Wildcat baseball ready to take step forward this season

Louisburg junior Madden Rutherford is one of several returning starters for the Wildcat baseball team this season. Rutherford earned second team all-league honors a season ago.

The Louisburg baseball team had
its ups and downs during the 2018 season as the Wildcats finished with a 7-15
record.

Although the Wildcats didn’t have
as much success as they would have liked, they used that time as a learning tool
for a lot of underclassmen – many of which are back this season.

Louisburg lost just two starters
from last year’s squad and the Wildcats are poised to take a step forward in
2019 as they hope some of that youth turns into experience.

“Having this group back with another year of experience under
their belt is great,” Louisburg coach Joel McGhee said. “Many had good seasons
last year and are looking to improve on where they were a season ago. The
experience will help us offensively and defensively. We have some versatile guys
that can help us in multiple positions. They are a hard working group that is
passionate about the game.”

The Wildcats return a pair of
All-Frontier League players from last season, including the team’s No. 1 starter,
junior Madden Rutherford.

In six
starts, Rutherford had a 5.12 ERA and struck out 23 batters in 28 innings
pitched. He also committed just three errors in 19 games. At the plate, he had
a .408 average with 10 RBIs, three doubles, a triple, a home run and scored 15
runs.

Junior Garrett Harding also made
an impact in the Wildcat lineup last season after earning honorable mention
all-league honors and he hopes to do the same this year.

In 21
games, Harding led the Wildcats with a .418 average and finished the season
with 23 hits, a double, a grand slam and 20 RBIs. On the mound, he had 2.47
earned run average in 11 innings of work and defensively he committed just one
error.

Several
Wildcats will play multiple positions this season as seniors Beckett Rasmussen
and Chase Norton will split time behind the plate at catcher. Fellow senior
Noah Larson will be a regular at first base and senior Michael Rogers will see
a lot of time at second base.

Rutherford,
senior Logan McClellan and Rasmussen will man the shortstop position, while
Harding, Andrew Krause or Rutherford will play third depending on pitching
matchups.

Jakob
Krause, Rutherford, Rasmussen, McClellan, Andrew Krause and A.J. Drew will all
see time in th outfield.

“Offensively we are returning a majority of our run producers from last season,” McGhee said. “Garrett Harding, Madden Rutherford, and Noah Larson all did a great job at the plate last season driving in runs. Logan McClellan and Jakob Krause did a great job on the base paths and we look for them to continue to excel there. We have the potential to do some good things. As long as we take a good approach at the plate, and take advantage of fastball counts, we should do some good things.”

On the mound, Rutherford will look to lead a veteran staff that
includes Jakob Krause, Harding, McClellan and Andrew Krause. The Wildcats may also
look to some younger arms to contribute as well in junior Kaden Oehlert and
sophomores Trevin Lohse and A.J. Drew.

“We will have some younger arms joining
the group as our season progresses and we work to manage the pitch count
requirements set out by the state,” McGhee said. “Several others may see time
throughout the season as well.  We are returning some quality arms that
put in a lot of innings last season and faced some challenges. These have
hopefully spurred growth and a drive to compete even more.”

It has already been a rough start to the
season for the Wildcats as they have only been able to practice outdoors twice
during the first three weeks of practice due to the cold weather and snow.

“It has been a challenge this spring to get good work in,” McGhee said. “We have been able to get outside twice since the beginning the season, with Monday being our first opportunity to get on to the field and get good work in. Being indoors is never ideal, but we feel like we have gotten in good work.

“We have taken a lot of cuts in the cage and spent quality time
on our mounds. Fielding is our biggest challenge when indoors, but we look for
ways to work on some of the details. However the gym floor never really
prepares you for the bad hop. We are ready to go, but the inability to get good
reps on the field has us all a bit on edge.”

Louisburg opens its season at 4:30 p.m. today when it travels to
Piper for a doubleheader and it is the first of three straight road appearances
for the Wildcats to start the season. Louisburg will host Wellsville in its
home opener on April 4.