Looking back at a two-win season, the Wheaton baseball team is focusing on the positives, and there were plenty.
Tucker Dermott, Wheaton baseball coach said the Bulldogs (2-16) had some close conference games that did not go their way, and many extremely competitive games overall. “We didn’t accomplish what we want
“We didn’t accomplish what we wanted to this year and the guys know that,” Dermott said. “We either needed a hit with runners in scoring position or had too many costly errors that we couldn’t catch back up. At times, we would become our own worst enemy and play timid. We have to have the confidence to know that we were in those close games because of our play, instead of shrinking in those moments because of the magnitude and not embrace the moment. [This season was ] a lot of what ifs and being close to what we wanted.”
Dermott said as the season progressed, Wheaton did improve at handling the pitching of the Ozark 7 Conference.
“Earlier in the season, we didn’t compete like we should have at the plate,” Dermott said. “Too many plate appearances of only seeing three pitches and sitting down, and not enough productive at bats. As we progressed, we competed more, and the better pitching we saw, the more we rose to the occasion, which was a positive development.”
Dermott said he hopes to see that trend continue next season.
“We did better at competing but we didn’t see enough of it consistently down the stretch,” he said. “Too many times we would make a mistake and then we would lose confidence and not be able to right the ship. We would have moments of playing really good baseball, but we didn’t string enough of those together.” The team’s best baseball, Dermott
The team’s best baseball, Dermott said, came in a close win over McAuley Catholic, 10-9, on April 7.
“We got down in an early hole and made a few mistakes and weren’t playing well,” he said. “We got on them a little bit and challenged them to play harder and do what they were capable of. We ended up rallying and scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th to walk it off and win the game.
“It was one of the best games I have ever been a part of. I was really proud of their resilience and fight that they showed in battling back against a solid McAuley team.”
In the future, Wheaton will be playing teams without the likes of Kelton Park and Grant Bradford, both seniors.
“Kelton was fantastic on the mound and pitched more than anyone on our staff,” Dermott said. “He pitched in every single conference game and big game that we had. He kept us in every game almost single handedly at times. Kelton was a pleasure to coach and was one of those players that made you look better in everything that he did.
“Grant was our best hitter on the team this year. He led us in every single offensive category and came up time and time again and was on base over half of his plate appearances. Grant continued to obsess about his swing and always worked to get better at it and it payed off in a big way. Both of them I will miss dearly and they will leave big shoes to fill.”
Hoping to fill them will be a group of 10 freshmen and sophomores.
“They filled a lot of spots, and there were a lot of growing pains with that,” Dermott said. “They will be upperclassmen next year and be tasked with coming in and filling that production our seniors brought us.”
This year’s experience and figuring out positioning will help in that endeavor.
“My goals for next season are to improve on the aspects of the game we can control,” Dermott said. “I want to make sure we block out everything else and play hard, faster, and with more confidence. We are returning a lot of our starters next season and there will be less of the finding out what we can and can’t do and a lot of attacking our weaknesses and improving on them and adding to our strengths.”
