they’re playing basketball, they’re just competing, I think that they get bigger and stronger next year for us on the mound.”
The Warhawks are projected to return seven pitchers that will look to improve on a 4.48 ERA as a team in 2024.
Freshman Zander Hanson, after driving in 21 runs, will look to return as top batter next season.
West Fork, after graduating seniors AJ Andersen, Edison Maske, Levi Ruckdashel and Sage Suntken, are projected to return 11 players.
