The Lewis Cass Baseball team is coming off of a challenging season last year with a 2-19 record but is looking to have a much better season this year. The team has joined a new conference, Three Rivers Conference, and has much to look forward to. This is a young team consisting of only one senior, Wyatt Orpurt.
The lone senior, Wyatt Orpurt, was asked how he felt about being the one and only on the team. He said, “Being the only senior on the team comes with a lot of advantages and disadvantages. Being the only senior lets me lead the underclassmen learning the correct ways we practice and getting ready for a game. Being the only senior is hard though when it comes to making decisions for the team because I don’t want to make a decision on my choice because I think it’s what’s best, but if I had another senior to help me with these decisions, I could see both sides.” Wyatt will play a major leadership role for this team and will help develop them over the season. Coach Marschand had this to say about Wyatt being the only senior. “Having one senior is not an issue. We put the best 9 guys that work together as a team no matter what class they may be in”.
This is a young but very talented team. Coach Marshand spoke about the young talent saying, “The young men we have this year have been excellent to work with. Limited contact sessions were as well attended as ever before. They are going to be an exciting team to watch play and mold into one unit.” The team has many returning varsity players one being Brennan Deeter who played as a freshman on varsity last season. When asked what it was like playing as a freshman on varsity he said, “Playing varsity as a freshman was kind of scary due to our long run in basketball. I only had around seven practices before our first game, so I had to really pick up on things fast. We had a good group of seniors, so I got to learn from them and gain confidence from them. Overall after I got used to the game and to the competition we played against, I really enjoyed it and had fun.” Brennan made much improvement last season and is looking to do the same this season.
Orpurt was asked what some of his personal goals are for the season, and he said, “Some personal goals for this season are I’m hoping to have a higher batting average than last year ending the season in the .400’s. I’m hoping for higher .400s or even maybe touching the .500 mark. Another part of my game I’m looking forward to is making memories with all of my guys. It’s always a fun time hanging with everyone and having our own jokes and stuff. One other thing I’m hoping for is to have a great fielding season and keep my errors slim to none.” Wyatt was also asked about goals for the team, and he said, “ I’m hoping to, obviously, have a better season than last year. I’m hoping that this season we will have more experience and know what to do now in situations we learned from last year. I’m also looking forward to the younger class coming up, hoping they can help us as a team in a big way.”
Brennan Deeter was also asked about some of his goals, and he said, “I have a lot of goals this year. I want to be more consistent this season and really try to get off to a good start. Last year, I really struggled with that. I want to try to hit around .400 and be very reliable on the field. Just overall improvement from last year’s season would be great to see.”
Lewis Cass is competing in the TRC conference for the first time this season. This gives the team a chance to play many of the other schools they have not played. Coach Marshand was asked his thoughts on the new conference and he said, “The entire TRC is an extremely successful conference in baseball as seven of the ten teams have played in the IHSAA State Baseball Tournament as the State Champions or Runner-Up.” The TRC conference will be a tough schedule and fans are excited to see how successful the team will be.
The team is looking to have a great season this year. It is exciting to watch them progress and make major improvements. Make sure to go out to support the Kings this season.
