Greyhound baseball team is young, adjusting again to new coach
There has been some uncertainty that came with being a Loyal baseball player these past couple years. With a small team this year and changes in coaching, the Greyhound boys have odds stacked against them, but by working on their individual skills and having a coach dedicated to getting them better, the program will build itself back up.
Randy Montalvo is the third coach the Loyal baseball team has had in the past three years. Recognizing how hard it is on a group of kids to constantly adjust to a new coach and direction, he said the team has been able to do surprisingly well in adjusting to the changes and applying the lessons they are learning in practice to their games.
“The athletes have been very good,” he said. “This is their third coach in three years. There have been lots of changes for them to go through. Even though they have gone through all of that, they’re really adopting what we are trying to do.”
Throughout their practices and even during their games, Montalvo has been giving the boys pointers on how to improve their performance. Batting technique is one of the areas they have been focusing on, making sure they know simply getting the bat to connect to the ball is not enough.
“I’m happy to see them adjust to what they need to do,” he said. “We are working on hitting the ball right. It is not a matter of just hitting it, but hitting it to drive the ball up the middle. We’re not swinging, we’re hitting, there’s a big difference.”
While the team’s ability to adapt and learn quickly is one of its best assets, the numbers Loyal has for the year are working against them. There are 15 boys on the team, a number that is enough for a varsity team, but not enough to field a JV team, leaving a few players out of getting the proper experience.
“We’re young,” said Montalvo. “We have one senior and a bunch of freshmen. The downside is that we don’t have a JV team so everyone is pretty much varsity. If we have 10 or 11 kids that we put into the lineup, there are four that don’t get to play because there is no JV. It makes it hard.”
Even though it will be tough yet for the kids this season, Montalvo said the future of the team looks good. More upcoming students look like they are interested in going out for baseball in the next few years, and if this year’s team simply works to improve one game at a time, they will be stronger for the next season.
“The eighth grade program coming up looks good,” he said. “We will work our way through the season one game at a time and apply what we do at practice to our games.”
Deagan Sandelier is the only senior on the team this year. Juniors Kaden Landini, Vaughn Zettler, Ethan Lindner and Drew Stieglitz are the next group with the most experience and are joined by sopho- mores Tyler Nielson, Hudson Hanson and Karston Pagenkopf. The rest of the team consists of freshmen Austin Shirk, Aaron Radue, Seth Duell, Tryn Scheel, Rogan Ashbeck, Jarrett Rueth and Eli Zettler.
Members of the Loyal baseball team for the 2022 season are (front from left) Tyler Nielson, Jarrett Rueth, Kaden Landini, Austin Shirk, Aaron Radue, Seth Duell, Tryn Scheel, (back) Coach Darek Diekman, Rogan Ashbeck, Vaughn Zettler, Ethan Lindner, Drew Stieglitz, Eli Zettler, Hudson Hanson, Karston Pagenkopf, Deagen Sandelier and Coach Randy Montalvo.
